Mobile Home Parks
Owned/Managed by Star Management

2024-01-18 – How to Empty a Senior Park – John Saunders’ Assault on Rancho La Paz

To paraphrase Dustin Hoffman speaking about Peter Pan in the movie Hook, park owner John Saunders HATES, HATES, HATES Rancho La Paz Senior Mobile Home Park.

YOU WOULD TOO, if you were John Saunders. But therein lies a challenge – to imagine you are John Saunders, you first have to arm yourself with boundless greed, entitlement, and malevolence. Only THEN can you grasp how much he hates the plucky mobile home-owning seniors of Rancho La Paz, the ONLY park of the dozens he’s gobbled up to actually get STATE LEGISLATION (thanks to Sharon Quirk-Silva) to protect them from his insatiable rent-gouging. THE GALL!

So for the last three years since AB 978 passed, Saunders has passive-aggressively run the place like an absentee slumlord. Letting the roads devolve into potholes. Not replacing burned out lights, as outside criminals discover this treasure trove. Replacing security with a half-assed firm that drives through ONCE A NIGHT, at the exact same time, a time that the local looters have memorized. More that we may mention later.

But this year Saunders has really found a way to punish and drive out the few troublesome protected seniors that are left (100 of the original 400) – make Rancho La Paz an All-Age Park! Actually, a tried-and-true tactic he’s pulled at many other places, not always legal, and also something he’s repeatedly said he’d never do at Rancho. He and his flacks say he can do this legally, even though it’s written in everyone’s lease (below) that it’s a senior park. (But just because he says he can doesn’t make it so – we shall see soon!)

2023-12-12 – Affordable Housing for Seniors at Rancho La Paz is in Jeopardy Again

Affordable housing is an issue coming up more frequently in the last ten years as predatory “investor” groups purchase apartment complexes, homes in residential neighborhoods, and entire mobile home parks, raising rents, evicting those unable to pay the increase, and here in Fullerton attempting to convert Senior-Only mobile home parks to All Age parks – or evicting residents to sell the land for other purposes.

Fullerton and Anaheim Rancho La Paz Mobilehome Park homeowners received notice on December 9, 2023, of a Zoom meeting called by park owner John Saunders to take place on December 26 at 10am. Aside from arranging such a meeting on the morning after the Christmas holiday – few residents at the park use Zoom or even have computers or smartphones. However, the result of the Zoom meeting may be sufficient to affect the future in that Saunders could claim he called a meeting and no one came. At stake is the question of whether the park should remain Senior Only or go to the All Ages model.

John Saunders bought the Rancho La Paz Mobilehome Park, which straddles Fullerton and Anaheim, in 2019 and immediately attempted to raise space rents by 40%-60%. The enormity of that increase was brought down by a new state law (AB976 California State Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva), which caps the yearly allowed space rent increase. However, Saunders was still able to raise rates high enough that many were forced to sell their homes and leave. (Space rents for “low income” are now up to $1600 monthly.)

Saunders then turned those properties into rentals – doubling the rent and taking another step toward turning the park into an All-Age by renting to younger people even though the park has been a 55+ Only Senior park since its inception.

2022-11-18 – Mobile Home Residents Worry About Housing Loss After Communities Sold

Residents have concerns rent increases will drive people out after their Mount Vernon mobile home parks were sold to an investment firm. Mobile home residents spoke out Tuesday about concerns of possible rent increases that could drive people from their homes after their two mobile home communities were sold.

The two mobile home parks – Ray’s and Engleside mobile home parks – are located off Richmond Highway in the Mount Vernon area of Fairfax County. Mobile home residents claim the owners – Ahora Company LC and Rapido Company LC – previously indicated they would not sell the properties.

However, the owners notified residents in September they received a $24.2 million offer from Pacific Current Partners to buy the mobile home parks, and they planned to sell the mobile home parks to Pacific Current Partners with 60 days notice.

The residents claim the owners’ attorney said a resident-led offer would not be considered. According to Tenants and Workers United, the $24.2 million offer from Pacific Current Partners is nearly three times more than the $8.1 million combined assessed values of the mobile home parks.

