California MHP News

Wed, Aug 30, 2023 – In late 2021, Port Orchard-based mobile home management company, Hurst & Son LLC, acquired Leisure Manor in a string of pandemic-era purchases – and since then, its tenants have faced steep rent increases, threatening them with economic eviction, along with new alleged problems with upkeep and maintenance that did not exist before.

Hurst & Son’s growing presence in Washington state reflects a broader pattern in which investors increasingly purchase and centralize such communities, making one of the last reliable options for lower-income housing less and less affordable. Lawmakers opened the door this year to expanding resident-led ownerships of park communities, but other proposals to regulate the industry and cap rising rents stalled.

Leisure Manor has since become an example of how mobile park residents can band together with other communities to push back and defend their homes.

Wed, Aug 30, 2023 – Staring down eviction and homelessness, Sonoma County mobile home residents are speaking up.

A tight-knit crowd of more than 50 people gathered this week, filling up a quiet corner of Littlewoods Mobile Villa in southeast Petaluma.

The all-ages, 78-unit mobile home park is home to mostly low-income Latino families. Many are longtime residents, like Martín Contreras.

The park’s owners have threatened to close, citing the cost of maintenance, and Petaluma’s new mobile home rent stabilization rules.

In response, residents have joined together as Littlewoods Neighbors United; focused on keeping negotiations, and the park, open, Contreras said.

Sat, Aug 26, 2023 – Residents of Stockton Park Village, a mobile home park in Stockton, California, have been living in dire conditions for years, grappling with sewage leaks, overflowing trash, and inadequate infrastructure. The park’s issues have brought attention to the challenges faced by mobile home park residents across California and have exposed gaps in the state’s oversight and enforcement of regulations.

Bobby Riley, an 87-year-old retired construction worker, moved to Stockton Park Village seeking a peaceful retirement. However, what was supposed to be a haven turned into a nightmare as the park’s owners, Howard and Anne Fairbanks, seemingly abandoned the property, leading to squatters, illegal dumping, and worsening living conditions.

Residents have reported pools of putrid brown liquid that they’ve had to wade through, as well as sewage backup that seeped into trailers, creating an unbearable stench. Despite numerous complaints and efforts from the state housing department, the issues persisted, leaving residents to endure filth and hazardous conditions for over four years.

The case of Stockton Park Village exemplifies the challenges faced by mobile home park residents in California. The state’s housing department, which oversees health and safety in such parks, often handles complaints separately, creating a fragmented approach that allows owners to fix individual citations while leaving larger problems unaddressed. The state’s enforcement powers include suspending owners’ ability to collect rent, which has been used multiple times in this case, but it can’t directly help residents.

California’s mobile home parks provide refuge for around 1.6 million residents, many of whom are older and economically vulnerable. The affordability crisis in the state has made these parks an essential housing option for those who might otherwise struggle to find affordable homes. However, the deteriorating conditions in many parks highlight the urgent need for better regulation and oversight.

State law requires parkwide inspections every 20 years, relying on residents to file complaints. However, a recent state audit revealed that only 45% of parks had been inspected in the past decade, and only half of those inspections were comprehensive. This lax oversight has left many residents living in substandard conditions, and experts believe the number of parks in disrepair could be much higher than officially reported due to their old age and inadequate maintenance.

The challenges in Stockton Park Village highlight the dilemma California faces: the choice between shutting down problematic parks, potentially displacing vulnerable residents, or using enforcement powers sparingly while health and safety concerns persist. The current system, while having some enforcement measures, falls short of ensuring adequate living conditions for mobile home park residents.

While the state’s housing department maintains that the system is working according to plan, advocates and experts argue that the slow pace of inspections and enforcement leaves residents suffering for extended periods. The broader issue of mobile home park neglect brings attention to the need for comprehensive reform and more robust regulation to ensure the safety and well-being of vulnerable residents across the state.

Wed, Aug 23, 2023 – The Novato City Council decided early Wednesday to decline a $30 million offer to purchase Marin Valley Mobile Country Club, the city-owned mobile home park.

