Vero Beach Mobile Home park owner owes $250,000 in fines to city, but won't pay or comply

Yahoo

18-07-2025

This story was updated to add new information.
VERO BEACH — Surrounded by auto repair shops and used car dealers, Vero Beach Mobile Home Park is a tight collection of nearly 50 trailers for low-income housing. Three dirt paths traverse the park, and cats are almost as plentiful as residents. Many of the residents are on disability or Social Security.
Owner James Schlitt has a problem, though. He owes the city $263,750 — fines of $50 per day from Jan. 1, 2011, to June 10, according to City Clerk Sherri Philo. But, Schlitt says it's in his best interest to let the fines pile up.
"It's a numbers game at this point," explained Schlitt. "It's costing me less money to let the fines pile up than it would to fix the problems."
The violations levied against Schlitt require him to remove 17 homes from the property, move existing trailers 20 feet apart and clear the right-of-way from obstructions. Schlitt estimates removing one trailer costs $15,000 — or $255,000 for 17.
"That's 17 homes that won't be available to people that need them," he said. "The city does not have a lot of cheap housing available already. We can't reduce it."
The trailers rent for an average of $450 per month, and since 2011, removing 17 of them would have cost Schlitt nearly $1.3 million in rent over the 14 years the fines have piled up.
The city has taken steps to foreclose on the property, officials said.
Rock and a hard place
The trailer park was established in 1951, and has looked virtually the same since. Schlitt bought the property in 2001.
The code enforcement violations stemmed from a former secretary of Schlitt's, who, he said, stole more than $60,000 and disappeared. He says she filed the complaints, and vacated her trailer on the property the next day. Schlitt declined to identify the former secretary.
"If she had not done that, we might not be in this situation," Schlitt said. "But, what's done is done."
Turner inherited the case when he took his position with the city in 2019.
"This case predates my time here," Turner said. "But there is a lot to consider, especially the lives of the people who reside at the park."
Turner says the most common way for property owners to resolve large liens is to sell the property and use the proceeds to pay the fines. Schlitt says he's not selling. The value of the park is $479,818, according to the county Property Appraiser's Office.
"We don't want to be in this situation either," said City Attorney John Turner. "But everyone is held to the same standard."
Schlitt's wife sends weekly emails to the code-enforcement office, asking for help and how to resolve the situation. Until one is found, Schlitt repairs what he can. He doesn't foresee a resolution in the near future.
"I walk the park and do my best to keep it nice," says Schlitt. "But, I am one person, and the nature of low-income housing is it tends to have some shortfalls."
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He also does not want to put his tenants out on the street.
"If I sell, who is going to look out for my residents," Schlitt asked. "Many of them have nowhere else to go."
For now, his plan is to keep the park open and roofs over the heads of his residents.
"I am just going to keep on operating it as I have been," Schlitt says. "And will continue to do so until I can't anymore."
Nick Slater is TCPalm's Indian River County Watchdog reporter. You can reach him at [e-mail] and 224-830-2875.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Local trailer park owner owes city $250,000, but isn't planning to pay
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