California MHP News

Mon, Sep 30, 2019 – From the 2019 California Mobilehome Residency Law Frequently Asked Questions: Rents, Fees and Taxes, 6. Security Deposit

Resident Question: Can the park charge first and last months’ rent plus a 2-month security deposit?

MRL Answer: Normally, when a mobilehome owner is accepted for residency in a mobilehome park and signs a rental agreement, charging first month’s rent and a 2-month security deposit are permitted. (Civil Code §798.39) After one full year of satisfactory residency (meaning all rent and fees have been paid during that time), the resident is entitled to request a refund of the 2-month security deposit, or may request a refund at the time he or she vacates the park and sells the home. (Civil Code §798.39(b))
2019 California MRL FAQs

Submit your request for a security deposit refund in writing to Sierra Corporate Management today (or KSFG DBA). The MRL specifically states that SCM (or KSFG DBA) must refund your deposit after one full year of satisfactory residency if requested in writing.

Do not wait until you vacate the park and/or sell your mobile home.

Fri, Sep 27, 2019 – On Fri, Sep 20, 2019, residents of Imperial Avalon Mobile Estates (225 Spaces, 55+) in Carson, California received a letter from their new park owners.

Dear Imperial Avalon Mobile Estates Residents: We are the new owners of Imperial Avalon Mobile Estates mobile home park. After careful consideration and internal deliberation, we will need to cease operating the property for mobile homes and begin the process of closing the Park. We intend to explore redeveloping and operating the property for a different use but the closure is not happening immediately; the process will take an estimated 18 to 24 months. Most importantly, our team will be dedicated to identifying and contributing to a suitable alternative living arrangement for you.

Online documents show the new owner(s) as Imperial Avalon LLC which lists both Jason Illoulian of Faring and Frank Zarabi of FAM Brands as Manager(s) or Member(s).

Faring is a progressive real estate firm based in West Hollywood. Our neighborhood-first approach creates beautiful structures that engage and contribute to their surroundings. Faring’s commitment to exceptional architecture and community-building guides our practice.

Thu, Sep 26, 2019 – These historical MRL references are available from the Senate Select Committee on Manufactured Home Communities website. The MHPHOA have optimized the original source documents and have made them available online via Google Drive and embedded documents.

The MHPHOA are currently seeking MRLs for the years 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986. If you have a PDF version of any or all of these, we would appreciate having those to include in this collection. You can contact the MHPHOA and we will provide you with an email address to send those to.

Wed, Sep 25, 2019 – On Tue, Dec 12, 2017, residents from Knolls Lodge Mobile Home Park and Knolls Manor filed Civil Lawsuits (Case Numbers: YC072532, YC072533) against the Kort & Scott companies that own their parks including Sierra Corporate Management. James C. Allen of ASK Law Group is the attorney/law firm representing the residents.

On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 and Mon, Jul 1, 2019, documents were posted online indicating that the Plaintiffs (Residents) have reached a settlement with Defendants Knolls Lodge LP, Knolls Lodge GP Corp and Sierra Corporate Management Inc. Plaintiffs anticipate that it will take no more than 20 days to finalize the written settlement agreement. The documents indicate that Dismissal is set for Fri, Aug 23, 2019.

On Wed, Aug 14, 2019 twenty-five (25) households received a $1.25MM settlement.

Sun, Jul 14, 2019 – On Tue, Dec 12, 2017, residents from Knolls Lodge Mobile Home Park and Knolls Manor filed Civil Lawsuits (Case Numbers: YC072532, YC072533) against the Kort & Scott companies that own their parks including Sierra Corporate Management. James C. Allen of ASK Law Group is the attorney/law firm representing the residents.

On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 and Mon, Jul 1, 2019, documents were posted online indicating that the Plaintiffs (Residents) have reached a settlement with Defendants Knolls Lodge LP, Knolls Lodge GP Corp and Sierra Corporate Management Inc. Plaintiffs anticipate that it will take no more than 20 days to finalize the written settlement agreement. The documents indicate that Dismissal is set for Fri, Aug 23, 2019.

