Florida mobile home park under scrutiny for charging different fees based on where applicants are from

A mobile home park in Pembroke Park, Fla., has come under scrutiny since it came to light that it was charging different fees based on the country applicants come from, according to Local10.com.

As Keenya Robertson, a fair housing advocate for almost 25 years and president of Housing Opportunities Project for Excellence (HOPE), told Local 10: “Something is not right.”

In order to become a part of Lakeside Park Estates, a 55-and-older community of mostly Canadians who come to Florida for the winter, a member must first fill out a rental application. The first page of the application lists what applicants would be charged based on their background. U.S. residents are charged $50, and from there, the prices go up significantly. The highest application fee listed is for natives of Colombia, who are listed as being charged $175 per adult for an application.

Along with higher fees for potential residents who come from outside the United States, many countries are not listed on the application. “I’m missing countries that are represented in South Florida significantly by black people. Jamaica, the Bahamas and Haiti are missing,” Robertson said.

Local 10 News sent a producer into the Lakeside Park Estates with a hidden camera. When she informed them that her parents were from Haiti, she was told to call instead. When she did call, Lakeside Park Estates said to her that the application fee would be $175.

Matthew Dietz, an attorney for the Disability Independence Group, said that the practice was anomalous. “I have never seen other housing providers do the same thing,” he told the outlet.

Virnalise Velez, who works in the Lakeside Park Estates office, spoke to Local 10 News about the issue. “We do get a lot of complaints about this,” she said, adding that she didn’t find the practice fair. “I’m from the Dominican Republic, and I’d have to pay $75 instead of $50.”

According to Local 10, a man who identified himself as the property manager in training said background checks from overseas cost more. However, at a mobile home park that Local 10 News visited just down the street, the application cost is a flat $60.

The outlet reports that Michael Everett of Lakeside Park Estate’s parent company, Trinity Broadcasting, said that it does not consider the application fees discriminatory, but said that the company is considering introducing a flat fee.

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