Trailer park residents say landlord threatened to double rent if Biden wins

A Colorado trailer park’s owner is accused of threatening tenants with sharp rent increases and other costs if President Trump does not win reelection.

Local NBC affiliate 9 News reported that multiple residents of Ed Pagel’s Trailer Park in Fort Morgan say Bernie Pagel posted a notice warning their rents could double should Democratic nominee Joe Biden win, while adding that rent would not be raised for two years if Trump is reelected.

“Please understand IF Joe Biden is elected as our next President, everything you do and have to pay for will change completely,” reads the notice, according to video broadcast by 9 News.

“Everything will be increased. Like paying ALOT more in taxes, utilities, gasoline, groceries, new permits, fees and regulations…everything! This also means YOUR RENT will be increased to cover these expenses. Most likely, rent would DOUBLE in price!” it continued. “IF the current President is re-elected, WE WILL NOT RAISE THE RENT FOR AT LEAST 2 YEARS!”

The TV station reported that several residents reported the warnings to election officials, who told 9 News that the case had been referred to the state’s attorney general. The attorney general’s office did not return the news outlet’s request for comment.

“I mean everybody was pretty shocked, honestly,” one resident told 9 News. “It was mainly hurtful, you know? How could someone say something like that or basically threaten us according to something that we can’t control?”

Attempting to intimidate voters is illegal under federal law, which states that “no person … shall intimidate, threaten, coerce … any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of [that] person to vote or to vote as he may choose.”