AUBURN ― The lawyer representing a mobile home park managing company that was called out last month by its residents for lease hikes and living conditions is defending the company’s actions, adding that his client is “a for-profit entity” and “not a villain.”
Robert Kraus, attorney for Parakeet Communities, which owns Whispering Pines Estates Mobile Homes and American Mobile Home Park along Washington Street in Auburn, added that the company will address the issues raised by residents.
“In comparison to what is a comparable rent of a comparable space in Auburn, I think you will find that the amount of rent, in fact, is not outrageous and in line with market prices,” said Kraus. “We hear and are listening to our constituents.”
Parakeet Communities, a Maryland-based company, owns communities that comprise renter-tenant and owner-tenant residents on low and fixed incomes, often due to disability and old age. Some of these residents told the Telegram & Gazette in January that the choice to move in, often decades ago, was due to cost considerations.