Multiple disabled and fixed income citizens reside at Lakeview. In January of 2021, residents received notification that the park owner Brett Van Zandt is selling the property to Mike Giovanone for a purchase price of $650,000. In the notification, Van Zandt stated that he was approached by Giovanone. In the letter, Van Zandt also stated Giovanone's intentions to dismantle the mobile home park and
force the residents to leave.
Most nearby mobile home parks require the homes to be newer than the homes in Lakeview regardless of the condition of the home. Many of the homes in Lakeview are not able to be relocated without incurring excessive costs. The cost of locally moving a mobile home ranges from approximately $3,000 to $25,000. Any homes that are moveable would be relocated to places with higher rent, different park policies, different pet policies, different school districts, and more. Many of the people would become homeless and be forced into the social services system. Many of the companion animals would face disturbing fates. Some of the residents purchased their homes within the past year. With the approval (and sometimes encouragement) of the park owner, many of the residents have invested in repairing the homes and added accessories such as decks and fences. The sale of the property steals the money invested from the residents. The combined amount of money invested by residents is hundreds of thousands of dollars. New York State Law required the option for residents to purchase the property to be given when the buyer declares intentions to change the use of the land away from being a mobile home park within a certain amount of time from the purchase date. Residents of the park teamed up with a NYS agency and a non-profit agency in order to attempt to purchase the park under the option provided by law. The purchase price stated in the certified letter was $650,000 plus realtor fees of nearly $20,000. After becoming aware of the residents intentions to purchase the property with the help of State agencies which want to preserve low income housing and the non-profit agency, Van Zandt and Giovanone cancelled the contract then created a new contract for the sale of the property. The new Contract eliminated the option for residents to purchase the property by utilizing a loophole in the law. The new contract was also reported to include the transfer of a second property to increase the purchase price to 1.4 million dollars. Van Zandt and Giovanone eliminated any chance that residents had for purchasing the property and keeping their homes. The money invested by residents is going directly into the pockets of Brett Van Zandt and Mike Giovanone with the sale price of $650,000 (plus a separate parcel of land for a total sale value of 1.4 million). Disabled, terminally ill, fixed income, and other residents are now facing the probability of becoming homeless. Due to the sale of the park, many residents will likely become homeless and left with no option other than to seek taxpayer funded housing and other assistance from state agencies. The sale of the park is taking money from the taxpayers and giving it to Brett Van Zandt and Mike Giovanone. According to the letter sent by Van Zandt, Giovanone approached him to purchase the property plus stated intentions to evict ALL tenants. Giovanone and Van Zandt eliminated the option stated in the certified letter for the tenants to purchase the property. Giovanone (or a representative of his) has also stated that he may use the property to expand his boat and rv storage business. Residents have every reason to believe that Van Zandt's statement about Giovanone's intention to evict all tenants is true. Mike Giovanone appears to be going out of his way to make disabled, terminally ill, fixed income, and other residents homeless.
