STATE COLLEGE, CENTRE COUNTY - The owners of the Hilltop Mobile Home Park in State College are planning to sell the property. Thursday night, the College Township Council debated whether the property should be turned into student housing, or low income housing.
WTAJ News spoke to residents at the mobile home park, and found that even though the number's dwindling, some plan to stay put.
The owners of the Hilltop told residents they had to leave by February 28th. That's come and gone, and some mobile homes still remain. Those who stayed, now live with their futures in limbo.
From more than 100, to around 15... Hilltop Mobile Home Park's look certainly has changed. People like Anthony Tucker say they're not moving.
"...I'm going to stay and make a fight of it."
Tucker's lived at Hilltop for around 16 years. He's a former soldier, and was a Machinist until he got laid off four years ago. He says it's been a rough few years.
"Right now I need help and I'm not getting any from anybody right now. So you can say I'm pretty low in a depression place right now."
The park has sent Tucker a letter saying he needs to let them know his intentions by the middle of March. He says the owners are treating their tenants unfairly. "It's wrong what they're doing down there. They thought they could get away with it, and they threaten people to get them out... All they want us to do is get out. Of course the landlord's going to get a pretty good sum of money if it goes through for him."
Tucker has Diabetes, so it's hard for him to get around. Even small tasks like getting something to eat have become a challenge. His brother wants him to move in, but Tucker doesn't want to be confined to one room. But he doesn't blame others in the park for leaving.
"I'm not going to run and hide somewhere, I'm going to stay here and see what happens, what have I got to lose?"
While the future of Hilltop is uncertain, those who have decided to stay are expected to get eviction notices in the coming weeks. The owners of the park declined to comment for this story.
