The path to homelessness: How one Bloomington veteran ended up sleeping in his truck

The day before he was evicted, Larry Clay walked around outside his 1974 mobile home, pointing out roof damage from a fallen tree and cursing the management company that's forcing him out.

He needed to make a few bucks to buy gas and put money down on a storage unit where he could stash his kitchen appliances and personal items, including hundreds of movies on DVD, until he finds a place to live. He had a lead on a discarded refrigerator and set out to pick it up and take it to JB's Salvage for cash.

Off he went in his yellow 20-year-old Ford Ranger pickup, the tailgate hanging off and the missing back window covered with a corrugated cardboard Sysco food box attached with duct tape.

A court order signed by Monroe Circuit Judge Catherine Stafford said Clay was to be gone from the Arlington Valley Mobile Home Park trailer lot where he has lived for five years by Oct. 25, in accordance with an eviction citing unpaid lot rent. But Stafford issued a last-minute extension to noon on Thursday, Nov. 2.

Two eviction petitions titled "Arlington Valley MHC, LLC v. Larry Clay" have been filed in court over the past year and a half. The first one was settled when Clay paid up. The second one ended with the eviction order.

Twenty-four hours before the deadline, Arlington Valley property manager Laurie Ketchaver and Clay shouted across the road at one another. The tone was not civil.

She threatened to have his Ford F-150, which was parked in front of his trailer, towed. He responded she couldn't because it's parked on a public street. Ketchaver said she would be changing the locks on his trailer the next day if it wasn't gone, and he said she can't touch the mobile home because he owns it.

The morning of Nov. 2, Clay loaded black garbage bags and plastic storage totes into the back of his truck. They contained the belongings of Amber Woods, who's been staying with Clay.

In May of 2021, Arlington Valley filed an eviction notice against Clay and Woods, who both were living at the mobile home on Lot 123. They reached an agreement in court with Ketchaver and Arlington Valley's lawyer a month later: If Clay paid $838 in back lot rent and Woods moved out immediately, he could continue living there. She was evicted, he stayed.

But she returned recently. She had no place else to go.

The two waited outside for Ketchaver to arrive with a police officer to evict Clay, but no one came. He and Woods got in the truck so he could take her to her aunt's house in Martinsville to stay. They drove away down Willis Drive, the tailgate waving.

On the way out of the mobile home park, they saw two sheriff's deputies parked in the Classic Lanes bowling alley parking lot. Clay stopped to let them know he was leaving. He said the trailer belongs to him and said he would return later to retrieve his things.

Woods' aunt said she couldn't stay there, so Clay drove from Martinsville back to the trailer to put her belongings back inside. While they were gone, the locks had been changed.

Home to nearly 300 families

Arlington Valley Mobile Home Park, also known as Arlington Valley Manufactured Home Community, is located on 40 acres in the 1600 block of North Willis Drive, two blocks north of West 17th Street. There are 281 lots.

Residences range from aging mobile homes such as the one Clay owned at Lot No. 123, where he paid $450 a month in lot rent, to a brand-new 1,280-square-foot manufactured home that can be rented for $1,400 a month, which includes the cost of renting a small grassy lot.

The lot rent amounted to half of Clay's monthly Social Security income.

Oak Brook, Illinois-based Continental Communities owns and operates Arlington Valley and 30 other "affordable, high-quality manufactured housing communities and park model/recreational vehicle resorts" according to its website. Onsite managers live in the community and get to know residents.

Bryan and Laurie Ketchaver are the community managers and home sales representatives at Arlington Valley. When asked about Clay's situation, she said company privacy policies prevent her from speaking about tenants.

She said the eviction cases outline the details. She wouldn't address Clay's contention that the eviction is a vindictive measure against him over tree damage and the condition of his old trailer.

When asked for a supervisor's phone number or media contact at Continental Communities, Laurie Ketchaver said, "We're not allowed to give those numbers out. They're too busy. That's why they have us here."

Clay went to the county assessor's office to find out who owns the property, then to the library to use a computer to track down the phone number. He got ahold of someone who said he could leave his second pickup parked there until Nov. 22, giving him time to replace the starter and move it.

Troubles go back to 2022

Arlington Valley filed the first eviction petition against Clay in June of 2022. The case went back and forth for several months until a settlement in October in which Clay agreed to pay back lot rent.

He paid nearly $2,000, and, in April of this year, the judge denied the eviction request and said, "tenant shall work to catch up any arrearages" on unpaid tenant fees for things such as trash disposal and water "promptly."

Two months later, Arlington Valley filed another notice of eviction against Clay. Witnesses were sworn and evidence was given from both sides during a hearing. Court records indicate three different lawyers represented Arlington Valley during the proceedings against Clay, a Marine Corps veteran who represented himself.

Judge Stafford took the case under advisement and issued an order of eviction against Clay on Sept. 25 that was to be implemented in one month.

"Defendant Larry Clay is EVICTED and must vacate the rental premises at 1600 N. Willis Drive Lot 123 by noon on Oct. 25, 2023," the order states.

"The Court finds that from December 1, 2022, through August 2023, that Defendant paid approximately two months' rent. Defendant states he paid at other times or was refused at other times, but did not meet his burden of proof to show what payments he had attempted to make or what payments were rejected."

Clay said he wasn't notified of the order and surprised when Laurie Ketchaver appeared on his doorstep with a Bloomington police officer as back-up to evict him.

The officer gave him another day. Clay called the court the next morning.

'No further extensions'

This entry from the court file is dated Oct. 26, 2023: "Defendant phones court, states that he was not aware that the court issued a ruling from the prior contested hearing stating that he never received a copy. Court offers to provide him with another copy of the orders by email but he declined stating he does not have an email."

It says a Bloomington police officer delivered a paper copy of the court's order to Clay, who asked for an extension. The judge gave him until Nov. 2, and a clerk called Clay to let him know he had another week.

A long entry on the court docket on Oct. 30 notes Clay's attempts to stop his eviction.

"Mr. Clay has come into the courtroom on two separate occasions attempting to speak with the court about his case as well as phoning court staff. The court staff on both in person occasions informed Mr. Clay that he would need to put any concerns or information in writing and file it into the case. On the occasion today Mr. Clay entered into the courtroom despite the confidential 'do not enter' window magnets being placed on the courtroom doors."

The judge asked Clay multiple times to leave the courtroom, explaining she can't speak to him outside hearings on his case. He eventually left.

"The Court advised Mr. Clay that he may be held in direct contempt of court if he makes another attempt to talk with the judge on this case except during a properly noticed hearing, on the record, with all parties present."

The next day, Clay filed a letter requesting another extension. "The Court notes that this request was previously denied and remains denied. No further extensions will be granted," the docket entry reads.

Clay decided not to try to talk to the judge anymore. He had a meeting scheduled with the Monroe County Veterans Services officer to find out about getting a voucher from the Veterans Administration. Moore is not staying with Clay, but he's still trying to help her find somewhere safe to live.

"I've been sleeping in the old truck," he said Tuesday.

The Herald-Times will be checking in with Larry Clay as he tries to find a new place to live. His current plan is to stay in Bloomington. Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington veteran evicted from his Arlington Valley mobile home