AUBURN — White, plain-looking travel trailers are lined up outside the Auburn Mall, hopefully the next-to-last stop in a 400-mile journey from a government lot in Maryland.
Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Tim Meehl, left, of Monmouth and his uncle Daniel Meehl of Lewiston take a look at the travel trailers at the Auburn Mall on Wednesday. Thirty-six former FEMA trailers with "not for housing" signs are for sale for $7,950 each.
"Ten trucks have been going back and forth," mall owner George Schott said Thursday. "They'll be done by Tuesday."
When complete, the trailer city will total 83 in all, many identical and largely untouched.
Schott bought the trailers from the Government Services Administration, the federal agency charged with selling the trailers bought for victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Schott hopes to sell the trailers for $6,950 to $9,950 apiece. Each comes with a small kitchen and common area, a master bedroom and a small bathroom.
"They're like new inside," Schott said. In most cases, the Gulf Stream trailers show little or no use. Appliances look untouched.
They do come with a warning: Don't live in them.
Many of the trailers used in Katrina relief in Louisiana have been found to carry high levels of formaldehyde, a potentially toxic chemical used in the making of carpets and upholstery.
Longtime residents of those trailers have blamed the Federal Emergency Management Agency for respiratory problems. Some have sued.
"I don't think they are the same trailers," Schott said. "Would the government sell something it knows to be harmful? No."
Schott believes they ought to be safe for anyone who aims to use them for vacations or other short-term situations. They're no different from any other trailer, he said.
The biggest difference may be price. The trailers were all made in 2006 or 2007 and would likely sell for about $15,000 in different circumstances, he said. Most of these will sell for $7,950.
When all of the trailers arrive next week, Schott and his staff plan to get a system together for selling them at the mall. A model trailer will be set up for people to examine. Some trailers will be moved to a private storage lot to make room for customers, Schott said.
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About a week or so ago, my
About a week or so ago, my husband and I, without knowing they were the FEMA trailers, saw those trailers in the Auburn Mall parking lot and drove through for a quick glance, just for kicks...figuring they were FEMA, as we had seen them on t.v. They all looked the same. Schott is out of his gourd when he says that they are like new and are in great shape. I wouldn't touch one of those trailers with a 10 foot pole...just from the outside you could tell they were trash...the blinds and curtains were filthy looking and ripped..not to mention they looked like someone urinated all over them...ripped screens...etc.
We nearly laughed ourselves into a tizzy when we saw the price tags...anyone crazy enough to pay that kind of money for such trash needs to have their heads examined! We have a brand new, beautiful 19 foot camper with all the ameneties and what we paid for ours and what he's asking for those is a joke. To say that they could sell those for 15 grand is an outright lie, especially without any hookups.
All campers come with formeldahyde warnings because of how they're made (my migraines are worse when we go camping) but none that we looked at while camper shopping...and we looked at a few dozen...had big signs warning people not to live in them...obviously the FEMA ones are even more unhealthy!
Shame on Schott for taking advantage of the idiots out there...but then again...if people don't have a little more common sense and are truly that blind (go and check them out...they are nasty)...at least the people down south didn't have a choice...if people are dumb enough to stay in those for recreational purposes, then maybe they deserve to be taken adavantage of. I never feel all that badly for people who should know better...those who have no choice...that's a different story.
Schott obviously has no conscience and the government is no better for even selling them!!!!
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Why don't they just have
Why don't they just have them tested to see if there could be a problem?
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i look at the fema trailers to day,they dont have any holding tanks for waste water, or sewer. so you cant use the bathroom or water hook up at a campground unless you are hooked up to a sewer tank.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Schott said. "Would the
Schott said. "Would the government sell something it knows to be harmful? No."
LMAO.....
It would be worth the trip there to just laugh at this guy!
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I could bet these are the same trailers that were left abandoned because of the dangers in them, but "georgie porgie" doesn't mind making a buck off of inoccent people. He acts like a used car salesman !!! Maybe he should live in one for a year or so , and if he doesn't get sick, maybe then he could unload them. Always thinking of ways to make "mo money" "mo money" "mo money"........way to go george!
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Schott said. "Would the
Schott said. "Would the government sell something it knows to be harmful? No."
Wow! P.T. Barnum was right there is a sucker born every minute.
