After meeting with the Tampa Tenants Union (TTU) last Sunday, residents at Holly Court Apartments in North Tampa are planning to protest against a mass eviction, as well as dirty drinking water and other structural issues there.
On Dec. 31, 2021, many of the residents at the property received eviction notices that said they have to move out by the end of January, with no explanation as to why. Now, they’re planning to demonstrate near the property on Thursday, Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. at Harvest Hope Park, across the street from the complex.
The meeting to discuss the evictions and plan the protest had to be held at Harvest Hope rather than on Holly Court property, because the management company, Palm Communities LLC, has threatened to trespass anyone who’s not a tenant. The complex is surrounded by a tall black security gate and lined with cameras that are monitored 24-hours by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
At the meeting, tenants decided that they weren’t going to take the mass eviction lying down.
Nelson said he currently pays $650 for his one bedroom apartment at Holly Court. The 68-year-old veteran, who was the first to speak out about the evictions to Bay News 9, helped rally his neighbors to the meeting.
He and other residents have said that they estimate that around a third of the residents who once lived at the 33-unit complex have already left out of fear of having an eviction on their record. Some moved with family, others found new places to live.
Some tenants have told Nelson and TTU that they’ve received strange phone calls from people saying they are with Palm Communities, and that the eviction notices weren’t meant for them, so they can stay at the property. But nothing has been confirmed in writing. The tenants think it might be a tactic to get people not to speak up and protest. Some tenants told TTU that they haven’t received an eviction notice at all, leading to confusion about what the owners plan to do with the property.
Palm Communities LLC has still not responded to CL’s questions about the mass eviction.
Members of TTU who are helping to organize the protest said that a lot of the residents who did receive eviction notices have nowhere to go, because of skyrocketing rents in the Tampa Bay area. They want to stay on the property, and they want the outstanding problems there to be fixed.