2022-08-31 – Owners of Skyline MHP, in Torrance, Propose a Rent Stabilization Deal

Residents are facing rent raises of around $200 from the new park management. In this senior only mobile home park many residents live on fixed incomes and are worried about how they will afford this rent increase and any future rent increases.

The new owners of Skyline Mobile Home park have offered to limit rent increases until 2030 in hopes of dissuading the Torrance City Council from enacting a mobile home rent stabilization ordinance.

In a meeting with residents this week, Saunders offered to adhere to the rent increase limits of state Assembly Bill 1482 until 2030, when the bill sunsets. This proposal, Saunders said, was in part motivated by City Council’s consideration of an RSO, which he opposes.

Saunders also agreed to make minor tweaks to his rental subsidy program, with the goal of making it easier for residents to apply and qualify. So far, 14 households out of the park’s 265 lots have met the current qualifications, Saunders said.

The proposal was made to ward off a potential rent stabilization ordinance the City Council will consider in mid-September.

2021-11-03 – New California State Law Benefits Exactly One Orange County MHP

A new state law that offers protections against big rent hikes to residents of a single mobile home park in Orange County will take effect on January 1, 2022.

The law was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in July after residents of the Rancho La Paz park, mostly seniors who are reliant on Social Security pensions, faced dramatic rent increases because of the park’s unique location – it straddles two cities, Anaheim and Fullerton.

In 2015, rents were $650 on the park’s Anaheim side and $750 on the Fullerton side. Rents have risen steadily since then, and in 2019 a new park owner, Saunders Property Company, which bought the park for $85 million, notified residents of another $200 monthly hike. Now some residents pay as much as $1,575, Ramirez told the Orange County Register.

Rancho La Paz’s location straddling two different municipalities made securing rent control measures difficult. That prompted Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, a Democrat, to introduce a bill that applies protections to mobile home parks that are specifically located in two different cities. Rancho La Paz is the only mobile home park in the state that fits that criteria.

2021-03-14 – Who Killed Kathleen Fabry, Rancho La Paz’ Beloved Thespian?

Rancho La Paz’ Kathleen Fabry died about three weeks ago in late February – exact date and cause still unknown. She was still in her seventies, and was still full of vibrant energy – at least until a little before last Christmas, when she discovered that park owner John Saunders had, FOR A SECOND TIME IN SEVEN YEARS, managed to take away her mobile home and leave her homeless.

The stress that Saunders’ rent-gouging in senior parks across Southern California has caused on folks who are living on a fixed income really DOES kill seniors prematurely, and has driven a few to suicide. But let’s get back to the beloved, vivacious Kathleen Fabry who, on retiring from a lifetime career at the Gas Company, put her life savings into a nice mobile home which she kept at Huntington Shorecliffs, and began a second career in the local theater.

SO, Who Killed Kathleen Fabry? It’s easy, and true, to answer that question by simply saying John Saunders killed Kathleen Fabry. Lupe estimates that at least NINE of her neighbors have died years earlier than they otherwise would have due to the stress and depression of housing insecurity. One lady on receiving her latest rent hike started walking up the nearby railroad track at night, hoping to be hit. Paramedics visit the park nearly every day, and the put-upon seniors rely on visiting charities for food. But Saunders is just the creature he is, a capitalist without conscience or boundaries, and he’ll just do what he does.

So saying Saunders killed Kathleen wouldn’t be the whole truth. In this country we have what purports to be a democratically elected government, ‘of the people, by the people and FOR the people.’ And one thing we reasonably expect our government to do is to protect the weak, poor and aged from being preyed upon by the strong and rich. And John Saunders shouldn’t be allowed to do what he does, in Huntington Beach, in Anaheim, in Fullerton, or in California, if those places were civilized.

2020-12-16 – Flamingo Mobile Home Park Fends Off Predatory Owner

Back in 2008, attorney Robert Coldren and his investment partners purchased a senior mobile home park in Huntington Beach. They were on the cutting edge of what’s become a national trend of private equity firms making cash cows out of senior parks, one of the last bastions of affordable housing for older people living on fixed incomes. Coldren immediately converted the property to all-ages and raised lot rents. His profits soared as 130 desperate and vulnerable people scrambled to find new places to live.

