CLAREMORE, Okla. — Tenants at two Green Country mobile home parks say the changes their landlord wants them to make are impossible for them to afford.
Paulette Culbertson works seven nights a week at Claremore fast food restaurants.
The last four years she's been renting to own the mobile home she shares with her kids and mother.
But that all changed a few days ago, when the park's owners said all residents have to make mandatory improvements or get out.
"I already put $9,000 into my trailer to make it livable for me and my kids," Culbertson said. "Now, I have to either stay here and give up my yard and everything and feel like a prisoner or leave it all behind."
On Tuesday, Culbertson and her mother are digging up the flowers in her front yard that are just starting to bloom.
New rules mean residents can have only three flower pots and three kinds of flowers, the trailers have to be re-painted in neutral colors, same goes for any sheds they approve, there has to be new skirting, porches have to be a certain size and color, only one car per person in the drive and no toys or anything else can be visible.
Culbertson will try and comply, but other residents here say they're on fixed incomes and there's no money for fix-ups.
"When I informed the landlady that I was moving, she informed me that I was the tenth person that day to tell her that," resident Ray Donna Mitchell said.
Christina Laverty's grandfather can no longer keep his fishing boat in his yard, so after 15 years he's moving.
"All of a sudden they said you have to do this, move your boat, do this and that," Laverty said. "I mean he's like 70 pushing 80!"
2 Works for You reached out to the owners of the mobile home park in Claremore and the other one in Catoosa they own but didn't get a response.
The manager of both parks says it's out of her hands.
"I understand people's concerns, I really do," Shanell Terrell said. "I don't know what to do about it myself they're just wanting to make it a better community."
Residents who stay and don't comply by March 1 will be fined.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Download our free app for Apple and Android and Kindle devices.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines and Daily Forecasts.