The decision, which followed an emotional public meeting that started Tuesday evening, concluded two months of closed-door discussions between the city and the proposed buyer, HCA Property Management Inc. The company, which is owned by Novato resident Dean Moser and operates 17 mobile home communities on the West Coast, offered to buy the 63-acre complex in June.

Moser’s offer came shortly after a Marin County Civil Grand Jury report was released concerning the city’s ongoing financial problems, including a projected $2.6 million budget deficit this year.

The report said neighborhood’s rental payments have been insufficient to cover expenses and maintenance, placing an increasing financial burden on the city. Neighborhood residents have pushed back on the accuracy of the report.

Wed, Aug 23, 2023 – The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved a temporary moratorium on rent increases in mobile home parks in unincorporated areas on Monday.

The ordinance takes effect immediately and will remain in place until February 2024. The ordinance does not apply to mobile home parks inside the county’s nine cities.

Supporters of the ordinance say it will preserve housing for vulnerable populations. Around 67 mobile home parks are in unincorporated areas of the Sonoma County.

The Board of Supervisors will consider updating an existing ordinance that regulates rent increases in mobile home parks in unincorporated areas.

Mon, Aug 14, 2023 – The Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), filed a civil complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California today against the operators of Oasis Mobile Home Park, located in the Eastern Coachella Valley in Southern California. The complaint alleges that the Administrator of the Estate of Scott Lawson and a corporation called Lopez to Lawson, Inc. failed to properly maintain and operate Oasis’ primary drinking water well, treatment and distribution systems and wastewater system, and failed to perform corrective measures to protect the health of those who consume the drinking water. Today’s legal action seeks a judicial order that will require Oasis Mobile Home Park to address the imminent and substantial endangerment conditions related to the drinking and wastewater systems, comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act and pay a civil penalty.

In August 2019, EPA issued an emergency order to Scott Lawson, the owner and operator of the Park, for providing drinking water that contained impermissibly high levels of arsenic as provided by the Safe Drinking Water Act and its implementing regulations. In September 2020, EPA issued a second emergency order for failure to comply with arsenic levels after Oasis switched to a backup well that continued to provide water with prohibitively high arsenic levels. The 2020 Order required the respondents to provide consumers with alternative drinking water, fix its treatment system, reduce arsenic levels in the drinking water distribution system, and monitor the water for contamination. After the death of Scott Lawson in May 2021, EPA issued another emergency order against the defendants named in the complaint, largely mirroring the requirements of the 2020 emergency order. In April 2023, EPA conducted sampling of the drinking water system and found arsenic still present, thereby determining that the problems with arsenic and the drinking water system remain unabated. As a result, EPA issued an amended order that requires the defendants to address issues with the drinking water storage tanks.

In addition to the drinking water system compliance failures, Oasis has failed to properly operate and maintain a wastewater system that complies with the Safe Drinking Water Act and its implementing regulations. The chronic issues related to the design and operation of Oasis’s wastewater system have created an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and the environment because contaminants, such as E. Coli and other disease-causing organisms, are likely to threaten groundwater sources and enter the drinking water system.

EPA’s February 2021 and May 2022 wastewater inspections found the Park lacked a dedicated wastewater operator and a septic maintenance and pumping program for approximately 90 septic tanks located there. EPA also observed evidence of sewage overflows and wastewater line breaks. EPA visited Oasis in May 2023 and observed that the wastewater system issues remain unabated.

Sat, Aug 12, 2023 – If you are planning on purchasing a home in one of California’s 5,231 mobile/manufactured home and RV parks, here are your basic options in order of Best to Worst Case Scenarios.

1. Option 1 – Buy the Home, Buy the Land/Lot (HOA Fee), Resident Owned Community (ROC)
2. Option 2 – Buy the Home, Lease the Land/Lot (Space Rent), Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO), Private
3. Option 3 – Buy the Home, Lease the Land/Lot (Space Rent), RSO, Corporate
4. Option 4 – Buy the Home, Lease the Land/Lot (Space Rent), No RSO, Private
5. Option 5 – Buy the Home, Lease the Land/Lot (Space Rent), No RSO, Corporate

Note: Labels: Private = Privately Owned, Corporate = Corporate Owned

Thu, Aug 10, 2023 – This table of Mobile Home Parks, RV Parks, and Manufactured Home Communities for Sale in California is a work in progress as of Thursday, August 10, 2023. Data is being updated regularly.