As for saying the Government would never sell or do anything harmful, Tell that to the hundreds of sick & dying 9/11 rescue workers, who were told by the EPA and other Government agencies, that the air at ground zero was safe to breathe when it wasn't.
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These are the same ones making people sick down south!
That's why they stopped giving them out.
How can they sell them if they are dangerous to your health?
This is not right!
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.http://www.dgs.state.pa.us/su
http://www.dgs.state.pa.us/surp_prop/lib/surp_prop/fema_trailer_fact_she...
To request one or more units, please complete the following request form, attach a separate
letter on your organization’s letterhead stating the intended use of the unit(s), and
mail or fax the form to our office.
Federal Surplus
Special Request Item
FEMA Trailer Request Form
Date:
Organization Name:
Mailing Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
Email:
Contact Person:
Travel Trailers:
Number needed if fixed width/no slides:
Number needed if there is one or more slide:
What length (or range of lengths) will you need:
What is the expected use for each unit requested:
Mobile Homes:
Number needed:
What width (or range of widths) will you need:
What length (or range of lengths) will you need:
What is the expected use for each unit requested:
Department of General Services
Federal Surplus Property Program
2221 Forster Street, PO Box 1365
Harrisburg, PA 17105
Fax: 717-772-2491
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I do not know mr. Schott but I do know he is no IDIOT He knows how to make money. Unlike the goverment You dont have to give him your money if you dont want to, I Dont know why people would not want to save money if they were looking to buy a camper. I would guess they are all made with he same matierals. Let it air out and it would be fine. If you have had a new carpet in your home you get this smell for a while but it gos away. It does not matter what he gave for them, if its a good deal who cares. Do you think stores & car dealers sell at cost? Having lots of money is not as great as people think. It becomes a sickness.The more you have the more you want & spend most of your time thinking how you can get or save more. Not that I have lots but I have known people with plenty.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.how much did George pay the
how much did George pay the Sun Journal to run this advertisement?
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond."Would the government sell
"Would the government sell something it knows to be harmful? No." What dream world does this idiot live in. While I don't particulary like name-calling, in this case I'll make an exception. Someone who makes a statement like that is either an idiot, or criminally negligent. For the US government to dump this garbage on possibly unsuspecting customers is unconscionable. For a citizen to buy them and exploit his neighbors in a community is repugnant in the extreme.
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4 the asking price of 1 trailer is what he bought the whole lot 4 maybe i would never buy anything from him hey we got new apartment in auburn they r a slow death 800 a month
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.So someone buys one of the
So someone buys one of the death traps, then lives in it and dies. Would Schott be held liable for selling known bad housing?
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Are you kidding me??? I am
Are you kidding me??? I am embarrassed for all involved, from FEMA to Schott to this paper, for making this story possible. Still, for those who die a slow death in these things, at least people will have plenty of time to find their bodies before they decompose.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Is this an advertisement or
Is this an advertisement or a news article?
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Schott said. "Would the
Schott said. "Would the government sell something it knows to be harmful? No."
Ha!!! Yes the government would sell something harmful, the lackeys in the GSA have a job, that is to get rid of the junk that they overpaid for. SO they sell them in big lots of people for pennies on the dollar, then those people, like George Schott, turn around and quadruple the price and shove them on a mall lot somewhere to be an eyesore here for the next few years.
I'd love to see the entire "bio" on these trailers, from when they are purchased till now.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.First thing tomorrow, I plan
First thing tomorrow, I plan on going right out and dropping $6,950 to $9,950 on a sweet FEMA Trailer. Maybe two of 'em because I've got six kids, we can lay down a wall and hook 'em together with some plastic sheeting and duct tape. Lord, I hope there are some left when I get down there. I mean you'd be crazy not to pick one up. As for the whole formaldehyde thing. I don't believe it. Of course the government wouldn't do anything bad for us, or lie to us. Even if they are toxic we all got the MaineCare so I figured it's a safe bet. If we can't live in them it'll be good because I need some storage for all these cardboard boxes, empty beer cans, and rusted car parts we've got spilling outta the house.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.facetheone...you are my hero
facetheone...you are my hero :-) you've got to see them...they are DISGUSTING!!!! (and that's just on the outside...we couldn't bring ourselves to look inside...too afraid of what else might gross us out).
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