PUYALLUP, Wash. — Rigo Berto said he first moved into his mobile home in 2019 on 27th Avenue SE in Puyallup, hoping to get a fresh start for his new family, but was shocked to learn that the land his home sits on would be sold just a few years later.
“When we first bought the mobile home … we were never given any notice that the property was intended to be sold,” he said.
Now, Berto has until September 30 to find another place for his family to live.
That stress is being felt by dozens of other families who are being displaced to make room for a project to build apartments on the land. According to the City of Puyallup, 31 families are still living in the community.
Timberlane Partners, who bought the land in December 2021, began notifying residents in September 2021.
In a written statement, the firm said it’s working with the City of Puyallup to help provide grants and financial assistance to residents.
Eric Johnson said being displaced is stressful, especially in today’s housing market.
“The costs of housing is going up and is becoming more expensive and a lot harder to find affordable housing not only in Puyallup, but in Pierce County,” he explained.
Berto said he and many of his neighbors are struggling to find a place to go next.
“Almost everywhere that I’ve tried to go look and apply somewhere else, it’s always, no answer, no reply,” he said. “A lot of the people that live here, some of them are retired, and low income, so it’s hard for them to get out of here.”
Johnson also points to a bigger trend: mobile home parks are on the decline across the country.
“A lot of times, folks will buy a mobile home, and it’ll be a single wide or a double wide, even though they own the structure, they don’t own the land or the property the structure is on,” he explained. “That becomes very problematic because say the landlord wanted to sell that property, then you’d need to relocate. So that’s one of the things we’ve been seeing, mobile home parks are not too much of a thing that you see too much anymore because it’s not economically viable for both the person living on the property and also the land owner.”
Johnson reported that more than 90% of the households have applied for and received grant assistance from the City of Puyallup, and encourages those who are still in need of financial assistance to go to the City’s website for more information.