Mobile Home Parks Owned by K&S Companies

2018 Nov – I have lived in Vista Diablo Mobile Estates for 19 years. I've seen the rent go up to the point that it is so expensive now, a lot of people are selling and moving out of their homes. The property management does not care about seniors at all. They let the park go to pieces. No security, a lot of break-ins, a lot of things stolen, it's very sad. I love my home and I love my neighbors but, property management doesn't care for us at all. They like to play games with us, one minute they say they're going to make it an All Age Park, and then now it can stay a Senior Park. Then they wonder why so many people get upset and move. I really hope someday that we can get rent control so people can live here and be able to afford it. I see so many neighbors that can't afford it and they have a choice of paying the rent or not eating, that's sad, really sad.
Ivy O.

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2015 Oct – Upper management said that they can do anything they want and that’s pretty much the way they run the place. They don’t listen to the tenants, they just do whatever they please and if you try to get anything done, they’re going to try to find some reason to evict you.

Good luck and I hope you find a good park that is well managed and has an ownership that doesn’t feel like they’re omnipotent. Oh, and by the way, the other review that they didn’t publish was absolutely correct, the corporate office does interfere with the sale of homes that they are not selling themselves.
James S.

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2014 Apr – Vista Diablo Mobile Home Park Antioch, California, is a senior park and the rent is so high right now, it is so hard for seniors to pay $1,000 a month, we are on fixed incomes. The park owners make it very hard for us to sell our homes. They keep changing their price of their rent. They make deals on their homes they bought. They offer people to buy them and give them an incoming rent of $700 for two years and then they will be moved up to $1,000 a month. All the other parks in this area are at $700. I don't know how they get away this. This seems to be elder abuse. When residents put their homes up for sale the park doesn't make a deal on the rent, it's up and down. Until the families get tired of it and they end up selling it to the park for around $8,000 and then the park turns around and sells it for more and makes a profit. We need help to stop these people from ripping us off. My neighbor passed away five months ago. The park has made them lose five sales on the home because of their rent issue. Please, someone help us with this.
Ivy O.

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2013 Apr – We have been working with the park for over 3 months now in effort to sell a mobile home after the loss of a family member. Not only has their office manager consistently changed their story about the monthly rent and how it is determined, they have now caused confusion for potential buyers about the rent and stated that if they were to buy a home from them directly, they would receive a discount. I genuinely feel they are deliberately stopping us from being able to sell so we must forfeit it to them.
Robyn J.

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2011 Jun – My mom lives in Vista Diablo Mobile Estates. She is 79, legally blind and when she first moved in there, she (stupidly) signed a 20 year lease, with 5% rent increases, that was 13 years ago. Now her rent is over $800 a month and they put notices on her door for her to pull weeds or she will be fined. They have never helped the seniors do anything. She has no family or friends in Antioch anymore. The management will not let her out the lease. The trailer they sold her has, and continues to be, a big money pit. Every 6-8 months she has to have a professional come out to level it, so she can open her doors, that is a cost of close to $1,000 every time. The trailer sits on dirt, not a concrete pad. This, over the years, has depleted her savings, and she is wishing she were dead. She has no bright outlook for her future, because her $$$ savings is almost gone. What are these people thinking? A senior gated community, they described it. It isn’t any of those, and the managers are lazy bums!

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2009 May – I too live in a Kort and Scott mobile home park. Vista Diablo are the highest rents in Contra Costa County. I have had the not so great pleasure of meeting Kort and Scott’s henchman or should we call him big mouth Abe Arrigotti. These people don’t care about any of us. Currently we have 6 park owned homes because residents left them and 7 empty lots. We have been fighting these bastards for 3 years. Something has got to stop. If everyone of their parks would stand up maybe then we could put a stop to this. Kort and Scott and arrogant Abe are despicable human beings. While they count their millions we scrounge to come up with rent. And don’t be a day late or they will throw you on the street.