A similar story played out in 2013, also in Huntington Beach. Coldren bought a senior park, rents shot up, and another exodus of the elderly took place. Some reportedly became homeless. Two years later, OC Weekly named Coldren one of “Orange County’s Scariest People of 2015” for his treatment of the residents of his newly acquired San Juan Capistrano park. “Mobile-home dwellers,” the paper warned, “lock your doors and stow your money: Lawyer/developer extraordinaire Robert Coldren is coming for ya!” Then just last year, the Fullerton Observer began documenting the impacts of yet another investment by Coldren and his associates at Pacific Current Partners (PCP) on 380 seniors living in Anaheim.

Coldren himself is getting up in years, so his son and business partner, Spencer Engler-Coldren, fronts the San Francisco firm more often these days. Their website states: “Our focus is on adding value through efficient acquisitions and solving operational and local challenges through our in-house asset management team.” They now own 20 properties in seven states.

On Tuesday, Engler-Coldren spoke to the Santa Barbara City Council about growing local fears of déjà vu at the 69-unit Flamingo Mobile Home Park on Cacique Street, which PCP purchased in 2018. “We’re just trying to be good actors here and follow the law,” he said.

Last month, PCP and its property management arm, Star Management, announced plans to convert the park from senior-only to all-ages. The move sparked immediate fear among Flamingo’s residents, who also worried that PCP would raise rents as well as gobble up the owner-occupied units as they come on the market. Christel Barros, Sharyn Nielson, Dan Villano, and others rallied by Zoom and demanded swift protective action from the council, which it delivered in the form of an emergency ordinance preventing any senior mobile home park in Santa Barbara from going all-ages and enacting a vacancy rent control cap of 10 percent. The order lasts for 45 days, during which time the city will further investigate the issue and attorneys on both sides will confer.

But before the 7-0 vote on the hard stop was taken, tense words were exchanged. PCP lawyer James Ballantine made the not-so-veiled threat of a lawsuit if the city didn’t retreat from what he described as its encroachment on his clients’ property rights. “We really don’t want to be in a position where we are speaking to the city through litigation,” he said. “I would urge caution on this. I would urge a dialogue with the park owner rather than just simply ramming legislation down its throat.”
Tyler Hayden, Santa Barbara Independent

2020-12-15 – Santa Barbara Puts Temporary Stop to Changes at Flamingo MHP

Residents speak out to protect the seniors-only policy as the park’s owners push to open up the units to people of all ages and to allow rentals.

Barros, a retired social worker, said she has lived at the Flamingo Mobile Home Park at 1210 Cacique St. in Santa Barbara on and off since 1965. Her parents bought a mobile home there when she was 15 years old.

Barros was just one of several residents who spoke out Tuesday requesting that the City Council pass an emergency ordinance that would stop the park’s owners from allowing nonseniors to live at the park, and allow people to rent mobile home units.

The City Council listened and then voted 7-0 to pass the emergency moratorium on any changes to the park. The ordinance goes into effect immediately.

Councilwoman Meagan Harmon said other communities have passed similar seniors-only policies for mobile homes, citing the work of Assemblyman Steve Bennett, D-Ventura, who passed legislation while a member of the county Board of Supervisors.

Michael Cirillo, principal for Pacific Current Partners, which oversees Star Management, the management firm of the park, said, “There’s a need for affordable housing for all ages, and we are responding to that demand.
Joshua Molina, Noozhawk Staff Writer

2020-01-03 – The Life and Death of Oceanside Mobile Homes

Bob Richards was a jet fighter in Vietnam who lives in the 433-space Rancho San Luis Rey Mobile Home Park. He says that when he tried to sell his home the sale was thwarted because park management harassed him by demanding, among other things, that he tear down the six-foot wall surrounding his home even though there are other six-foot-high walls in his park and Oceanside city codes specifically say fences up to six feet tall are legal.

