AUBURN — Herbert Corey has always been a hands-on man who, in all his years of working as a contractor, is most proud for his work to build in the early 1980s mobile home park Whispering Pines Estates Mobile Homes.
For the last 25 years, Corey has also lived there with his wife, Jerralyn, owning one of the homes since 1999.
During most of that stay, Corey has also worked as the park’s maintenance person, with his lease waived.
That was until April 2022, when Parakeet Communities, a Maryland-based managing company, purchased the park, immediately changing the park’s rules, among others bumping up the rent to $500 across the park.
Last December, the company issued a five-year lease agreement that would start Jan. 1 of this year, asking the residents to pay $615, and to expect $100 increases every year.
By 2028, each resident of the 55-plus community will be required to pay a rent of $1,015.
In the flurry of changes, Corey was stripped of his position as maintenance manager and was asked to pay rent for the plot of land where he and his wife live.