On the final day tenants of a South Bend trailer park had to remove their window air-conditioners, their state senator asked Indiana’s top law enforcement official for help.
Democratic State Senator David Niezgodski on Tuesday released a letter he sent to Republican Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita. The letter asks Rokita to review whether Denver-based Yes! Communities is violating any state laws by banning window air-conditioners at Countryside Village, a trailer park on Mayflower Road. The company has told tenants they had to remove them by Tuesday.
Yes! Communities has central air-conditioning in the trailers that it owns and rents to tenants. Some tenants who own their own units but rent land from the company still have window units and say they can’t afford to install central air.
In the letter, Niezgodski writes that, “While this may be permitted under the terms of the lease, we are concerned that the timing and nature of this policy may amount to an effort to displace lower-income residents and phase out older trailers. If this is the case, it could potentially rise to the level of an unfair or deceptive business practice, particularly given the lack of viable cooling alternatives.”
Yes! Communities has not replied to our interview requests.
