***UPDATE***
After residents living in a Pinellas County mobile home park were given until 4:00 p.m. on Friday to have their living conditions fixed, the plug has been pulled on them.
Mobile home park owner Pamela Carnesi has said she is getting two hotel rooms for the family Friday night.
Residents have been living in deplorable conditions and were promised to have changes made. The landlord had promised to find them a place to stay, but as of this posting, we've not heard if that's happened.
Now multiple residents are preparing for eviction.
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Pinellas County Mobile Home Park Owner, Pamela Carnesi, has 24 hours to fix some dangerous violations in her tenants Lealman homes, or they could be without a roof over their heads right before the holidays.
Neighbors at Foxhole Mobile Home Park reached out to 10News for help saying they’ve been living in dangerous conditions.
“That’s full of black mold,” neighbor Lottie Matthews says as she opens her cabinet door.
“They had to cap that off, because I could've killed myself. There’s live wires underneath the sink,” says tenant Brandy Wilson. Wilson voluntarily moved out Thursday and let the fire department cut the power to the home.
Neighbors claim complaints to the owner aren’t getting action.
“I told her because my husband is on dialysis, I can't have black mold in my house. He can't be around that kind of stuff. She said 'okay, I'll have someone over to have it fixed in the next week or so'. I never saw her,” says tenant Jessica Warrant.
“He's got an extension cord running from extension cords and outlets. Extension cord and extension cord to extension cord running the air conditioner, that is against the code,” says Lealman Fire Chief Jim Millican. Neighbors’ complaints to his department prompted a visit to the park on Thursday.
“Another door seal off that doesn't operate,” says Millican as pointed out serious fire concerns around the park.
Millican tells 10News he’s been giving owner Pamela Carnesi chances to bring conditions into compliance since last July.
“She's had over a year to get all these issues fixed and hasn't done nothing,” says Matthews.
The department shut off power to four vacant homes with violations and warned Carnesi when she showed up at the property that she has until Friday to fix critical electrical issues in three families’ homes.
“She left and caused a big ruckus among her residents. Her exact words to her residents were she didn't care. She was unhappy they were letting us in to do the inspections, which they have to do. As far as she's concerned, they can pull the meter to the entire park, turn the water off, and these people can do whatever they've got to do,” says Chief Millican.
10News caught up with Carnesi at her Clearwater home. When asked if she plans to fix the issues, she replied, “I have to have a little time. I was ambushed today,” Carnesi says.
Carnesi had a different version of what’s been happening at the park.
“It's very hard to get around and take care of my mobile home park, especially since they arrested me, because an evicted tenant was screaming, ‘She's got drugs!’ Yeah, I have a prescription for marijuana,” Carnesi says.
When asked if she really wants to see the families homeless right before the holidays she says, “Absolutely not. I love every one of them.”
10News pressed Carnesi if tenants should be worried that they’re going to get kicked out and she replies, “No, because I'm going to do everything in my power -- as long as they pay me -- I'm going to put all the money in that I can to fix it in a timely manner.”
10News vows to hold her to her word.
The Fire Chief will be back out at the property Friday afternoon checking the violations to see if Carnesi has fixed the most serious issues. If she hasn't, the department will work with the county or Red Cross to find the families a place to stay. Whether they'll be homeless for the holidays is now in Carnesi's hands.
Problems could get worse, inspectors couldn't get in to look at a dozen other homes.
If Carnesi doesn't fix the violations, she faces fines. Carnesi tells 10News that she’ll pay for hotel rooms for the three families, if she can't meet the deadline.
Check back with 10News for updates.
