PARKLAND, WI. (CBS 3) – An eviction is looming for some residents of a Douglas County mobile home park.
County officials informed residents at the Country Acres mobile home park earlier this summer that they would need to move by the beginning of August.
Residents are packing up just days ahead of the county’s deadline, but not everyone has a place to go.
Jennifer Wicklund has owned her home at Country Acres for almost a decade.
“I did all the painting. I painted inside my whole house,” said Wicklund.
She’s invested time and money fixing it up.
“My sister made countertops for me and put in a new sink,” Wicklund said. “I did the roof myself.”
But soon, she may be evicted.
“We were told that we need to leave the premises,” said Wicklund.
Wicklund owns the house, but the land is now owned by Douglas County.
According to county officials, they recently took ownership because a previous owner did not pay property taxes and created unsafe living conditions for residents.
The county informed residents in June they needed to leave the area in August and move their trailers.
After calling several moving companies, Wicklund discovered that it’s not an option for her.
“The home is too old and there’s some things that would still need to be updated, it would cost too much,” said Wicklund.
Officials with Douglas County said there have been some problems with the mobile home park for quite a while.
Mark Liebaert is the Douglas County Board Chairman.
“It’s been a few years actually because we started to get complaints,” said Liebaert.
The county claims the previous owner stopped paying for sewage and trash removal for some residents and it became a fire and health hazard.
“I mean, this is a no-win situation for the county,” said Liebaert.
For Wicklund, losing her home could have drastic consequences for her family’s health.
“Well, my son is 25, he’s in stage five renal failure. He goes to dialysis three days a week,” Wicklund said.
She said homelessness could affect his health.
“It feels like my heart’s been ripped out because now I can’t take care of my family properly right now,” Wicklund said.
According to county officials, the former property owner is Laura Weichert.
We attempted to reach Weichert for comment, but the phone line appeared to have been disconnected.
County officials said homeowners should get in touch with them by August 5, 2022, if they need help.
But they’ve said everyone needs to be off the property by August 15th, 2022.
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