This week an ad to rent a trailer at the Calgary Village offered a rental incentive of one month free to rent a park owned trailer starting at $1250 a month. With the lot rent going to $1075 October 1st, and factoring in the cost of homeowner insurance and building/property taxes, it is cheaper to rent a trailer than it is for just the pad rent. The landlord is offering this incentive to meet the current rental market conditions, while they raise homeowner pad rent because people have no choice but to pay.
Cove Communities made it clear when they purchased the Lansdowne Equity Ventures parks that they are turning them into high end manufactured communities. Regardless if a senior only receives an OAS and CPP pension, they are struggling to pay the loans for trailers that they cannot sell and many are being forced to abandon their units and declare bankruptcy.
As the lot rent continues to climb while they offer incentives to renters, homeowners that purchased trailers for as low as $1700 this year are paying $1100 just for the pad rent.
As many of the residents are aware, Cove Communities has started moving in brand new units and as they are doing long term upgrades to the park and the new units, older units are getting the same superficial renovations to give the appearance of new, renovated, or refurbished.
This week we are stepping up our efforts to get the much needed changes to the Mobile Home Tenancy Act as we have updated the petition to reach more Provincial Cabinet Ministers and will branching out with social media campaigns, more rally’s, a planned 17th Avenue resident march and City permit approved signage. Our budget isn’t large while we fight to not face financial ruin on homes with loans are costing seniors almost $2000 a month to live here.
I ask that you keep sharing, keep calling and writing your MLA’s, your City councillors, Ministers and get involved.
Thank you,
Cove Communities Canada Tenants
https://www.facebook.com/pg/CoveCommunitiesCanada/
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History of the prior owner Brian Sidorsky who was exposed as running a rent to own scam at the Penbrooke trailer park. An undercover report by CFRN explosed the scam, which the Sidorsky filed a defamation suit against. Not only did he lose but was ordered to pay $1 million in damages (appealed and reduced to $250,000)
Bio of the current owners who bought up 100 trailer parks in the USA and turned them into high end communities and sold them to Sun RV parks for $1.7 billion.
http://www.covecommunities.com/about-us
GlobalNews article during one of our rally's
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-village-trailer-park-1.4656425
Edmonton mobile home park news piece on flooding not being addressed, including an interview with the Service Alberta Minister
A single mother of two’s rental experience
https://www.facebook.com/CoveCommunitiesCanada/posts/597518213939792?__tn__=-UC-R
A Calgary Village homeowners experience with shoddy renovations
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=240940176454244&id=100016147891834&__tn__=C-R