NORTON SHORES, MI – Some residents in a Norton Shores mobile home community said they are scrambling to find new housing because of property management issues that have left them without water on two occasions.
The city of Norton Shores has advised residents of Crestview Estates Mobile Home Community, 3290 South Getty St., to begin looking for new dwellings as soon as possible.
City Administrator Mark Meyers said Adam Schwerin, the property owner of Crestview Mobile Park LLC, did not intend on keeping the once-foreclosed property or paying the water and sewer bills.
The city shut off water twice in November and December after management failed to pay large water bills likely caused by pipe leaks.
Schwerin said in an email on Tuesday, Feb. 4 that he disagreed with how the city handled the water issue.
“It’s a shame the way the water department has acted. I’ve had properties all over the country and they are by far the most unprofessional and least workable utility I have ever dealt with!” Schwerin said. He declined to elaborate.
Resident Margaret Ellison said she was “hot” upon learning about the financial and infrastructural problems affecting the complex.
“I pay my bills so why can’t they pay the bills?” said Ellison, whose rent covers fees associated with water service.
Ellison said she has found “no good luck” securing an affordable home. She has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and relies on oxygen to breathe. Her fixed income, coupled with her pet dog, has hampered her ability to find an affordable place to live, she said.
Muskegon County Land Bank Coordinator Tim Burgess said Schwerin, who maintains a land contract with the county, has complicated the current scenario further by failing to communicate that he wants to forfeit the property.
“The only thing we’ve heard from the company is anecdotal. They have not said anything,” Burgess said. “We’re still waiting for them to step up and indicate something to us.”
Burgess said even if Schwerin moves to terminate the land contract and the quitclaim process, residents will remain in a limbo because it would take months in court before the county can take over the property.
Schwerin said the assertions made by county officials were inaccurate.
“They sold this poor conditioned property to us,” Schwerin said. He also said he has communicated with Muskegon County Treasurer Tony Moulatsiotis and has attempted to “streamline the process of them taking it back.”
Water bills surge
Most recently, the generosity of five Muskegon-area Catholic churches kept the water from being shut off for a third time after the group offered to pay a $5,000 water bill.
The Rev. Phil Salmonowicz, priest at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Norton Shores, said he offered to pay the bill on behalf of the churches last week after learning about Crestview Estates’ struggles.
“I just think that it was an awful thing for the owner to do,” Salmonowicz said. “We just decided to be Good Samaritans.”
Norton Shores Water and Sewer Superintendent Derek Gajdos told residents in a letter dated Jan. 27 that local Catholic churches paid for the outstanding water and sewer bill from November 2013 but that the current bill due on Feb. 10 was still pending.
The city decided that the current bill must be paid by March 31 or it would shut off the water supply again.
“We can’t continue to provide water that’s not being paid for. We buy the water from our supplier and pay that bill and we’re not getting reimbursed from our customers,” Meyers said during a work session on Jan. 27.
He estimated a liability of $15,000 or more by the end of March.
“Obviously, the property owner is not doing the right thing by his residents, but we’re going to do everything that we can to make sure residents have ample time to find housing,” Meyers said.
The city’s recent arrangement is not the first accommodation it has offered to Crestview Estates management and residents. Last year, Norton Shores arranged a payment plan with the owner that ultimately fell through because of missed payments.
Officials suspect fractures within the community’s water lines caused water and sewer bills to surge recently.
However, Norton Shores Director of Public Works Jerry Bartoszek said it was not for the city to determine what caused the costly bills since the water went through the meter.
“Once it passes the meter, it is the customer’s water. Based on the usage, it is our belief that there are leaks within the mobile home park’s water lines or water unnecessarily running within one or more of the homes,” Bartoszek said.
Burgess and Moulatsiotis said on Monday that the water and sewer bill is not the only neglected bill.
On Friday, Jan. 31, the county paid DTE Energy to ensure renters living in Crestview’s sole two-story apartment building would have gas. Burgess said gas service for the apartment dwellers is set up differently than the mobile homes.
Moulatsiotis said the $177 bill, paid for using Land Bank monies, kept DTE from turning off the building’s gas supply on Friday.
In addition to missed water and gas bills, Burgess said the property owner has missed two land contract payments as of Tuesday, Feb. 4.
A new home
Although Norton Shores has advised residents to start looking for new homes, tenants like Crystal Warner are waiting and hoping that recent setbacks will be solved so they can stay.
Warner, who moved to Crestview Estates 13 years ago, lives with her 2-year-old daughter, Sky, along with three cats and a dog. Most places, she said, will not allow pets and will charge move-in fees she cannot afford.
“I’ll go live in a tent somewhere. I’m not giving away my pets. They’re like family to me,” said Warner, who also relies on Supplemental Security Income benefits.
Warner said her home, built in the early 1970s, is too old to be moved to another Muskegon-area mobile home community. She hopes that the county will take over the property again so that she can remain at Crestview.
Ellison, on the other hand, said she is upset she will lose the recent investments she put into her aging home, including new plumbing and a water heater. She hopes to find a stand-alone house rather than another complex to reduce the chances of dealing with poor management.
“I don’t want this to happen to me again,” Ellison said.