California MHP News

Thu, Nov 23, 2023 – Mobile home park residents scored a second victory this week in their now yearslong efforts to keep their Fresno homes.

In a 4-0 vote Tuesday, the Mobilehome Park Rent Review and Stabilization Commission rejected an application for a $350 rent increase at La Hacienda Mobile Estates submitted by park owner Harmony Communities. The vote came after an initial hearing on Nov. 14.

The commission chose to increase rent by 6.6%, or $24.92 per month, the maximum allowed by city ordinance. The decision goes against the Fresno City Attorney Office’s recommendation of a 6.6% increase, as well as an amount that is “fair and just” to both the park’s owner and residents.

‘I honestly don’t think [an increase of] $350 a month is reasonable or fair for anybody in this situation,’ said Commissioner Shannon McCulligh during the hearing.

But the future remains uncertain for park residents as attorneys for Harmony have said the park would likely close in August without the $350 rent increase at La Hacienda. An attorney for the residents has argued that Harmony does not have the authority to close the park in August after the City Council rejected the closure proposal last week.

Wed, Nov 22, 2023 – Mobile home parks are often cited as the last remaining affordable housing in cities with rapidly rising rents, like Fresno. From a lethal fire to evictions, residents at the La Hacienda Mobile Estates have been on the brink of losing their homes – and possibly falling into homelessness – for nearly three years.

Residents of the beleaguered La Hacienda mobile home park in northeast Fresno have just finished going through two more proceedings this week in their years-long battle to stay in their homes.

A proposal to close down La Hacienda Mobile Estates mobile homes was rejected by the Fresno City Council last Thursday, after members drew criticism to park owner Harmony Communities’ management of the park.

The Mobilehome Park Rent Review and Stabilization Commission held a hearing Tuesday to reject a substantial rent increase application by Harmony, after an initial hearing over the matter took place on Nov.14.

La Hacienda Mobile Estates – formerly known as Trails’ End Mobile Home Park – has gone through more than just a name change. Residents of the now half-empty mobile home park have been fighting to save their homes going back to 2021, when an accidental fire sparked a series of events.

How did this all begin? The [article] timeline describes the key events throughout the last nearly three years of a tumultuous residency at the park.

Tue, Nov 21, 2023 – Seniors living at Pleasant Valley Mobile Estates will receive a partial reprieve from a rent hike after the owner announced Tuesday morning that it’s reducing the increase from 30% to 10% at the northeast Chico park. Residents nonetheless will continue to push for a rent stabilization ordinance, which may gain fresh traction at the county level, as well.

Patrick O’Malley, CEO of Legacy Communities, the Florida-based company that purchased Pleasant Valley Mobile Estates three years ago, said in the announcement that ‘the announced rent increase will be reduced for the 96 tenants (out of 118 total tenants) who received rent increase notices’ and ‘no resident will receive an increase above 10%.’ Additionally, he said the park will provide direct rental assistance to residents who truly and objectively cannot afford the rent increase.’

Residents may not be placated. According to Dave Donnan, a real estate agent who lives at Pleasant Valley Mobile Estates, his neighbors still planned to gather ahead of the Tuesday evening council meeting and come as a group to reiterate their desire for rent stabilization at senior parks like theirs.

‘We’re still going to push forward. There are 18 other mobile home parks in Chico.’

Thu, Nov 9, 2023 – Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that his Office has reached an agreement with Investment Property Group, UT, Inc., (IPG) that provides relief to tenants facing utility charges or collections. The agreement resolves the emergency motion AG Ellison filed against IPG in October, while Attorney General Ellison’s lawsuit against IPG moves forward. In that lawsuit, filed on October 19, 2023, Attorney General Ellison alleges that IPG violated numerous state laws by charging tenants exorbitant utility fees in the middle of their leases.

As part of the agreement, IPG has agreed to not use unpaid utility charges of any kind as a basis for an eviction action as well as cease charging many of its current tenants for gas or steam heat The agreement with IPG will help save thousands of tenants money on their utility bills each month, with tenants of one IPG building likely to save up to two hundred dollars a month during the winter season.

The agreement stems from an investigation Attorney General Ellison announced on April 25, 2023 after learning that Greenway Apartments, an IPG-owned property, notified tenants they would soon be charged utilities separate from their rent via a third-party billing company. Shortly thereafter, tenants found themselves facing excessive utilities charges, some of which totaled more than $2,000. The Attorney General subsequently filed a lawsuit alleging that IPG violated several laws when they started charging exorbitant utility fees to thousands of tenants at multiple Minnesota apartment complexes in the middle of their leases.

The Attorney General’s Office asks that anyone with information about IPG and/or its illegal utility charges, especially tenants, contact the Office. The Office can be reached by filling out a tenant report form online in English, Spanish, or Somali.

Tue, Nov 7, 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

Sun, Nov 5, 2023 – This table of 154 Investors, Park Owners and/or Park Management Companies is a work in progress as of Sunday, November 5, 2023. The number of Sites data may not be accurate and is rounded up to the nearest quarter (25, 50, 75, 00). The MHPHOA are performing ongoing research in this area to see if we can accurately account for the total number of Sites for each entity listed. Address and Website information are accurate based on recent audits performed for data verification against publicly available records.

Fri, Nov 3, 2023 – Residents of a Castro Valley mobile home park fear they will be homeless after they received notices from their landlord doubling their rent, beginning early next year.

Avalon Mobile Home Park on Castro Valley Boulevard has about four-dozen spaces and is home to many low-income residents who were told rent is rising by an extra $500 a month, according to letters they received this week.

For some, the cost is set to increase from $515 a month to about $995. Avalon said the monthly market rate for their lots is between $1,300 and $1,450 each.

Three Pillar Communities owns the park. It’s one of its 70 manufactured home communities in 13 states, according to the company’s website.

Wed, Nov 1, 2023 – The nearly 100 remaining residents of Imperial Avalon Mobile Estates, in Carson, were scheduled to be evicted on Wednesday, Nov. 1 – but instead, they’ve received a temporary reprieve.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday, Oct. 31, halting the park’s closure and any evictions for about a month. During that time, the remaining households need to meet with the developer’s relocation specialists team to work out a potential housing solution. A court-appointed mediator will help find a compromise.

An attorney for the residents lauded the decision by Judge James Chalfant, while a lawyer for the developer, Imperial Avalon DE, LLC, also seemed to suggest in a statement that the ruling was a victory for his client.

‘Today was a good day for the remaining residents of the Imperial Avalon mobile home park,’ Tim Tatro, a lawyer representing the residents, told reporters shortly after the court ruling, ‘which is scheduled to close tomorrow.’