‘I had a buyer from Palm Springs who was approved’, says Richards. ‘They came after me’, he says of Star Management which runs Rancho San Luis Rey. He says Star would not relent on its demands to tear down the fence which halted the sale. ‘They are completely predatory. They don’t want it to look like too many people are leaving because it will look bad to their investors. My buyer decided to walk away because he saw what [Star Management] did to me’.
Ken Leighton, San Diego Reader

2019-09-15 – Seniors Receive 31-Page Lease Agreement for Mobile Home Space Rent Increase

2019-08-15 – Council Will Not Enact Rent Hike Moratorium for Mobile Home Parks

At their August 6 meeting, Fullerton City Council decided not to enact a temporary rent hike moratorium for mobile home parks. The item was originally placed on the agenda at the request of council member Jan Flory, in an effort to provide some relief for mobile homeowners of Rancho La Paz, who are facing drastic rent increases following the purchase of the park earlier this year by John Saunders.

Flory began the meeting by saying that, after meeting with Saunders and his representatives, she no longer supported the rent hike moratorium.

Flory said that it was Mr. Saunders’ position that if the council enacted the rent moratorium, he would withdraw his proposed private “subsidy” program. She also expressed concern that Saunders would sue the city if they passed the ordinance.

As it stands now, the rent increases are 19% for the first year, 19% for the second year, and 15% for the third year.

Flory said she was concerned that because the rent increase notices were dated July 1, the moratorium would not help tenants, and could actually hurt them.
Jesse La Tour, Fullerton Observer

2019-08-08 – Fullerton Council Lets Rent Hike Moratorium Die But Gets Some Help for Mobile Home Park Residents

Rent hikes announced at the Rancho La Paz mobile home park sparked council members’ discussion of ways to staunch increases.

The park was purchased in February for $85 million. Shortly after, residents were notified of $200 to $400 increases to their monthly rents to cover the resulting $800,000 jump in the annual property tax bill for the park and for maintenance. Residents started flooding council meetings in Anaheim and Fullerton – the 390-home park straddles the border – pleading for city leaders to step in.

Anaheim council members ended up rejecting a similar proposal for a moratorium, but officials did push the park’s new owner to hold off on the increases and an agreement was mediated that caps annual rent increases to 19% the next two years and eases increases down to 7 percent in later years. The owner is also offering a subsidy program for some residents.

But with several of the renters telling Fullerton leaders the increases are still too steep and they might have to leave, council members asked this week that city staffers put together a possible ordinance for a city-wide moratorium. The council could consider the ordinance as early as its Aug. 6 meeting, though council members still seem hesitant to step in.

A moratorium could give the park’s owner, John Saunders of Saunders Property Company, time “to get realistic about the timeline for the return on his investment,” Councilwoman Jan Flory said at the July 16 council meeting.
Jeong Park, The Orange County Register

2019-07-22 – Fullerton May Consider a Moratorium on Rent Hikes for Mobile Home Parks

Many residents of Rancho La Paz mobile home park joined a larger protest in front of Anaheim City Hall on June 18 to ask for rent stabilization and a more sound housing policy. That night, Council ultimately voted down a temporary rent hike moratorium proposed by councilmember Jose F. Moreno.

Hundreds of the protesters packed into the Anaheim City Council chambers as the meeting began. The council meeting lasted over 10 hours, with over 100 members of the public speaking.

Council member Moreno made a motion to approve a temporary (six month) rent gouging moratorium. It would allow rents to increase no more than 5% plus the consumer price index, with a max of 10%.

Ultimately, the motion failed 2-5, with Barnes and Moreno being the only “yes” votes.

The question of what to do regarding Rancho La Paz will be discussed at the July 2 Fullerton City Council meeting.
Jesse La Tour, Fullerton Observer

2019-06-22 – Rancho La Paz Residents Join Larger Protest at Anaheim City Hall, Asking for Rent Stabilization

Many residents of Rancho La Paz mobile home park joined a larger protest in front of Anaheim City Hall on June 18 to ask for rent stabilization and a more sound housing policy. That night, Council ultimately voted down a temporary rent hike moratorium proposed by councilmember Jose F. Moreno.

