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TRIADELPHIA -- When Robert Taylor purchased a trailer home at the Dallas Pike Campground & Mobile Home Park last February, he had no idea he would be getting kicked out just months later.
Taylor and an estimated 40 other residents who live in the community received letters on May 31 telling them to vacate the land by July 1. He said he received the letter, taped to his door, from the law office of Thomas White of Moundsville on behalf of the campground's owner, the Robert and Samuel Irrevocable Trust.
White said Thursday that his client has decided to extend that deadline to 90 days, but the clock is still ticking on residents' time on the property.
Taylor said he wasn't at home when the original letter appeared on his door. A neighbor informed him of that. That first letter stated that residents had 30 days to vacate the campground and that utilities would be shut off by July 1.
"And anything left behind would be considered abandoned and demolished," he said early Thursday.
When reached Thursday, White said that deadline was about to change.
He told The Intelligencer that the current owner had "a change of heart" and has decided to give the residents more time to move out. Instead of 30 days they will now have 90 days, he said.
White said instead of July 1, residents will now need to move out by Sept. 1. When asked what would happen if a person needed more time, White said that would be dealt with on a "case-by-case basis."
"That's all we can do at this point," he said.
White said he planned to draft a new letter this coming weekend to give to the residents on Monday, informing them of the new timeline.
"When we gave notice we did not realize how difficult a time it would be to get a mobile home out of there in 30 days," White said.
Residents of the campground said Thursday they believed that by state law that they should have been given 90 days to begin with.
White also said Thursday afternoon that the trust is considering giving people some money to help move as well.
"We're also going to offer some moving expense money to encourage them to get out on time," he said.
Taylor, who has spent thousands of dollars renovating his trailer for his family to live in, is now frantically trying to sell it to recoup some money and also find a new place to live. He does not have anywhere to move his trailer so he is looking for an apartment or house to rent quickly.
On top of having to move, he is also dealing with the stress of getting ready for an upcoming surgery to move a tumor from his pituitary gland.
"I just purchased mine in February, but there are other residents who have lived up there for 33 and 31 years. It's their livelihood. They don't have anything else," Taylor said.
Taylor said he's even more concerned about his senior neighbors.
"It's a real shame what is happening. People deserve better than this," he said. "An elderly person on a fixed income, it takes time to get them into a place. Some don't have any family to take care of them. ... It's a crying shame."
When told later Thursday about the owner's intentions of extending the deadline, campground resident Allen Patterson said the news provided "a little bit of relief."
"That's a little stress off all of us - some but not a lot," he said. "I think most could get out of there by that time. ... I'd like to meet these people who are doing this to us."
Patterson lives at the campground with wife Jackie and 22-year-old daughter Destiny. The family has lived there for 23 years. He added that he planned to wait and see what the new letter stated before making any more comments. He wondered if the utilities would remain on.
Among the issues for residents is that many of the homes do not have axles to be moved.
Resident Jim Howard said he already has found another place to live in Moundsville, but still needs to pay to move a storage shed he purchased recently for his yard.
"This is a hell of a retirement for me," Howard said.
White declined to give the future owner's name or plans for the property. He said the person does plan to redevelop it for a different use other than a campground and mobile home park.