California MHP News

Mon, Dec 25, 2023 – Jurupa Valley mobile home residents will get some help fixing up their homes in the New Year thanks to a $3 million state grant.

The grant, issued by the Manufactured Housing Opportunity & Revitalization Program, was secured by state Sen. Richard D. Roth (D-Riverside).

Here’s how it will work for Jurupa Valley residents: In early 2024, mobile home owners can apply through the city for money to repair their plumbing, roofing, heating, ventilation and electrical work.

The city said it will consider all the applicants but those who are the ‘most in-need household’ will be first in line, according to Roth’s office.

Once the most at-risk properties are helped, the grant money will open up to the remaining mobile-home owners ‘on a first come basis until funds are depleted.’

‘The funds we have secured will provide financial assistance to make needed mobile home repairs, improving residents’ health and safety, and contributing to the quality of life of their mobile home park,’ Roth said in a statement.

Jurupa Valley Mayor Chris Barajas said the city is home to 15 manufactured home parks.

Sun, Dec 24, 2023 – As many Cotati residents enjoy holiday celebrations with family and friends, others are left wondering how the antics of an out-of-town developer will affect them in the coming new year.

No time of year is a good time to get hit with the double whammy of new rules plus a massive rent increase, especially for folks who own their mobile home but lease the land it sits on. Nonetheless, that’s happening right now in Cotati and other California neighborhoods thanks to one-time Hollywood stuntman and Country Side Mobile Home Park owner Nick Ubaldi who changed the deal for a lot of locals with limited options. But wait. It gets worse. And weirder.

After the Cotati City Council told Ubaldi he could not move forward with plans to force the long-time seniors-only park to accept residents of all ages, the less-than-jolly owner threatened to close the whole place down. Of course he did. He was denied the chance to impose Harmony Communities Inc. policy and boost the bottom line at Country Side, explained KSRO.

Harmony Communities Inc. is a Stockton-based outfit that makes a practice of buying mobile home parks on the decline, mandating questionable fixes, and pricing longtime residents out of their homes.

Thu, Dec 21, 2023 – The city of Petaluma has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the owners of two local mobile home parks who claim the city is infringing on their constitutional rights.

The motion to dismiss, filed Dec. 8 with the U.S. District Court’s Northern District, asks the court to toss out the suit brought by the owners of Youngstown and Little Woods mobile home parks, both located in Petaluma and the sites of recurring clashes between park owners and residents, as well as between the owners and city government.

‘Plaintiffs have utterly failed to invoke this Court’s subject matter jurisdiction, due to lack of standing and ripeness, and fail to allege facts that plausibly state a claim,’ states the city’s motion to dismiss.

In the original suit, filed Oct. 10 by the owners of Youngstown Mobile Home Park and Little Woods Mobile Villa, the plaintiffs made four claims that the city is violating their constitutional rights, of which three point to violations of the takings clause and the fourth to violations of a contractual clause in the U.S. Constitution.

In their suit, the owners claim Petaluma has violated their property rights because the city’s pre-closure requirements prohibit them from closing their parks and compels the owners to operate at a loss.

Tue, Dec 19, 2023 – As directed by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, my office conducted an audit of the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) administration of the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program (program). The program allows mobilehome owners to submit complaints about alleged violations of the Mobilehome Residency Law to HCD. In response, HCD must identify the most severe allegations and, in certain circumstances, forward those allegations to a contracted nonprofit legal service provider (LSP) that can assist the homeowner. Our audit concluded that HCD must improve its oversight of the program.

Although LSPs are responsible for providing services to complainants, attorney-related privileges limit HCD’s ability to effectively oversee the work done by these contractors. The privileges prevent the LSPs from providing information—such as the number of hours they work on a complaint or investigations they perform to assist complainants—that HCD needs to determine if the LSPs are serving referred complainants. We also found that HCD did not take immediate action when LSPs notified it that they were denying services to complainants based on incorrect eligibility criteria and that HCD’s program data are not of good enough quality to allow HCD to report accurately or efficiently to the Legislature as required.

The program is funded by an annual $10 per lot fee paid by mobilehome park owners. Although we determined that HCD generally spent program funding appropriately, it has spent less than 40 percent of the program’s revenue it has collected and has consequently accumulated $8.3 million in unspent funds. Even if HCD’s annual costs grow, the amount of unspent funds will likely continue to grow if the Legislature does not reduce the fee. To assess the appropriateness of the program’s fee, we modeled different scenarios and determined that suspending the fee from fiscal year 2024–25 through the program’s sunset date in January 2027 would reduce the unspent fund balance and still allow HCD sufficient funding to address complaints.

Fri, Dec 15, 2023 – Another conflict is brewing involving senior citizens, affordable housing, property values and mobile home parks, this time in Cotati.

With mobile home park owners determined to open up to tenants of all ages, Cotati’s city council followed Petaluma earlier this week. Taking the somewhat extraordinary step of creating a new zoning district, a district wherein mobile home parks may ONLY rent to seniors.

Not too long after the vote, Nick Ubaldi, representing one of the parks, addressed the council.

‘After tonight’s vote, we have decided to immediately begin the closure process for Countryside Mobile Home Park. Sadly, this is yet another example of government overreach, and you've left us with no choice but to seek legal recourse,’ Ubaldi said.

Ubaldi announced that the entity he represents will no longer negotiate with tenants, who have been attempting to purchase the park themselves.

‘We have zero interest in having our property held hostage, and will not do so. The property’s land value far exceeds its current use. This is a private business, and we will no longer bear the burden of Cotati’s affordable housing effort,’ Ubaldi vowed.

Wed, Dec 13, 2023 – In a decision that will make it difficult for developers to convert mobile home parks into other uses, the San Jose City Council has unanimously approved additional protections for some of the region’s last bastion of affordable housing.