Hundreds of the protesters packed into the Anaheim City Council chambers as the meeting began. The council meeting lasted over 10 hours, with over 100 members of the public speaking.

Council member Moreno made a motion to approve a temporary (six month) rent gouging moratorium. It would allow rents to increase no more than 5% plus the consumer price index, with a max of 10%.

Ultimately, the motion failed 2-5, with Barnes and Moreno being the only “yes” votes.

The question of what to do regarding Rancho La Paz will be discussed at the July 2 Fullerton City Council meeting.
Jesse La Tour, Fullerton Observer

2019-06-18 – Rancho La Paz Residents Ask Council For Help

A large group of residents from Rancho La Paz Mobile Home Park in Fullerton attended the June 4th council meeting with signs, expressing their protest of the massive rent increases proposed by the park’s new owner, John Saunders. The residents, who have spoken at numerous meetings before, asked council for help with an ordinance preventing these rent hikes.

Harrison said that, since the proposed rent increases, over 40 mobile homes are for sale in the park, and their values are dropping.

As the situation now stands, without assistance from this council, there are residents who will be forced out of Rancho La Paz with no equity or compensation of any kind, Harrison said, They will be homeless and unable to afford housing anywhere in California, let alone here in Fullerton, where many have been residents for decades.

He said that Mr. Saunders has not committed to any specific rent reductions: Mr. Mayor, council members, Mr. Saunders lied to you. He still flat-out declares that he is not negotiating, and that his current 2.5-year profitability goal is around 300% of existing rents.

Back in February, when Mr. Saunders bought the park, Perez and her husband (who is nearly 90) got a notice of a $390/month rent increase.
Community, Fullerton Observer

2019-04-18 – What’s Happening at Rancho La Paz is Part of a National Trend

The situation at Rancho La Paz Mobile home park, which includes parts of Fullerton and Anaheim, in which residents were slapped with 44-60% rent increases when a new owner took over, is part of a much larger national trend, according to a recent report. This trend was the subject of a recent episode of John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight.” We will examine this growing trend, but first here’s some information about the new owner of Rancho La Paz.

About John Saunders’ Other Mobile Home Parks: A Trend of Predatory Behavior

Rancho La Paz is not the first mobile home park that John Saunders and his investment partners have purchased and drastically increased the rents, causing problems and outrage.

Four other parks have been tracked directly to Saunders; Shorecliff, and Pacific Mobile Home Park (Surf City Beach Cottages) both in Huntington Beach; Rancho San Luis Rey in Oceanside; and Palm Beach Mobile Home Park in San Clemente. Because Saunders buys the properties under various Limited Liability names it is difficult to track just how many he owns.

He also appears to be a partner of Pacific Current Partners (PCP) which includes principals Robert Coldren, and Mike Cirillo (also owner of Star Management). A January, 29, 2016 press release from the PCP company website states: “Pacific Current Partners, a manufactured housing investor group led by industry veteran Mike Cirillo and Saunders Property Company recently partnered to acquire Palm Beach Mobile Home Park in San Clemente for an undisclosed amount. This transaction represents the eighth manufactured housing acquisition for this team in the last two years.” PCP now owns 19 mobile home parks while Star Management lists 27 across the country.
Jesse La Tour, Fullerton Observer

2019-04-07 – Rancho La Paz Mobile Home Park Residents Meet with Park’s Owner

About 150 residents of the Rancho La Paz Mobile Home Park that straddles Anaheim and Fullerton met with the park’s owner, John Saunders, on April 5. Saunders said he made a ‘mistake’ and apologized for not meeting with residents prior to imposing 45% to 55% rent increase on the mostly retired residents of the park.

Saunders said the prior owners, the Richter Family Trust, had the benefit of inheriting the park and were able to keep the rents artificially low. But for him to pay expenses, such as the $63 million mortgage and $800,000 annual property tax bill on the park that he purchased for $85 million, including the vacant lot north of the park and the land leased by Ma’s Islamic Chinese Restaurant next to the park, he would have to raise their below market rents.

