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Comment by michaelkeenan | Hacker News Reader

It sounds like they're choosing between selling to the highest bidder, or keeping it as a trailer park for the benefit of the residents. There's a third option. If the land is more valuable as a vacant lot than as a trailer park, I hope they consider selling it as a vacant lot and distributing a portion of the difference to the residents as compensation for moving out. Using these numbers as an example:

> his appraiser had valued the property in 2013 at $14.5 million with the mobile homes and at $29.2 million as a vacant lot.

He might sell for $29 million and distribute $8 million equally among the 400 tenants. That's $20,000 per person, which could be more-than-decent compensation for having to move, and the seller still keeps a large portion of the difference in value: 29 - 8 - 14.5 = $6.5 (million).

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Would $20,000 actually be decent compensation for having to move in this case? They'd either have to start paying huge rents locally, or move pretty far away. In the former case, the $20,000 won't last too long, and in the latter case they're being uprooted from their community, they might have to find new jobs. (Or be unable to!)

Certainly it would be a nice thing to do and would ease the blow. And I wouldn't fault the owner for selling. But I don't know if distributing that amount would really make it up to the tenants.

When I lived in Seattle, I once was late paying my rent (by mistake I put the check in the wrong box).

The landlord put a note on my door saying, I paraphrase, that I either pay or get kicked out in a few days.

Do you think that before kicking me out they should have given me $20k to ease the pain and suffering I would endure due to not having a place to live?

Are the rules for those people different?

I'm not saying these people deserve anything here. That's a complex question whose answer I don't know and which I haven't given nearly enough thought to.

I'm merely saying, if you evict these people (which may be an entirely reasonable and justified action) then $20,000 isn't necessarily going to go very far in making it up to them.

As to whether they deserve more, or less, or anything, I don't know. You'll probably want to take that up with the parent comment.

Yup. For one they aren't delinquent on rent. But also the rules literally are different, there are city and state ordinances governing this trailer park. Residents are entitled to the appraised value of their homes, the city had to approve its closure, etc.

Residents are being offered between $12,000 and $30,000 for the appraised value of their homes and they don't want to move. I don't think $20,000 in cash would change their minds since the question for these families is pretty existential.

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