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2007 Aug – Mr. Simonsen, I don’t understand why you think they should have more chances. This company has shown that they have no regard for elderly people. You should be considering filing charges for elderly abuse. I don’t know what’s wrong with you. These people are criminals. They are robbing us. They should be in jail. There should be laws against this. And you know that, all of you know that. At this point they are raping us, and people like you are allowing it to happen. And you should be seeing to it that it doesn’t happen. That’s what your job is.
The Press

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2007 Jun – The council members expressed their outrage at what’s been going on. ‘It’s elder abuse, it’s terrorizing senior citizens - and it’s got to stop,’ said Mayor Don Freitas. ‘It just simply has to stop. I’m hopeful that the owners will truly sit down in good faith - because I think it’s only been bad faith - and truly negotiate with us.’ Councilman Arne Simonsen said, ‘When you look at the rents that are being charged (for just the land under the mobile home) this is obscene what they are doing. You’re paying a little less than what I pay for a mortgage on land with a house. That’s wrong, that’s totally wrong. I’m very mad at these folks. I think it’s wrong. It gives free enterprise a completely bad name.’ Councilman Jim Davis said, ‘I wanted to voice my total disdain to this management company for their insistence upon, in my mind, wreaking total havoc and discontent from the owners of the individual coaches in the park.’ Councilman Reggie Moore said, ‘I find this very troubling. I believe strongly in corporate responsibility.’ Neither the Vista Diablo owners, a company called Kort & Scott, nor the managers, Sierra Corporate Management represented by Abe Arrigotti, were in attendance at the meeting.

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2007 Jun – Enough is enough. We have all tried to be extraordinarily patient. We have tried to be reasonable, be balanced and, frankly, to have the citizens that live in the mobile home park derive a benefit. We thought we did come to a resolution in January after some robust discussions between me and the city staff and Abe Arrigotti and the Sierra Management, as well as the two owners.

Clearly, the only time they engage is when there’s a possible action by the City Council that has some perceived or realized consequences to them. It’s almost as if the owners and the management company are terrorizing some of the seniors. And that’s what I find most unacceptable. There’s really no reason for it.

It’s not just about the money. There are people behind these figures. Some of you fought in our wars, some of you were police officers, some of you were teachers. You paid your price. You’re not asking to live there for free. You’re asking to live there for the rest of your life in peace and harmony, and you’re willing to pay a fair price, an equitable price.

Unfortunately, the owners and Sierra Management Corporation, that’s not their intent. It’s to squeeze every single penny out from you. Terrorism can take a lot of different methods. One is certainly physical. But the worst is to have to deal with financial uncertainty.

I think that we have been more than reasonable. I think our approach has been more than fair. I think we as a city have negotiated in good faith. I know I’m an elected official but my word is my bond. And I expect the same from anyone sitting across the table from me and negotiating. So I’m not interested in renegotiating or negotiating against myself.
Mayor Don Freitas, Antioch, California

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2007 Jun – Freitas said city officials might look into sponsoring legislation in Sacramento making it a crime to do to senior citizens what has been done to the Vista Diablo residents. The council unanimously passed the 45-day ban on opening mobile home parks to all ages. If an agreement with the park owners is not reached in that time, the moratorium is expected to be extended for another 10½ months.

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2007 Jan – The way this group (Sierra Corporate Management) has been conducting business has been slimy – and that’s being nice. From my perspective, nothing about this smells right. You have 70-plus-year-old seniors signing leases for 20 years or more with an automatic 6% increase in rent each year. How do you do that to someone on fixed income?
Councilman Brian Kalinowski – Antioch City Council

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2006 Dec – Mayor Freitas expressed his concern regarding the business practices of Sierra Corporate Management and reported the management company had failed to agree to reasonable requests made by the city.

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2006 Oct – Mayor Freitas stated he is willing to support rent control if necessary and voiced his support for a ten-year moratorium in which no discussion could take place regarding the conversion of the park to an all age facility. He noted that after the 10-year period changes could take place under a conditional use permit process. City Attorney Nerland stated the city could draft an agreement that is recorded on the property (Vista Diablo Mobile Estates) or require a conditional use permit for conversion.

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2006 Oct – Councilmember Kalinowski voiced concern regarding conversion of the park to a family facility as well as excessive rents and rate increases. He stated he would be willing to consider the city purchasing the park from the property owners and noted he would also support a 10 year moratorium with a sunset followed by a requirement for a conditional use permit to pursue the conversion.

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2006 Oct – Councilmember Conley suggested the sunset of the senior park be until the last current lease expires with future agreements disclosing that at that date the conversion may be considered. He stated he feels the property owner has an unfair business practice and leases should be rolled back to the amount at the date of expiration. He suggested future rate increases be based on half of the social security increases. He stated he would support staff review of the Concord model for the rent control ordinance. He spoke to a repossession that occurred and questioned why the owner did not receive the net equity after all expenses.