Saunders said he has no intention of “forcing” residents from the park. But many of the residents, who moved to the 55 plus senior housing community as an affordable option upon retiring, live on a fixed income and stated that they will not be able to afford to pay the rent increases. As a result, 33 of the 390 mobile homes in the park are for sale according to residents, though Saunders disputes the number of homes for sale in the park.

Residents told Saunders of the difficulties they were having selling their units. They said that Star Management, contracted by Saunders to manage the park, was not approving buyers and real estate agents were unable to get clarification from management as to what the monthly rental rates would be for new owners. Saunders promised, “I will make sure to straighten that out (the new rental rates within the park) today.” He suggested buyers may not be getting approved by Star for reasons other than not meeting the financial qualifications, but assured residents, ‘If Star is refusing somebody, I want to be sure it’s not happening.’
Jane Rands, Fullerton Observer

2019-04-04 – Anaheim and Fullerton Mobile Home Residents Remain Uncertain About Rents

Saunders has promised both cities he’ll be working with residents to create a reasonable rent increase schedule and help low-income residents obtain rent subsidies. The increase was originally scheduled to take effect June 1.

Fullerton council members ultimately directed their staff to research the legality of rent control ordinances for mobile home parks, and research what other cities are doing before bringing the issue back to their first meeting in July.
Spencer Custodio, Voice of OC

2019-04-02 – Anaheim and Fullerton Consider Options for Potential Rent Caps at MHPs

Mobile home park residents in Anaheim and Fullerton may see any planned rent increases capped soon as council members consider rent increase relief options after seniors petitioned both city councils in March.

Seniors living in the Ranch La Paz mobile home park, which straddles Anaheim and Fullerton, packed the two cities’ council chambers March 19 after learning their rents would increase June 1 anywhere from $300 to $400 because of an ownership change and the resulting increase in property tax.

Following the Rancho La Paz residents turnout at the council meetings, Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu, along with Councilmen Trevor O’Neil and Stephen Faessel were able to delay the rent increase to Sept. 1 after meeting with the owner, John Saunders.

Anaheim council members will consider two different ordinances Tuesday aimed at freezing the rent increases after Councilman Jose Moreno scheduled them on the agendas at the last meeting.
Spencer Custodio, Voice of OC

2019-03-27 – Anaheim Mobile Home Park Owner Rescinds Rent Increases

The owner of the Rancho La Paz Mobile Home Park in north Anaheim will rescind a recently announced rent increase that would have significantly raised the below-market rents paid by the 400 or so residents of the venerable mobile home park.
Matthew Cunningham, Anaheim Blog

Note: Existing Rancho La Paz home owners have received a temporary reprieve from the space rent increase. New buyer space rent has increased by $450 and is now advertised at $1,100 per month, it was $650 per month prior to the recent purchase of the park by Saunders Property Company. If we use the industry rule of thumb that for every $10 per month space rent increase you lose approximately $1,000 in mobile home equity, existing home owners may have just lost $45,000 each.

2019-03-27 – Owner Pulls Back on Rent Increases for Mobile Home Park

The new owner of a senior mobile home park straddling the border of Fullerton and Anaheim is pulling back on monthly rent increases of at least $200 for nearly 400 residents until at least Sept. 1, saying the company had done too much, too soon.

The increasing concerns that were being voiced by the residents required a pause and an opportunity to initiate a dialogue with those residents to better understand their concerns, said Peter Whittingham, a spokesman for Saunders Property Company, which purchased the Rancho La Paz Mobilehome Park last month.
Jeong Park, The Orange County Register

2019-03-27 – MHP Owner Delays Rent Increase on Seniors after Meeting with Anaheim Leaders

Roughly 400 people living in the Rancho La Paz senior mobile home park straddling Anaheim and Fullerton faced up to a $400 rent increase in June. Until they lobbied their city council elected officials.

