Opinion

Column: Seminole Tribe complies with ruling on mobile homes





"With no fanfare or resistance, the Seminole Tribe complied with a federal judge’s deadline on Monday and returned a disputed Hollywood mobile home community on tribal land to its former management company.

It was an unusual retreat for the fiercely independent tribe, which has had a disconcerting habit of invoking its status as a “sovereign nation” to escape business deals it doesn’t like.

After a quick handoff meeting at tribal headquarters, representatives of Hollywood Mobile Estates were back in the property office by noon, nearly three years after being forcibly removed by armed tribal police.

“Everything went very smoothly,” said Dan Adkins, an executive with Hartman & Tyner, a Michigan company that co-owns Hollywood Mobile Estates and also owns the Mardi Gras Casino in Hallandale Beach. “The tribe was very cooperative.”"

On July 1, U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas ordered the tribe to turn over “physical and financial control” of the mobile home park after finding the Seminoles’ overstepped their authority in unilaterally invalidating a long-term lease that runs through 2024.

Instead of fighting the order, the tribe decided to comply."

Get the Story:
Michael Mayo: Seminoles comply with judge, return mobile home park to former managers (The South Florida Sun-Sentinel 7/11)

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