Who are these new owners?

Bah. Humbug. Scrooge is in town, and the Cratchetts are in for a bleak Christmas.

The residents of the Pines Annex Mobile Home Park have been left wondering exactly what they've done to deserve a bag of sticks for the holidays - unless being less-than-rich, and powerless, are criteria at gift-giving time.

Around Thanksgiving the park residents were handed rental termination notices from Web Title LLC, the new owners of the property. The announcements stated that residents had to be out by Dec. 1, 2002. Under state law, the park owner would have to compensate residents for moving expenses if they gave less than a year's notice, but could voluntarily compensate residents if they wished. Web Title volunteered a flat "None" on voluntary benefits.

Now, Medford-based Commercial Property Management - the managers of the property - has issued bills for uncollected rent. The reason for the uncollected rent occurred through a clerical error at the property management company. And even though some park residents realized the error, and attempted to pay for the increase that was imposed last July, Commercial Property Management did not accept the payments. The result is that park residents now have been hit with a 90-day notice to pay up for the property management's error.

Attorney Carlyle Stout, the representative of park owner Web Title LLC, said of the unfortunate circumstance: "There was a clerical error ... and the mistake wasn't realized until a few months down the road. It was a good faith mistake. I don't blame them (residents) for being upset, but they've got to pay the rent."

What would be so crippling to Web Title or Commercial Property Management to back up their "good-faith mistake" with a good faith effort to spread the rent hike over the period to Dec. 1, 2002 - the date of departure. Park residents with limited cash flow could much more easily manage the problem - one they did not create.

The rent increases were imposed by the previous owners, Chris Galpin of Galpin LLC and Gregg Adams of Adams Group LLC, to upgrade not only the visual appearance of the park, but also to increase the livability of the park in terms of health and safety. "They have not improved anything," said park resident Barbara Williams, who has already paid $225 toward the increased charges and still owes $150. Susan Sultz of Commercial Property Management backed up Williams' claim. "I'm not aware of any improvements they had planned," Sultz said. Stout indicated that any promise to improve the park "would not be binding on the new owners" that he represents.

So what the park residents got was a rent spike by two owners with no park improvements, a sale to a new owner, a clerical error that is ruining their holidays - all heaped on top of a notice to vacate.

The principals of the new owner Stout represents are not revealing their names. By law, they don't have to until late in 2002. But the veil of secrecy is indicting.

Fact is, there are Ashland residents whose lives have been reduced to not-so-quiet desperation. In the meantime, Web Title LLC remains a property owner without portfolio in the community. Oregon Action, a local social justice organization under the guiding hand of director Rich Rohde, has launched a search for the owners. "This level of unethical business practices is terrible," Rohde said. "Somebody wants to build and develop secretly on that valuable property, but they don't want to take on accountability to the community."

As disquieting as Scrooge was, we at least knew who he was and where he worked.