MARYVILLE, Tenn. — Maryville homeowners in the Thornhill Mobile Home Community said they're scrambling as their eviction date inches closer.
An attorney told 10News this week that the mobile homes of people who've been evicted from living on rented lots can eventually be turned over to the landlord.
10News spoke to people in the community earlier this month, who said they were shocked to receive eviction notices in March. Not everyone at the park is being evicted, but homeowners said most people who own mobile homes rent the land the homes sit on.
Legal Aid of East Tennessee Attorney Darrell Winfree said he's been helping some Thornhill residents, but Tennessee's laws favor landlords in these situations.
Winfree said this week that trailers are often in too bad of shape to move, and it's up to the homeowners to sell or dispose of the homes.
"The tenant has the legal responsibility to get rid of it," Winfree said. "And the landlord can take possession of it, eventually, if it isn't done."
Trailers are personal property, rather than real property, Winfree said.
"It's the tenant's responsibility to remove the mobile home from the rented property," Winfree said. "And so if it isn't removed, or sold, it can end up being considered abandoned property, which the landlord then disposes of in whatever manner they choose."
Thornhill Mobile Home Community is owned by Caleb Hazelbaker, who hasn't responded to 10News' requests for an interview. A person who works for Thornhill's management picked up the phone earlier this week but they declined to comment.
People said they were given the option to move out of the park or sell their homes to Hazelbaker.
Ronald Gold said he takes care of his elderly and sick neighbors in the mobile home court and that one of them had to enter hospice care this week due to an illness.
Gold said he was offered $3,000 for his older home, which isn't enough to pay for a rental deposit and monthly rent in Blount County.
"We got a cash offer for our mobile home," Gold said. "But we have to leave, vacate on June 30."
He said their only option would be "a motel room at best."
He said he has a message for Hazelbaker.
"Everybody knows greed is one of the seven deadly sins," he said. "And if you look further in the book, it says, look out for the widows and the orphans, the sick and the poor. Everybody's praying for your brother."
10News obtained a copy of the letter, which stated in part, "Your lease agreement at Thornhill expires March 31, 2024. Thornhill is not renewing your lease for an additional one-year term. This letter is notice that you have ninety (90) days to vacate and remove your home and personal belongings from the Thornhill Community. The last day to vacate your property is June 30, 2024."
The rest of the letter said that after a one-year lease term is finished, people will be on a month-to-month rental agreement, and that rent will be charged until people leave the property and remove their mobile homes.
Homeowner Phyllis Slankard said she's been all over Blount County looking for options after she received the notice, including finding a new mobile home park for her trailer, but she's coming up empty.
"I've called, I've went and looked, there's no place to rent," she said. "Unless you have three times your income. And we are on a fixed income. And we don't make that kind of money. I don't know how he can sleep at night, knowing he's doing the elderly people like this."
Slankard said her health problems have worsened since getting the eviction notice.
Alma Gorton is currently in a wheelchair, recovering from a serious car accident. She, along with her daughter Lisa Graham, said they aren't looking forward to having to move.
"I'd hate to move and leave my trailer because I've done all kinds of work on it," Gorton said. "And I won't be able to do that again, I can't afford to buy a house, I can't afford to pay rent. So it'd be hard."