Maureen Laflin, Legal Aid Clinic, and Syringa Mobile Park case

Principal, Maureen Laflin, has led the fight to improve the living conditions of an Idaho mobile home park. 

The plight of the residents in the Syringa Mobile Home Park, located a couple of miles outside of the Moscow, Idaho city limits, is the center piece of Daniel Zwerdling’s December 26, 2016 piece,  “Mobile Home Park Owners Can Spoil an Affordable American Dream.”

In February 2014, Maureen, as Director of the University of Idaho College of Law Legal Aid Clinic, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the residents of the park who endured 93 days of no usable water as it was contaminated with E.coli and several weeks of no water at all.  The owner of the park, Magar E. Magar purchased the property in 1984 and through negligent left the residents with few options other than to tolerate the water and sewer problems.  Due to the conditions at the park, Latah County has decided to “red tag” each trailer as it becomes vacant.  Owners of the trailers can neither sell nor rent their trailers once they become vacant.  Thus many of the residents can’t afford to leave.