JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville City Councilman is behind a push to get answers from the owners of a Westside mobile home park where tenants have seen massive water bills.
Moore Enterprises which owns Three Seasons, Orange Park North, and Americana mobile home parks, all on the Westside, has until next Friday at noon to explain why tenants are being charged outrageous water bills, or the case will be sent to the State Attorney’s Office.
City Councilman At-Large Matt Carlucci has been following the complaints closely. He wants to be sure, local mobile home park tenants are not being taken advantage of. This after a city inspection earlier this week revealed no water leaks were found at one tenant’s home, even after she paid $2,200 in water bills over two months.
“You’re innocent until proven guilty, but something is not adding up here, and unless there’s a good explanation given soon, I think the state attorney’s office should step in and start doing some probing on the problem,” Carlucci said.
Carlucci wants answers from Moore Enterprises, which owns three Jacksonville mobile home parks including Three Seasons Mobile Home Village on the Westside. Carlucci said he’s working closely with District 14 City Councilman Rahman Johnson to get to the bottom of why tenants are receiving sky-high bills.
″I think it’s outrageous. Whether someone is doing something on purpose or not, they need to fix the damn problem and be done with it, because this is hurting people that probably don’t have a lot of money in their back pocket,” Carlucci said.
JEA, the City of Jacksonville, and a team of plumbers on Monday said they didn’t find any leaks that would result in astronomical bills at the home of resident Kelly O’Neil who has been hit with huge bills. That revelation led to the Friday deadline for Moore Enterprises to respond to the city, as to the reason why.
“I think Three Seasons Mobile Home Park has some due diligence to do to explain what the problem is, and seems like from everything I’ve read, from the city and elsewhere, the problem lies with the management of the water and the mobile home facility on their side, and some people may be due their money back,” Carlucci said.
News4JAX learned on Friday that the law firm that has represented Three Seasons Mobile Home Village for at least the last five years is no longer working with them.
A spokesperson for the Dalton Agency which now represents the law firm wrote: “Concerning your inquiry concerning Moore Enterprises properties and the issues explicitly relating to water usage and billings, please note that Rogers Towers no longer represents the mobile home park in connection with these matters.”
It’s not clear why the two entities parted ways.
If you’ve received a high-water bill at Three Seasons, Americana or Orange Park North Mobile Home parks, inspectors still want to hear from you. You can file an official complaint with the City of Jacksonville’s Office of Consumer Affairs by calling 904-255-7198.