SEMINOLE 

For the third time, developer John Loder has missed a deadline to buy the Harbor Lights Mobile Home Park.

It is unclear if this will clear the way for mobile home owners to negotiate directly with the Travis family of East Madeira Corp., the owners of Harbor Lights.

The mobile home owners want to buy the park and have been prevented from negotiating with anyone other than Loder because he had contracted to buy both the park and the adjacent marina.

David Bacon, the St. Petersburg attorney for the Travises, confirmed Monday that the sale did not close. "They are past the deadline," he said. "The contract has officially expired."

But Bacon was hesitant to speculate on what might happen next. Loder missed two closing deadlines on Harbor Lights in 2005.

The first time, to get an extension, he upped the price he'd pay. The second time, he and the Travises ended up in court. That suit was settled last August. The settlement reinstated the deal and gave Loder until the beginning of this month to close.

Bacon said he was scheduled to meet with Loder's attorney Monday, but he did not return a phone message Tuesday asking for comment. Loder did not return phone messages asking for comment.

Bacon said he was unsure why Loder failed to close the deal.

But in recent months, Loder has had financial difficulties that included the foreclosure of a Snell Isle apartment complex he had bought in 2006 for $41-million. Loder had planned to spend another $2-million converting the property to condominiums. But the lender, Wachovia Investment Holdings LLC, sued Loder's Sun Vista Snell LLC last February, saying that it had defaulted on the loan.

Loder and his Sun Vista Development did close on two other properties just a mile or so from Harbor Lights at 9191 Bay Pines Blvd. The former Bay Pines and Bay View mobile home parks have since been razed and the property is vacant.

For the mostly elderly owners of mobile homes in Harbor Lights, the news was just one more piece of a roller-coaster ride that began almost three years ago, when Loder first offered to buy the park and the marina.

Since then, the owners have pleaded with Seminole officials to block the sale or otherwise help them. The officials, while sympathetic to their plight, were legally unable to do anything.

The mobile home owners thought they might have dodged a bullet when Loder last missed a closing deadline. When Loder sued, they at least thought that nothing would happen to their homes while the lawsuit made its way through the system.

After the deal was reinstated, the owners hired Marty Pozgay of Florida Community Services Group in Treasure Island to help them try to buy the park so they would not have to leave.

Loder agreed to sell the park to them once it was in his name. He planned to keep the marina. The mobile home owners got promises of financing for themselves and their homeowners association as well as commitments from insurance companies for coverage. Then Loder missed the closing deadline.

"We feel that we are in a position to buy," Pozgay said Monday. "Basically, I'm sitting here waiting for a response" from the Travises about a sale to the homeowners.

Pozgay said his clients are troubled by this latest turn of events and the uncertainty it brings.

"We've said, 'Don't be discouraged. Don't be disappointed,' " Pozgay said. "The game isn't over yet."

Information used in this report comes from Times files.

Timeline

Proposed sale of Harbor Lights

June 2005: Loder's Sun Vista Development Group contracts to buy the park and adjacent marina for $60-million - $45-million for the park and $15-million for the marina. Loder announces a $300-million project with nearly 400 residences, including townhomes, single-family dwellings and luxury condominiums. Prices would range from $600,000 to $1.75-million. Buyers would have first choice of boat slips and docks. The closing is scheduled for September.

September 2005: Loder says he can't close on schedule and asks for more time. The Travises agree when Loder bumps the price for the 34-acre park to $47-million, making the total value of the deal $62-million. The closing is set for Nov. 4.

November 2005: Loder says there is a problem with the title and asks at the last minute that the contract be rewritten or the deal be terminated. The Travises sue to have the contract declared null. Loder countersues, alleging there were problems with the title and that it was the Travises who reneged. Loder says in the suit he still wants the park and wants a judge to make the sale go through.

August 2007: Loder and the Travises settle their lawsuits. Under the agreement, the contract is reinstated and Loder is given a "sunset date." If Loder does not buy the property by then, the contract will be dead.

January 2008: The sunset date passes with no sale.