Florida’s quote of the day
“Do these people not get bills? How do I get that job?”
— Brad Coath
Rebecca Parris rushes to the bank before it closes.
The power could be shut off soon to her 960-square-foot mobile home in St. Petersburg, she fears, if she doesn’t pay Duke Energy her overdue bill. The deep red “Action Required: Bill Past Due” banner on a Dec. 16 email from the company — and the handful that came before it — makes her heart pound.
A neighbor chips in $95, and she speeds over to Bank OZK to cash the check. This month’s crisis is narrowly averted. But she’s already thinking about next month.
“I’ve worked my ass off my whole life,” said Parris, 67, still sitting in the driver’s seat of her car from her dash to the bank. “But it’s been really hard.”
Mobile homes have long been an affordable option for people with fixed or lower incomes, when a big down payment and mortgage are out of reach. But beyond the smaller purchase price lurks a hidden danger: Because of outdated manufacturing standards, mobile homes can have much higher electric bills than traditional houses.
Read more at the Tampa Bay Times