CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLERIGHTNOW) – Residents of the Carlton Mobile Home Park, with help from the City of Charlottesville and three local nonprofits, may be able to keep their homes.

On Wednesday, July 25, 2024, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville and its partners Piedmont Housing Alliance and the Legal Aid Justice Center met with residents of to discuss moving forward with an offer to purchase the park to prevent displacement of the families living there.

The meeting was the culmination of an intense month of activity after residents received notice on June 7th that the park owners – the Bolton family – had a $7M offer pending. Per state law, any sale of a trailer park is contingent upon the park owner considering any offers from a tenant group, representing 25% or more of existing tenants received by the owner within 60 days after the notification was given. 

Residents were able to collect signatures of more than 40% of the residents specifying support for Habitat to make an offer on their behalf. 

Following a meeting between residents and the groups, residents as Habitat and Piedmont Housing Alliance to pledge that: 

Habitat and Piedmont Housing Alliance agreed, drafting a hand-written signed commitment at the meeting, and the residents agreed to move forward in support of an offer by Habitat on their behalf.

Since the meeting, Habitat and Piedmont Housing Alliance have been diligently pursuing financing to submit an offer to the Bolton family prior to the August 6th deadline. 

“This is, admittedly, one of the most challenging efforts we’ve ever been involved in given the timeline imposed upon the process,”states Dan Rosensweig, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville.  “But we and our partners feel deeply that, given the enormous stakes for the families, we have a moral and ethical imperative to do everything we can to prevent displacement.”