TAMPA, Fla. — A Safety Harbor company that raises money for animal shelters across the country is now fighting to keep the vehicle that makes its mission possible. The company bought an RV from a Tampa area dealership for more than $200,000, only to discover months later that it can't be titled in Florida because of a nearly $150,000 lien it never knew existed.
Kris Rotonda founded Jordan's Way in 2019 to honor his rescue dog, Jordan, who had just passed away.
Since then, the organization said it raised nearly $16 million for rural animal shelters across the country. Up until recently, Rotonda and his employees were traveling to shelters by car until the growing organization was finally able to buy an RV.
"It has become iconic for what we do," Rotonda said, referring to the RV, which is wrapped in photos of rescue dogs and has become a symbol of Jordan’s Way.
Rotonda bought the 2021 motorcoach from the LazyDays RV dealership off I-4 in Seffner last November. All in, the purchase came to more than $200,000.
"We videotaped the closing of this deal; this was such a celebratory thing," Rotonda said.
That celebration ended about 2 months later, when Rotonda received another temporary tag instead of the license plate he needed.
"There was a lien for $148,000 on the vehicle when I purchased it that was not disclosed to me," Rotonda said. "I was pretty angry I'm not going to lie.”
Florida law requires sellers to pay off a lien within 10 days of a sale. State records show LazyDays did not pay, and on top of that, the company no longer exists.
Rotonda bought the RV on November 21. Five days later, on November 26, a cash-strapped LazyDays was sold to Campers Inn. SEC records show Campers Inn bought the assets and would "not assume any other liabilities." Now Campers Inn is telling Rotonda the lien is not their problem.
"It's not fair," Rotonda said.
Rotonda did not know about the sale, but the two companies had been working on it for months. They filed a letter of intent with the SEC in September 2025, and on the same day Rotonda bought his RV, Campers Inn bought more LazyDays assets.
"They should have done a better job in taking care of their customers," Rotonda said.
Campers Inn is now running the Seffner dealership. After repeated attempts to reach Campers Inn, Tampa Bay 28 Consumer Investigator Susan El Khoury went to the Seffner dealership where LazyDays branding is still visible. Employees were unable to help.
Eventually, Campers Inn COO Ben Hirsh responded by email. He chose not to speak on camera and instead sent the following statement:
"We feel for Mr. Rotonda. Not being able to title an RV you paid for is a real problem. That RV was sold and delivered before Campers Inn bought anything. We never owned it, never had it on our lot, and never had a lien to clear on it.
Campers Inn purchased selected assets from Lazydays in November 2025. Our company is not the legal successor and we did not assume their debts. Those are being handled by Lazy Liquidation, LLC, care of Jeff Klausner at Resolution Financial Advisors, lazy@resolutionfa.com.
We're happy to send Mr. Rotonda's VIN and contact information over and make sure it gets in the hands of the right people at Resolution Financial Advisors."
Rotonda said he already filed a claim with the liquidation firm months ago, and that was a dead end. He provided Tampa Bay 28 with a copy of the response he received, which stated, "we regret to inform you that we must close this matter" and explained it was because they had "insufficient" funds.
"The claim that I did was worthless," Rotonda said.
Consumer attorney Charles Gallagher, who has years of experience taking on consumer cases, said the legal path forward may be difficult.
"If they just bought the assets and not the company itself and the liability they may have, you may be out of luck," Gallagher said.
When asked if a consumer in this case is stuck, Gallagher said, "It sounds that way. I don't see any recourse in terms of the consumer suing the predecessor. They're not going to be an operating company.”
“If their purchase is going to be tailored to assets only, you're not going to have liability for the prior acts of the former company they bought," Gallagher added.
For now, Rotonda is preparing to get back on the road.
"Next couple of months we have 50, 60 shelters to go visit," Rotonda said.
While he’s helping raise money for shelters, Jordan's Way faces nearly $150,000 in added debt on top of the nearly $200,000 Rotonda financed to buy the RV.
"I don't want this vehicle to be taken from us," Rotonda said. "To not be able to do this is just heartbreaking.”
Share Your Story with Susan
Consumer Investigator Susan El Khoury is here to advocate for you. From crimes targeting consumers to tips and tricks to help you save money, Susan works to help solve the day-to-day issues. Reach out to Susan with any problems you need help solving.
.
Challenges over Florida's school bus and school speed zone camera face setbacks as legal battles continue
Cameras catching drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses or speed through school zones are generating millions of citations across Florida — and a growing wave of legal challenges.