Knolls Lodge Mobile Home Park

• Address: 23701 South Western Avenue, Torrance, California 90501
• County: Los Angeles
• Phone: 310-326-1000
• Spaces: 257
• Type: All Ages
• 2019 Space Rent: $1,500
• Refinanced: Jun 2005, Amount: $94,700,000, 4/6 MHP Package
  Loan Type: Fannie Mae FRM, Chad Thomas Hagwood
• Refinanced: Dec 2013, Amount: $158,000,000, 4/8 MHP Package
  Loan Type: Fannie Mae FRM, Chad Thomas Hagwood
• New Management (Jun 1, 2019): Bessire and Casenhiser Inc
• Management: Sierra Corporate Management
• DBA: Knolls Lodge GP Corp, Knolls Lodge LP
• DBA Filing: Jan 2002, Oct 2002

Knolls Manor

• Address: 24200 Walnut Street, Torrance, California 90501
• County: Los Angeles
• Phone: 310-326-1000
• Spaces: 73
• Type: All Ages
• 2019 Space Rent: $1,650
• Refinanced: Jun 2005, Amount: $94,700,000, 5/6 MHP Package
  Loan Type: Fannie Mae FRM, Chad Thomas Hagwood
• Refinanced: Dec 2013, Amount: $158,000,000, 5/8 MHP Package
  Loan Type: Fannie Mae FRM, Chad Thomas Hagwood
• New Management (Jun 1, 2019): Bessire and Casenhiser Inc
• Management: Sierra Corporate Management
• DBA: Knolls Lodge GP Corp, Knolls Lodge LP
• DBA Filing: Jan 2002, Oct 2002

Thu, Sep 19, 2019 – The affordability crisis in Southern California is getting worse in a hurry. The region has been one of the least affordable places to live in the country for years. But now the local Consumer Price Index shows the cost of renting in Los Angeles and Orange counties is increasing faster than it has in 12 years, to a pace that’s nearly twice as fast as the rate of overall local inflation.

Nationwide, an estimated 20 million Americans live in mobile home parks. Nearly 10% of the nation’s housing stock is manufactured homes, which numbered about 8.5 million in 2018, the institute reported.

The data show rent is now rising at 5.5 percent annually after last month, which was the highest mark since 2007. But overall inflation is at 3 percent in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Over the past decade, rent increases averaged 3.3 percent with overall local inflation at 2.1 percent per year. And in the 1990s, rents increased by just 1.7 percent per year, while inflation jumped 2.6 percent per year.

Los Angeles County is one of the most “rent-burdened” cities in the country, which means more than half of the renters in the city need to spend 30 percent or more of their income to afford rent, according to a Freddie Mac analysis earlier this year. About one-third of all renters across the country are rent-burdened.

Wed, Sep 11, 2019 – The California State Legislature is now set to pass a new, stricter version of a statewide limit to rent increases before the current session ends.

Despite renewed opposition from the real estate industry and property owners, the latest iteration of Assembly Bill 1482 – which now caps annual rent increases to 5 percent plus inflation until 2030 – is on its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk before the September 13 deadline in order to be approved this year. It will be the first time rent control is expanded in California in 25 years, affecting about 2.4 million apartments throughout the state, in addition to all the houses it would cover.

According to a study by UC Berkeley, 1.2 million additional households in Los Angeles County will be under rent control if Newsom signs AB 1482. That includes about 374,100 units in the city of L.A. alone.

The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday, and won the Assembly’s approval on Wednesday.

Mon, Jul 15, 2019 – It is now confirmed in writing, Assembly Bill 1482 DOES NOT cover mobile/manufactured home parks and has been amended to read...

AB-1482 (i) For the purposes of this section, “owner” means the same as defined in Section 1954.51.

CHAPTER 2.7. Residential Rent Control

§ 1954.51. (b) “Owner” includes any person, acting as principal or through an agent, having the right to offer residential real property for rent, and includes a predecessor in interest to the owner, except that this term does not include the owner or operator of a mobilehome park, or the owner of a mobilehome or his or her agent.

Mon, Sep 16, 2019 – Mobile home parks have long represented a slice of the American dream for those who couldn’t afford land, or perhaps for those who wanted a place to park a summer home. Now, though, their reputation increasingly has evolved into a cash cow for park owners.

