VANCOUVER, Wash. — Read the updated version of Casey Jewell’s story here.
The sign on Casey Jewell’s living room wall reads "Home of the Jewells," but there’s nothing charming about it. Her mobile home has no working stove. The carpet is shredded. The toilet is broken. And six large buckets collect rainwater dripping through broken sheetrock and insulation after a hole opened up in her kitchen ceiling.
“Nobody should be living in this,” Jewell said. “Not even squatters would live here.”
Unit 61 sits in the Hidden RV and Mobile Home Park, north of Vancouver. The mobile home is falling apart and no one will fix it.
“It’s gotten worse. It’s gotten worse,” said Jewell, 52.
The Columbian newspaper first reported on Jewell’s situation in December. When KGW visited in late January, the property hadn’t had running water in two weeks. Management shut off water during a cold snap, Jewell explained, and never turned it back on.
Jewell’s toilet stopped flushing months ago, and the drain in the tub spills straight to the ground. The main heater is broken, so the only warmth comes from a small portable unit.
“It’s unlivable,” said Jewell’s 22-year-old son, Charley. He started sleeping at his girlfriend’s place because the conditions were unbearable, not to mention the smell.
“It’s like a pungent mold smell,” Charley said. “It is hard to breathe.”
Jewell’s son tried to help by patching holes and draping a blue tarp over part of the roof, but he could only reach so far, fearing he’d fall through it.
Both mother and son have complained to management repeatedly about the mobile home which they rent. They don’t own the unit. They’ve sent emails and taken photos to help document the problems.
“The only thing they’ll say is we’ll get somebody out there to help you. Then, nothing,” Charley said.
On top of that — rent is going up. A notice taped to Jewell’s fridge warned that monthly rent will go from $925 to $950 in February. Jewell said she’s barely getting by as it is, working part-time at Fred Meyer.
“It’s frustrating but I tell myself, I have nowhere else to go. I have no money to go anywhere else,” Jewell explained. A GoFundMe account has been set up to support Jewell.
Legal loophole
Washington’s Landlord-Tenant Act requires landlords to maintain their properties and keep the premises fit for human habitation, meaning buildings are kept structurally sound and features like electricity, plumbing and heating are kept in working order. But buried in that same state law is an exception.
If tenants are behind on rent or utilities, they can’t force their landlord to make necessary fixes, explained attorney Carl Snodgrass of Northwest Justice Project.
“If you are behind on rent, you basically have a right to habitable housing that you have no way of enforcing,” said Snodgrass.
That's the situation Jewell landed in when she fell behind on rent a couple years ago during the pandemic. She’s been on a payment plan of $50 a month in addition to her rent, but she still owes and says she'll likely never catch up because management tacks on late fees.
“Being on a payment plan, under the way the law is written, does not count as being current on your rent,” explained Snodgrass.
And as long as a tenant is officially behind, there are no consequences for the landlord. Under Washington law, they're free to ignore repair requests.
“It’s frustrating because I’m like, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ said Jewell. “I owe money to this company because I was late on rent.”
Snodgrass believes the Washington law is uncommon.
“I would say it is a loophole in the law,” said Snodgrass. “I have not done a survey of all the laws across the country, but it is one that I’ve only encountered in Washington.”
Currently, the Washington legislature is considering a bill that would set up a separate court process for addressing habitability issues and other unfair landlord practices so tenants can assert their rights without fear of losing their housing in an eviction process.
RV and Mobile Home Park is owned by Michael and Denise Werner, according to corporate records. The Vancouver couple owns RV Inn Style Resorts, title sponsor of the Clark County Amphitheater in Ridgefield. Records show they also have a Convention Center, investment company and own and operate dozens of mobile home and RV parks across Oregon and Washington.
In December, the Werners made headlines after a judge ordered the Vancouver couple and their companies to pay $926,000 in penalties for unlawfully issuing eviction and utility shut-off notices at an Ilwaco mobile home park. According to the Washington Attorney General’s Office, the Werners refused to keep the Beacon Charters and RV Park clean — allowing a rat infestation, piles of garbage and feces-smeared bathrooms.
In court records, the AG’s office said Denise Werner described the Beacon residents as “filth,” and that Michael Werner stated he “does not believe the law applies to him.”
KGW tried to reach the Werners for comment in person, by email and through their attorneys. KGW gave them a week to respond, but they never did.
Public records show the Werners own a $1.8 million dollar home on the Columbia River and have a pair of mansions in Arizona, including a hilltop property currently on the market for $7.4 million.
This lavish lifestyle is a far cry from the squalor that Jewell has been living in.
“I’ll go anywhere right now. If it is a tiny little home, just for us, you know — with a working bathroom in it, I’ll be happy!” said Jewell.