Children, pregnant woman among those evicted, left homeless in Orange County: Who's being held accountable?

ORLANDO, Fla. - Families in Orlando are looking for new homes. 

On Tuesday, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office came knocking on doors at Lake Downey Mobile Homes in Union Park, telling people they needed to get out. Many were forced to leave behind their belongings and the mobile homes for which they paid.

So what happens now? That’s what FOX 35 has been investigating.

Right now, Orange County government officials and charity organizations are scrambling to find new homes for families that were just kicked out of their trailers. Zeynep Portway, the Executive Director of Samaritan Resource Center is one of them.

Samaritan Resource Center is right down the road from Lake Downey Mobile Home Park.

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The agency had helped out in the past, bringing water after it was shut off in the trailer a few months ago, and offering other services. At their headquarters, they offer things like housing assistance, hot meals, and access to other food, medical care, legal services, and more. 

Portway says she got a call from the sheriff’s office warning that deputies were going to be posting eviction notices and that people might need help. Teams from the Center went back out to see what people needed. 

"What they found was disturbing," said Portway. "They came back pretty upset and sad about the situation."

Court records show a man named Manohar Jain owns Lake Downey Mobile Home Park. He’s facing millions of dollars in fines for code violations there.

Commissioner Mayra Uribe, who represents Orange County’s District 3, says the bill goes up $30,000 every single day.

"I hope they'll be held accountable," said Commissioner Uribe. "Because what they've done to this community – even the surrounding neighborhood – is not right."

But the County says Jain hasn’t been paying those fines. In that case, what does accountability really look like?

FOX 35 News asked Uribe whether there’s a point where Jain’s violation of the code and failure to pay his fines would become criminal. 

"Not necessarily criminal," Commissioner Uribe answered. But it reaches a point where it allows the County to take over the property."

A group out of Miami called Pique Land Trust wants to build apartments over the land. 

Commissioner Uribe says if they do buy the property, the fines for code violations get passed on to them.

When FOX 35 called the property owners Tuesday, a woman on the phone raised her voice and then hung up. Wednesday, no one responded to our attempts to contact the property owners again.

FOX 35 also reached out to the group that’s planning to purchase the property, and to their attorney, but didn’t hear back from either of them.

Commissioner Uribe says she’s also attempted to reach out to Pique Land Trust’s attorney but also hasn’t heard a response back.

"As it stands today, the county still is trying to pursue foreclosure," said Uribe.

As for the trailers still on the property, and everything left inside them, the County and Samaritan Resource Center say there’s no recourse – they’re just lost.

The County says the property owner has already started bulldozing some down, even though he isn’t permitted for that.

Portway and others at the Samaritan Resource Center said Jain should be held accountable for that, as well as for allowing crime at the property and allowing conditions there to deteriorate to such an extreme point. 

"It looks like a third-world country," said Portway. "And the fact that people lived in that and whoever owns the property, or the property manager allowed that to happen is shameful. What the legal ramifications are and what happens after that, I don't know."