PORTLAND, Ore. — Roughly 40 current and former tenants of a troubled mobile home park in Ilwaco will each be getting a check for $10,000. The restitution stems from a lawsuit filed by Washington’s Attorney General against the park’s owners, Michael and Denise Werner of Vancouver, and their companies.
The AG’s office claimed the Werners refused to keep the Beacon RV mobile home park in Ilwaco clean and unlawfully issued eviction and utility shut-off notices.
“You can’t just go into a mobile home park and not play by the rules and try to evict people without a process,” said Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “If you do that, there are consequences.”
Many of those living in the mobile home park along the southwest Washington coast were seniors, disabled, low-income or veterans. In court records, the AG’s office said Denise Werner described the Beacon residents as “filth” and Michael Werner stated, he “does not believe the law applies to him.”
The Werners did not respond to KGW’s request for comment regarding restitution payments.
“I’m glad they finally got justice served to them,” said Dallas Busse, a former Beacon resident. “I hope this opened their eyes that people in parks like this are people too.”
The Werners and their companies own RV Inn Style Resorts — title sponsor of the Clark County Amphitheater in Ridgefield. Records show, they also own Deer Point Meadows Investments, a convention center and own and operate dozens of mobile home and RV parks across Oregon and Washington.
Earlier this year, a KGW investigation profiled a woman living in a mobile home park owned by the Werners and their companies. At the time, Casey Jewell had no working stove. The toilet was broken. Six large buckets collected rainwater dripping through broken sheetrock and insulation after a hole opened up in her kitchen ceiling.
“Nobody should be living in this,” Jewell said in February. The Vancouver woman claimed the owners refused to fix the problems. After KGW’s story aired, Jewell moved into a new unit. She’s currently considering litigation against the Werners and their companies.