Four months after Riverside Mobile Home Park in Toledo, OH, was condemned as “unfit for human habitation,” tenants are still living there. With the water shut off and demolition crews on standby, residents say they have nowhere to go.
“We’re trying all the time to find a place,” Susan Luttrell, one of the residents, told 13 Action News. “We’re not trying to just stay here. … All the rents are so high. When you’re on Social Security, under $1,000 a month, you can’t pay $800 a month on rent. You can’t do it.”
Meanwhile, the Chicago-based owners are trying to sell the condemned park for $750,000—even as they face nearly a quarter million dollars in unpaid water bills and property taxes, plus a looming $200,000 demolition lien.
The tenants still holding on say they’re caught between a rock and a hard place: stuck in a park they want to leave and a housing market that has priced them out.
The standoff
City officials say Riverside’s decline was years in the making.
“For too long, the owners of Riverside Mobile Home Park have failed to meet even the most basic standards of safety and decency,” Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said in a press release announcing the decision.
And it appears that the owners had been in financial distress for some years. Public records show they haven’t paid property taxes for the park since 2018. An agent representing the owners told 13 Action News that they had inherited the property in “pretty rough shape” and lacked the funds to rehabilitate it.
That lack of action has now forced the city’s hand.
“This is not a decision we make lightly,” Jim Molnar, director of building and code compliance, said in a press release announcing the decision. “But the conditions at this property are unacceptable and pose a real danger to the health of those still living there. This action is necessary to protect people and ensure they have the opportunity to live in a safe and healthy environment.”
Residents were given 30 days to vacate and were connected with local agencies for relocation help. When many stayed past the June deadline, the city extended the order until late September. But that deadline has now passed, too, yet three tenants remain.
Life inside Riverside: ‘We’re the ones that suffer’
For those still living at Riverside, daily life has become a waiting game.
“They send us here, they send us there, they tell us to talk to this person, talk to that person,” Charles Parker, a resident of the community, told 13 Action News. “You can talk all you want. It’s action that matters.”
City officials say they’ve worked with housing nonprofits and promised soft transitions that treat residents with dignity. But on the ground, residents say they’re still struggling to find alternative housing, even as the property hits the market for sale.
“We’re the ones that suffer, we’re the ones that are losing everything that we’ve put in,” Parker added.
What’s happening in Toledo mirrors a national pattern. Mobile and manufactured homes have long been a last bastion of affordable housing—22 million Americans live in them—but the model comes with a catch.
Owners typically own the unit, but not the land beneath it. That distinction leaves them vulnerable to rising lot rents, corporate buyouts, or eviction with fewer protections than traditional homeowners.
“Mobile home owners carry all the obligations of ownership with few of the protections,” Jacob Haas told Realtor.com® in July. His work with Princeton’s Eviction Lab found eviction rates in some parks triple the foreclosure rate for traditional homes. When lot rents climb—or when a park is sold—residents can lose everything, even if their mortgage is paid off.
It’s worth noting that Riverside’s story is slightly different. Instead of eviction filings triggered by missed rent or a park sale, the residents here are caught in a condemnation process. Unlike an eviction, which plays out between landlord and tenant, condemnation is a government action meant to protect health and safety.
Yet the end result for residents can feel just as devastating: losing a home they own, with limited resources to relocate and few affordable alternatives.
Why ‘affordable Toledo’ isn’t affordable anymore
On paper, Toledo has been hailed as one of the more affordable housing markets in the country. But behind those encouraging headlines lies a more complicated reality.
Unemployment in the city has crept up in recent years, reaching 6.6% in March—well above the national rate of 4.3%.
“Unemployment climbed due to contraction in the professional and business services, information, and manufacturing industries compared to last year,” says Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “Nevertheless, the relatively affordable cost of living and low housing costs could continue to attract homebuyers.”
For many longtime residents, though—especially those on fixed incomes—that affordability is slipping away. Mobile homes have been one of the last footholds for low-cost housing. The standoff at Riverside shows how fragile even that foothold can be.