Members of Workers' Dignity organized a meeting for residents of the W.C. Company-owned mobile home community
Around three weeks ago, the owner of a mobile home community on Dickerson Pike started to deliver notices to tenants telling them to leave their lots by Aug. 31, according to residents. The evictions will take place as the owner of the mobile home park, Tony Clouse, seeks to sell the property and will follow renovations made to the area.
On July 9, about two dozen residents of the mobile home park, located on 1505-1603 Dickerson Pike, told their stories to Councilmember Sean Parker — whose District 5 includes the community — in an evening meeting organized by Workers’ Dignity in the community’s parking lot. Most of them spoke Spanish, with translation provided by the nonprofit worker center's members. (A member of the community contacted Workers’ Dignity about the evictions.)
The residents told Parker that many of the households are families with small children and that some of them live in trailers that are too old to relocate. They added they had been paying their rent on time. Some of them had multiyear leases on the land as well — the Scene received one copy of a five-year lease that was signed in 2019. Tenants also described investing thousands of dollars into their homes.
One woman said she felt intimidated by the ownership. For example, she said she was asked about her immigration status while being asked to sign documents she didn’t understand.
Parker said he was “disappointed” to learn about how Clouse had been handling the situation. The rezoning decision will still need Parker and the council’s approval, since he represents the district — and if denied, the sale is effectively blocked.
But tenants weren’t necessarily keen on that outcome either. One man said he and his fellow residents worried Clouse would retaliate if the sale fell apart. Several said they just wanted more time to find housing — perhaps as long as six months — and that they would want to be reimbursed for their mobile homes. Residents said some members in the community, which contains about 48 units according to Workers’ Dignity, managed to sell their mobile homes to Clouse.
One man in attendance who sold his trailer to the owner said he felt like the choice was “make a little something now, or end up with nothing.”
An eviction notice shared with the Scene, dated July 2, contains only a brief paragraph telling a lot resident to vacate by Aug. 31 or “we will institute judicial proceedings.” It was signed by attorney Valerie Webb of Sanders Webb PLLC.
The Scene reached out to W.C. Company and the attorney via email but did not receive a response.
Blanca Lara, a resident of the mobile home community, told the Scene she felt tenants weren’t given enough time, and noted that many were facing hardships due the pandemic — like losing hours at work. Lara has started looking for new housing for her family but says it isn’t easy finding a suitable home. In addition to living with her mother, her husband, her sister and her daughter, Lara has another child on the way, due in December. She says she’s worried that many families at the park will have a hard time sticking together and finding new places to stay.
Clouse first put the area up for sale back in June 2020 for an undisclosed amount. In March, Clouse submitted a document announcing plans to renovate the land for a mixed-use development. The Metro Planning Department approved rezoning on April 22.
Parker tells the Scene he hopes the fact that tenants are organizing and talking to each other can help encourage a better deal between tenants and the ownership.
“There's strength in numbers. And I hope that that kind of brings the owner to the table and is able to lead to some kind of better resolution.”
He added that the alleged harassment is something that “needs to be worked out before something moves forward.”
“If every one of these people showed up to a public hearing for the council bill and expressed what they just expressed to me at this meeting," Parker says, "I don't see that bill moving forward.”
The rezoning bill passed its first hearing. Its second hearing is set to occur at the Metro Council meeting on Aug. 3, which will also feature time for public comments.
While Clouse has been officially angling for the sale for a year, tenants still felt blindsided by the eviction notices, which began circulating three weeks ago.
Johana — who declined to give her last name — is an incoming freshman at Trevecca Nazarene University. Her start date is Aug. 31 — the same day her family needs to leave their mobile home.
“Instead of looking forward to my first day of college, I dread it because everything's so uncertain,” Johana says. “My home won't be here. My parents, my family — we don't know where I'm going to be in two months.”
Johana, the first in her family to go to college, says she’s worried that the move will affect her ability to afford school. And if she moves too far from Nashville, she worries she'll have to live on campus, which would also be pricey.
“Nashville is growing and I can't stop that. That’s very good for Nashville, but, like, where are we going to go?”
The tenants and Workers' Dignity will host a press conference Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the entrance to the mobile home park.