Rents were scheduled to increase June 1, but an agreement brokered Wednesday by Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu and Councilmen Trevor O’Neil and Stephen Faessel put a temporary hold on that increase until Sept. 1.
Spencer Custodio, Voice of OC

2019-03-21 – Rancho La Paz Residents Organize and Ask Elected Officials for Help

The seniors are organizing. Facing drastic rent increases of 45-60%, senior residents of Rancho La Paz mobile home park in Fullerton and Anaheim are asserting their voices and calling upon their elected officials to intercede for them.
Jesse La Tour, Fullerton Observer Local News

2019-03-21 – Rent Hike May Force Many in OC Retirement Community From Their Homes

The owners of nearly 400 homes in a 55-and-over mobile home park in North Orange County find themselves stuck with no way out because of a rent increase that starts in June. The news caused distress among community members. Retirement plans were completely destroyed.
Jessica De Nova, KABC-TV Los Angeles

2019-03-21 – Proposed $400 a Month Rent Increase has Seniors in Anaheim Nervous

‘I worry about a lot of the older people that can’t make this increase. It’s causing stress that could cause a stroke and a heart attack. You know they’re dealing with people’s lives,’ says Dianna Bedwell. She and other residents got letters from the new owner, Peace Ranch LLC, a month ago saying payments for spaces would go up between $300 to $400 per month beginning in June.
Michele Gile, CBS Los Angeles

2019-03-10 – Rancho La Paz MHP – Seniors Facing Drastic Rent Increases of 44%

On February 28, 2019, over 380 residents of Rancho La Paz received word that the mobile home park had been sold, and the new owners were increasing rents by an average of $300 per month for residents who were paying around $680 per month – a 44 percent increase.
Editor, Fullerton Observer Local News

2016-08-23 – Coldren Again? The Vulture Returns to El Nido

You’re right, it’s been less than a year since Santa Ana lawyer/profiteer Robert Coldren descended on the senior El Nido Mobile Estates residents in San Juan Capistrano, attempting to defang the city’s rent control ordinance and raise the senior’s rents over 100% – a sudden $641 a month hike – and it’s been less than a year since the SJC Council rebuffed him soundly, awarding only $37 in accord with the Consumer Price Index.
The Orange Juice Blog – Orange County’s Political Mosh Pit

2016-03-30 – Robert S. Coldren – Positioning Your Mobile Home/RV Park for the Future

If your park is designated as “senior”, consider changing the status to all-age. I know this is sacrilege and counter-intuitive, but consider which tenant profile is more likely to generate income that grows, rather than is fixed. Senior or working family? Who is more likely to have time to lobby for rent control? Senior or working family?
LinkedIn (Article Removed Mar 2019) – Robert S. Coldren

2015-10-21 – Orange County’s Scariest People of 2015

Robert Coldren – Mobile home dwellers, lock your doors and stow your money: Lawyer/developer extraordinaire Robert Coldren is coming for ya! Coldren is the guy mobile home park property owners call when they feel like doubling space rents for their largely low-income and senior residents, as did El Nido Mobile Estates owner Richard Worley earlier this year. Some residents of the San Juan Capistrano park face up to 106 percent rent increases – a jump from $600 to $1,241 – and if the City Council upholds the hikes, all credit goes to Coldren’s “special reputation in the area of property rights, land use and regulatory ‘taking’ issues,” as his law firm website boasts. He relies on such expertise in his gig as managing partner in Pacific Current Partners (PCP), an investment group that makes cash cows out of mobile home parks. Just ask the 150 plus residents who have fled Huntington Shorecliffs, a PCP owned park in Huntington Beach where rents have shot up from $1,250 to $2,500 in seven years.
OC Weekly – Staff

2014-08-03 – Huntington Beach’s Mobile Home Uprising – Which Side Are YOU On?

Saunders swooped into Shorecliffs in 2008 like a tornado, with his attorney Robert Coldren (famed for fighting against mobile home park rent control up and down the state.) Coldren immediately announced to all the seniors, some of whom had been there for decades, that they’d “lived here too long and too cheap, and we’re going to do something about that!” True to his word, he immediately raised rents $400 to $500 a month, got the park designated “all age,” and began his slow program: Over 130 seniors now forced out, living with family, homeless, disappeared, dead – and Saunders’ profits soared!
The Orange Juice Blog – Orange County’s Political Mosh Pit