Nationwide, an estimated 20 million Americans live in mobile home parks. Nearly 10% of the nation’s housing stock is manufactured homes, which numbered about 8.5 million in 2018, the institute reported.

Park owners charge residents rent for the lot on which the unit sits. The tangle of rights and responsibilities for decades has favored the park owners. But now, as the housing shortage becomes more acute and mobile home residents become more organized, power dynamics may be shifting.

Sun, Sep 15, 2019 – The homeowners living in the Rancho La Paz Mobile Home Park, 501 E. Orangethorpe, have received a 31-page lease agreement from new park owner John Saunders. As a comparison, a standard residential lease agreement according to the California Association of Realtors is 5 to 7 pages.

The lease provides for six or ten years of graduated rent increases beginning November 1, 2019: 19% increase each of the first two years; 15% increase the third year; 9% increase in year 4 and 5; and a 7% increase per year from the 6th to 10th year.

Rancho La Paz Homeowners Association President Lupe Ramirez said, “Three attorneys have looked at the lease and said it is one of the worst they have ever seen. But as usual with John Saunders, it is legal. Most residents will sign a long-term lease because Saunders repeatedly told us in negotiations that (if they don’t sign) he will raise rents every six months for those on a month-to-month agreement. The people who already received the lease say the actual lease is over 70 pages.”

The park straddles the cities of Fullerton and Anaheim at 501 E. Orangethorpe, with about half in each city. Anaheim City Council also failed to pass a temporary anti-gouging ordinance proposed by Councilmember Jose Moreno. With space rents increasing to $1,500 or more many will have to take a loss on their homes, sell and move out of the park. There are currently 40 mobile homes for sale at the park.

Rancho La Paz Mobile Home Park Long Term Lease Agreement

Sun, Sep 1, 2019 – A huge mobile home park in Sunnyvale has been bought by a Chicago-based real estate company, in a deal that points to ongoing strength in Silicon Valley’s housing and job markets.

Plaza del Rey, an 800-unit mobile home community near the southwest corner of Lawrence Expressway and Tasman Drive in Sunnyvale, has been bought by an affiliate of Hometown America Communities, located in Chicago, Santa Clara County property documents show.

Plaza del Rey MHC, the affiliate of Chicago-based American Hometown Communities, paid $237.4 million for the mobile home park, according to county property records that were filed on Mon, Aug 26, 2019.

In 2015, county documents show, Carlyle Group paid $150 million for the property, not counting the undisclosed value of the ground lease.

Excluding the cost of the ground lease in the respective transactions, the Plaza del Rey complex produced a 58 percent gain in value in a roughly four-year period between the two deals.

Note: Plaza del Rey is one of California’s Top 10 Largest Mobile Home Parks.

Sun, Sep 1, 2019 – According to data obtained from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), there are 5,257 Active Mobile Home and RV Parks totaling 453,046 lots/spaces in the State of California. Of those 453,046 lots/spaces, 364,266 are mobile home spaces, 66,406 are RV lots with drains and 22,374 are RV lots without drains.

There are 686 Closed Mobile Home and RV Parks totaling 20,751 lots/spaces. Of those 20,751 lots/spaces, 11,094 are mobile home spaces, 6,794 are RV lots with drains and 2,863 are RV lots without drains.

As of Sun, Sep 1, 2019, the HCD has data for a total of 5,943 Mobile Home and RV Parks totaling 473,797 lots/spaces which includes Active and Closed listings. Of those 473,797 lots/spaces, 375,360 are mobile home spaces, 73,200 are RV lots with drains and 25,237 RV lots without drains.

HCD Note: HCD has enforcement of 81.4 percent of the parks and 75.5 percent of the lots in the State of California. The overall average park size is 86 lots; 80 for Mobile Home Parks, and 88 for RV Parks.

The below Top 10 Largest Mobile Home and RV Park listings are based on the HCD Mobile Home and RV Parks Active Listings as of Sun, Sep 1, 2019.

Note: Tue, Jan 1, 2019 – According to data obtained from the California Department of Finance there are 559,820 Mobile/Manufactured Homes in the State of California. There is a difference of 106,774 between the HCD and Department of Finance data.