Thirteen of San Jose’s mobile home parks will be placed into a new land-use category, requiring prospective developers to submit a general plan amendment on top of a council vote. The city’s eventual goal is to place nearly all of San Jose’s 60 parks in this category. San Jose is home to the most parks of this kind among all of California’s cities.

‘I think this is a clear statement of intent from the council that these should remain mobile home parks,’ said Mayor Matt Mahan. ‘And should a developer propose redevelopment, the bar would have to be extremely high.’

For years, mobile home park residents have worried about their communities being torn down and turned into high-density housing as the city pushes to add units amid an affordability crisis.

While the communities own the physical structure of their home and can build equity, they lease the land underneath. Approximately 35,000 San Jose residents live in mobile home parks, many of whom are seniors and are considered low-income compared to the rest of the region. According to residents, the homes run between $350,000 to $400,000 to purchase, offering a unique middle ground between renting and buying a single-family home. There are about 11,000 across the entire city.

Tue, Dec 12, 2023 – 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.

Mon, Dec 11, 2023 – The city’s mobile home park residents say they have lost sleep over their communities potentially being sold to developers. But a small tweak in the law is adding additional protections to prevent that.

San Jose – home to the most mobile home communities in California – has sought to beef up its affordable housing stock for years. The city estimates a whopping 35,000 of its roughly 1 million residents live in these homes, which number about 11,000.

On Tuesday, the council will vote on placing 13 mobile home parks into a new land-use category. While such a move wouldn’t outright ban developers from converting the site to high-density housing, a general plan amendment must now be submitted.

‘This is sending a message to the property owners of the mobile home parks (that) San Jose is serious about preserving this,’ he said. ‘I think it is more the messaging.’

For Martha O’Connell, regional manager for the Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League, the change is a culmination of years of work. And she’s ready for some respite.

‘I’ve been working on this issue since 2015,’ said O’Connell. ‘Quite frankly, I’m exhausted. I’m glad we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.’

Fri, Dec 8, 2023 – The Fresno City Council voted to seek an injunction against the closure of an embattled north Fresno mobile home park on Thursday. However, the park‘s owner said on Friday afternoon it will shutter La Hacienda Mobile Estates by July 1, 20-24.

‘It sounds as if the city is grasping at straws,’ said Sherrie Johnston, operations manager with Harmony Communities, in an email to GV Wire. ‘If the city were serious about finding a solution they would come to the table and have a real discussion, as has been offered, instead of filing frivolous lawsuits.’

‘The park will be closing July 1st and there is little the city can do to avoid this outcome, other than engaging in productive discussions. The door remains open to the city should they actually want to sit down and find a solution.’

The city’s decision to proceed against park owner Harmony Communities came on a 6-0 vote in closed session. City Attorney Andrew Janz said that the action could be filed within the ‘next week or so.’

Tue, Dec 5, 2023 – Dozens of tenants from Sonoma Valley’s mobile home parks attended a training on tenants’ rights Thursday night at the Center for People Power in Boyes Hot Springs.

The training, organized by the Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League and the Sonoma Valley Housing Group, discussed legal aid and new protections for mobile home residents passed by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.

In August, the Board of Supervisors voted on a rent moratorium for mobile home parks in unincorporated parts of the county. Then on Oct. 24, the Board of Supervisors voted to limit annual rent increases at mobile home parks in unincorporated areas. The amendment to the county’s mobile home ordinance would limit future rent increases to 4% or 70% of the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less.

The update to the mobile home ordinance directly affects residents of the six manufactured-home parks in Sonoma Valley, including Seven Flags of Sonoma Mobile, Rancho Vista, Meadowbrook Mobile Estates, Lazzarotto’s Mobile Home Park, Brookside Mobile Manor and Acacia Grove Mobile Park.

Because of recent updates to the mobile home ordinance and the essential function of manufactured homes, GSMOL and Sonoma Valley Housing Group organized a training with residents of mobile homes in Sonoma Valley to provide knowledge of these recent changes and other protections they’re afforded.

The hope of GSMOL and the Sonoma Valley Housing Group is that meetings like the one on Thursday will help educate low-income, working-class residents from being displaced by the significant rise in housing costs in recent years.

Mon, Dec 4, 2023 – The Yucca Valley Town Council held a last-minute special meeting at 9AM last Friday (December 1st) to vote on a Senior Mobile Home Park Moratorium Urgency Ordinance.

In the wake of Gates of Spain Mobile Estates new ownership announcing development to the northside of the property and opening the longtime 55+ community to all-ages, nearly 70 tenants and supporters of the mobile park showed up to the emergency special meeting to voice their opposition.

The meeting began with Town Attorney Thomas Jex presenting the Urgency Ordinance, which would put a 45-day pause on the progress of Gates of Spain’s new owner’s unpopular plans.

Sat, Dec 2, 2023 – A court-appointed special master on Tuesday, Dec. 12, will begin hearing the individual cases of Carson’s mobile home owners who live at the soon-to-be-demolished Imperial Avalon Mobile Estates, who say the property owner hasn’t offered them fair relocation packages.

The residents, who are set to be evicted to make way for a massive mixed-use development, have until Tuesday to decide whether they want the special master to adjudicate their cases.

The mobile home park, located just southwest of the 405 Freeway, is slated to be demolished soon to make way for a 1,100-unit development, which is being built by Imperial Avalon LLC.

The park was scheduled to closed on Oct. 31. But on that day, the remaining households received a temporary reprieve by bringing a lawsuit against the developer.

Superior Court Judge James Chalfant, who heard the case, granted a temporary restraining order, which halted the park closure and any evictions for about a month.