Residents at Belton, Missouri mobile home park ask for help after receiving notice to move

Residents at the Oak Hill Mobile Home Park at 1501 North Scott Ave. are scrambling to find new homes after receiving notice they need to move within 30 to 60 days. Those residents contacted KMBC 9 Investigates saying they now face tough choices in a tight housing market; try to move mobile homes they have owned for decades or cut bait and start over. It is especially concerning, they say because the mobile home park sits in the North Scott Redevelopment corridor for Belton, which has received a new round of discussion at recent city council meetings. So far, city leaders have not publicly announced any sale of the mobile home site, but residents at Oak Hill tell KMBC 9 Investigates they are concerned city leaders are forcing them out for redevelopment, without proper compensation.Calls to a city spokeswoman and Belton’s mayor on Tuesday were not immediately returned.”It’s making everybody in this trailer park become homeless,” said Ashley Harris, a single mother of two, on a month-to-month lease at Oak Hill. Harris said she has an autistic son, who is struggling with the idea of moving within the next 30 days.”We don’t want to be homeless,” she said. “We don’t want to have to live in the car.”The current owner, Fort-Worth, Texas-based Lackland Holdings, sent letters to several residents earlier this month saying the park “has been sold.”But the letter left out a key detail — the new owner. Lackland Holdings owner Tim Fleet said he was not allowed to share the new owner’s identity. Fleet told KMBC 9 Investigates much of the property sits in a floodplain.”We’ve got to get those houses moved out of the floodplain. That was a big cause of it,” Fleet said.Fleet said his company is working with residents to help pay for moves, saying the last lease at the property runs through the end of September. He also another mobile home property owned by the company is willing to spend money to help get residents moved in there.”We’re going to close it, and we’re going to sell it,” Fleet said of Oak Hill. “It’s a safety concern because of the flooding. And we’re going to help the residents find other places to live.”If you live on this property, or any other area near the North Scott Redevelopment corridor, KMBC 9 Investigates wants to hear from you. Email investigates@kmbc.com.
Residents at the Oak Hill Mobile Home Park at 1501 North Scott Ave. are scrambling to find new homes after receiving notice they need to move within 30 to 60 days.
Those residents contacted KMBC 9 Investigates saying they now face tough choices in a tight housing market; try to move mobile homes they have owned for decades or cut bait and start over.
It is especially concerning, they say because the mobile home park sits in the North Scott Redevelopment corridor for Belton, which has received a new round of discussion at recent city council meetings. So far, city leaders have not publicly announced any sale of the mobile home site, but residents at Oak Hill tell KMBC 9 Investigates they are concerned city leaders are forcing them out for redevelopment, without proper compensation.
Calls to a city spokeswoman and Belton’s mayor on Tuesday were not immediately returned.
“It’s making everybody in this trailer park become homeless,” said Ashley Harris, a single mother of two, on a month-to-month lease at Oak Hill. Harris said she has an autistic son, who is struggling with the idea of moving within the next 30 days.
“We don’t want to be homeless,” she said. “We don’t want to have to live in the car.”
The current owner, Fort-Worth, Texas-based Lackland Holdings, sent letters to several residents earlier this month saying the park “has been sold.”
But the letter left out a key detail — the new owner.
Lackland Holdings owner Tim Fleet said he was not allowed to share the new owner’s identity. Fleet told KMBC 9 Investigates much of the property sits in a floodplain.
“We’ve got to get those houses moved out of the floodplain. That was a big cause of it,” Fleet said.
Fleet said his company is working with residents to help pay for moves, saying the last lease at the property runs through the end of September. He also another mobile home property owned by the company is willing to spend money to help get residents moved in there.
“We’re going to close it, and we’re going to sell it,” Fleet said of Oak Hill. “It’s a safety concern because of the flooding. And we’re going to help the residents find other places to live.”
If you live on this property, or any other area near the North Scott Redevelopment corridor, KMBC 9 Investigates wants to hear from you. Email investigates@kmbc.com.