This is a partial listing and covers the sold period 2021-01-01 to 2023-08-01. This is NOT a complete list of mobile home parks for sale in California. Many sales of mobile home parks are usually done via Pocket Listings (aka Off-Market Listings, Exclusive Listings), they are not marketed via public channels.

Mon, Aug 7, 2023 – Will Rancho Fullerton Mobilehome Park manager Andrea West and park owner Susan James Denton rescind their 60-Day Termination Notice now that the Kims have completed a brand new list of violations?

As seen in the before and after photos, the Kims have removed the arbor over the front door because the endangered birds nesting there have flown off. That item was the only remaining item not remedied before the park took the couple to court on June 15 for alleged violations. Removal of the arbor was delayed at the court hearing by Judge Cramin due to a California Fish & Wildlife order to wait until the nesting birds had vacated the nest.

No one knows if the Kims’ time-stamped photos showing no other violations were ever seen by the judge, who relied instead on non-time-stamped photos taken during construction months before and submitted as recent by park attorney Gregory Beam.

Judge Cramin will have the chance to realize the park officials have misled him about the condition of the property, question the enormous attorney fees, and reverse his original order for the couple to fix violations that had already been remedied – at the next hearing coming up at the end of August.

Rancho Fullerton management’s harassment of elderly homeowners is not new. For example, Cathy Borowiec, who sold the Kims their home in May 2022, took the park to court for wrongful eviction and harassment and won her case in October 2021. She said the park had tried unsuccessfully to pressure her to sell the mobile home to them. This is not a new tactic as those in Rancho La Paz can attest.

Fri, Aug 4, 2023 – On a quiet day this spring, Alejandra Chavez walked into her office at Westside Mobile Home Park in Durango, Colorado. Residents were gathered in the community space, discussing their plans for the park’s future, some leaning on the kitchen’s baby-blue counters while others sat in plastic lawn chairs. A year ago, this building was owned by a New York corporation and was off-limits to residents. But now, residents use the space for yoga, child care and community events. That afternoon, there were piñatas in the corner, left over from a recent birthday party.

Not long ago, 63 families at Westside faced the threat of displacement. In early 2022, the park’s owner announced plans to sell the park to Harmony Communities, a California-based corporation with a reputation for raising mobile home rents by up to 50% and imposing strict rules. Wary of being at the mercy of institutional investors, Chavez and her neighbors organized to make a counteroffer and take control of their community.

After months of fundraising and working with the Denver-based nonprofit Elevation Community Land Trust, Westside made a successful offer and formed a housing co-operative. Now owned jointly by its residents and Elevation, the park operates as a community land trust, which removes land from the real estate market and transforms it into community-owned property. Two decades after she first arrived in Durango, Chavez, a DACA recipient, is now the park’s property manager and the co-op’s vice president.

Wed, Aug 2, 2023 – During a contentious Huntington Beach City Council meeting Tuesday, several citizen-led committees and commissions were restructured, consolidated or dissolved at the recommendation of an ad hoc committee primarily composed of the same conservative majority council members who approved the changes.

As a result of the decision – which, in nearly all of nine separate votes taken resulted in the same 4-3 partisan split, with Democrats opposed – the city’s Human Relations Committee, Mobile Home Advisory Board and Jet Noise Commission will cease operations after a combined 61 years of operation.

Mayor Tony Strickland sat on the three council-member committee with Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark and Councilman Pat Burns. The trio developed the recommendations after three closed door meetings with City Manager Al Zelinka and acting Asst. City Manager Travis Hopkins.

Strickland told residents the dismantling of the committees did not mean their attendant issues could not be addressed by other means, such as citizens forming nonprofit organizations or gathering around a cause and lobbying local lawmakers.