‘People have lost everything’: Trailer park residents protest Miami commissioner

With evictions looming for approximately 200 families living at a Miami trailer park, dozens gathered Wednesday to stage a protest outside City Commissioner Ralph Rosado’s office in the hopes that the city might intervene — or at least help buy them more time.

With a September deadline to vacate their homes quickly approaching, residents of the Silver Court Trailer Park expressed frustration as they gathered outside Rosado’s district office at Coral Gate Park. The trailer park is inside Rosado’s District 4.

On March 11, the Silver Court property owner gave residents notice that they would be closing the park in six months’ time. The property is owned by 1989 Sunny Court LLC, which is part of a California-based real estate firm, Marquis Property Company.

While many of the residents at the park own their trailers, they rent their lot space at Silver Court. To incentivize residents to leave before September, park ownership offered $10,000 to those who leave by May 31; $5,000 to those who stay through July 15; and $2,500 to those who leave by the end of August. That’s in addition to the $1,375 to $6,000 in compensation provided by the state, depending on the size of the trailer and whether its owner decides to relocate it.

Resident Victoria Diaz, who’s lived in Silver Court for 25 years, said of the buyouts: “It’s not enough money.”

According to Diaz, Rosado’s office had a meeting with residents after the March 11 notice went out, and his office sent community organizations to the trailer park to offer assistance. Diaz said she and other residents provided those organizations with their information, but when she tried reaching back out, she was met with full voicemails and unhelpful responses. To Diaz, the assistance looked more like lip service.

“It’s just to look good that they sent somebody up,” Diaz said. “No action.”

Through a public records request, organizers obtained an email sent March 11 from the property owner to Rosado’s office.

In the email, Marquis Property Company owner Zan Marquis said that notices had gone out that day notifying residents of the park’s impending closure, along with information about “Offers of Incentive Payments.” Marquis provided Rosado’s office with several contacts in the email, including that of a public relations consultant who “will reach out to you to coordinate public relations if possible.”

Marquis also noted in the email that the property owner had met with Rosado and his staff “a few months ago.”

That particular line set off alarm bells for some residents and organizers, who took it to mean that Rosado’s office may have known months earlier that evictions were in the pipeline.

But Rosado’s office said it learned about the evictions at the same time as everyone else — on March 11.

Since then, Rosado’s office said it has “been actively engaged with Silver Court residents and working closely with nonprofit partners, City departments, and Miami-Dade County agencies to assist families facing displacement.”

Jennifer Torna, a spokesperson for Rosado, said in a statement Wednesday that the previous meeting referenced in Marquis’ email took place last summer, on July 30.

“Aside from introductions, the only topic discussed was that ownership may eventually consider selling the property, which they stated had also been discussed with the previous Commissioner and his staff,” Torna said. She added that the July meeting was the only time Rosado’s office met with the property owner before the March 11 notices went out.

In terms of assistance provided, Torna said Rosado’s office hosted a resource fair on April 3 that included various housing and community assistance organizations, and that “housing solutions have been identified for more than 50% of Silver Court residents to date.”

But Joseph Madera, who’s lived in Silver Court since 2016, said the city has done the “minimum” to assist. Madera, who’s the leader of the park’s homeowners group, said he believes the City Commission has the legal and political ability to delay the eviction process. He also pointed to the buyouts offered as being woefully inadequate for relocating in Miami.

“People have lost everything,” Madera said of the Silver Court residents, adding: “This is how to destroy people.”

A company called The Urban Group is managing the park and handling the “Offers and Closure process,” according to Marquis’ March email.

In a statement to the Herald on Wednesday, The Urban Group President Matt Rosenbaum said Silver Court “is no longer viable as a mobile home park, with mobile home structures suffering from ailments including old age, storm damage, and deterioration.”

Rosenbaum said that, to date, the majority of residents have accepted the cash incentive offer to move out early. An extension on the September move-out deadline is not possible, he said.

“The compensation package provides generous incentives designed to ease the closure process for the residents,” Rosenbaum said. “It is in the best interest of the remaining families to take advantage of these terms while the established timeline permits, as they otherwise risk losing the current tier of the financial compensation package entirely.”

Rosenbaum also said it’s a “misconception” for tenants to “assume that they have something to gain from filing lawsuits and trying to stay.” He pointed to Sweetwater’s Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park, whose residents challenged the park’s mass eviction in court last year.

“For mobile home tenants, disputes rarely change the ultimate outcome, and the best course of action is to accept the generous relocation offers being offered upfront,” Rosenbaum said.

But for Diaz, the 25-year resident of Silver Court, the situation is one she considers to be “very unjust.” She estimates she’s spent $60,000 on improvements and repairs to her trailer over the years.

“Politicians go out looking for votes,” Diaz said. “The fire gets hot, they back away, and send their aid or organizations just to cover up, just to say, ‘I helped to assemble these people to you.’”

Miami resident Mariana Ochoa, who does not live at the trailer park but lives nearby, joined Wednesday’s protest, calling on her neighbors to show support for the Silver Court residents.

“They’re being targeted because they’re the most vulnerable, but so are we,” Ochoa said. “It is a community issue, so we all need to take action now.”

Ochoa lives in District 4, meaning Rosado is her commissioner.

“We need him to actually do his job, and what we pay for him to do,” Ochoa said of Rosado. “He needs to take action. He needs to listen, because these are the community members that he is serving.”

Tess Riski

Miami Herald

Tess Riski covers Miami City Hall. She joined the Miami Herald in 2022 and has covered local politics throughout Miami-Dade County. She is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School’s Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.