Mobile Home Owner News – January 2024
Resident curated mobile home owners news and information for residents of Mobile Home Parks owned by Kort & Scott (KS) companies. The MHPHOA also provides news coverage for Mobile Home Parks not owned by KS companies.
Click/tap the story headlines to open a link to the full original story and/or media such as streaming video from City Council Meetings. Story headlines with are inline news stories.
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RE: Fresno, California / Nick Ubaldi / Harmony Communities
Wed, Jan 31, 2024 – A Fresno judge on Wednesday told mobile home park owner Harmony Communities that it can’t La Hacienda Mobile Estates until a final ruling is issued. The judge also put a stop to multiple ongoing evictions at the park.
In September 2023, a coalition of tenants at the mobile home park sued Stockton-based Harmony for what they say are multiple unlawful evictions, a predatory business model, and a planned closure of the park.
Attorneys for two tenant groups, Hacienda Homeowners for Justice and Trails End United for Change, filed a request for an injunction. Fresno County Superior Court Judge D. Tyler Tharpe issued a tentative ruling in favor of the tenant groups.
‘Plaintiffs have shown that they are likely to prevail on the merits of several of their claims, and that they will suffer irreparable harm if the requested injunction is not granted,” said Tharpe in his ruling. “According to plaintiffs’ evidence, defendants have refused to recognize the tenancies of plaintiffs’ members despite their having resided at the park for years or even decades.’
The attorney for La Hacienda tenants, Mariah Thompson, said the order means her clients can litigate the merits of their eviction cases without fear that they will become homeless in the meantime.
RE: California
Mon, Jan 29, 2024 – The MHPHOA online version of the 2024 California Mobilehome Residency Law in HTML has been updated to reflect all changes indicated below.
From the Senate Select Committee on Manufactured Home Communities:
Division 2, Part 2, Chap. 2.5 of the Civil Code. The Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) is the “landlord-tenant law” for mobilehome parks, which, like landlord-tenant law and other Civil Code provisions, are enforced in a court of law. The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) does not have authority to enforce violations of the MRL.
Senate Select Committee on Manufactured Home Communities
2024 California MRL
- File Type: PDF
- Pages: 145
- Size: 2.9MB
From the 2024 MRL Introduction:
Note: Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program (MRLPP). Beginning July 1, 2021, any mobilehome or manufactured homeowner living in a mobilehome park under a rental agreement may submit a complaint for an alleged violation of the Mobilehome Residency Law. Any mobilehome or manufactured homeowner residing in a permitted mobilehome park is eligible to submit a complaint. Complaints must be submitted to HCD. HCD provides assistance to help resolve and coordinate resolution of the most severe alleged violations of the Mobilehome Residency Law. For questions regarding the MRLPP please call 1-800-952-8356, email MRLComplaint@HCD.CA.gov or visit https://www.HCD.CA.gov/.
For the 2024 edition, Assembly Bill 604 (CIV §798.40) clarifies the scope of AB 1061 (Lee, Chapter 625, Statutes of 2021) to explicitly include residents of all mobilehome parks in each of the protections within the statute. These protections include capping each residents’ water service charges to only their proportional share based on monthly usage plus a reasonable administrative fee, eliminating arbitrary and unfair water “service” charges and fees. AB 1280 (CIV §1103.2) revises the Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement that must be provided by a property seller to a potential buyer to include more specific disclosures regarding whether the property falls within current local, or state, high and very high fire hazard severity zones.
RE: California
Fri, Jan 26, 2024 – This table of Mobile Home Parks, RV Parks, and Manufactured Home Communities for Sale in California is a work in progress as of Friday, January 26, 2024. Data is being updated regularly.
This is a partial listing and covers the period 2021-01-01 to 2024-01-26. 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.
RE: Petaluma, California / Youngstown Mobile Home Park / Three Pillar Communities
Tue, Jan 23, 2024 – In yet another challenge to the city’s mobile home rules, the owners of Youngstown Mobile Home Park have filed a second lawsuit against Petaluma, this time claiming that an overlay district passed last October to protect senior residents violates federal fair housing laws.
In the suit – filed Jan. 12 in Sonoma County Superior Court against the city of Petaluma, its City Council and 20 unnamed individuals – the park owners claim the city’s senior mobile home park overlay prevents them from renting to younger people and thus forces them to discriminate against potential renters in violation of the Fair Housing Act and its amendments.
The unnamed owners, filing as “Youngstown MHP LLC,” also claim in the suit that their attempt last June to convert the historically seniors-only park to all-ages was intended to “put Youngstown on viable financial footing.”
The latest legal maneuver follows an attempt last summer by owners to raise rents by over $900, as well as threats to outright close the 102-unit mobile home park on North McDowell Boulevard in the wake of the city’s push to strengthen its mobile home laws.
The proposed rent hike triggered an arbitration process that began Jan. 17, with residents gathering to watch as lawyers and witnesses debated the case.
Little Woods residents, themselves hit with proposed rent hikes of over 300%, are scheduled to begin their own arbitration proceedings in March. Residents at both parks must shoulder the costs of arbitration – said to be at least $50,000 – although Petaluma People Services Center has offered to assist with fundraising to cover some of those costs.
Get Your Security Deposits Refunded After One Year
RE: California / MRL Civil Code §798.39(b)
Fri, Jan 19, 2024 – From the 2024 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))
2024 California MRL FAQs
Submit your request for a security deposit refund in writing to park management today. The MRL specifically states that park management 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.
RE: Anaheim, Fullerton, California / Rancho La Paz Mobile Home Park / Star Management, Pacific Current Partners
Thu, Jan 18, 2024 – 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!)
RE: Chico, California / Pleasant Valley Mobile Estates / Legacy Communities
Wed, Jan 17, 2024 – Residents of Pleasant Valley Mobile Estates in Chico continue to push back against back-to-back rent increases.
Neighbors gathered at Tuesday night’s Chico City Council meeting to voice support for a rent stabilization ordinance for senior living mobile home parks.
This follows repeated rent hikes by the company that owns the park, Florida-based Legacy Communities. Residents tell KRCR that the company’s most recent rent increase came this year at 10%. This follows their initial plan to raise the rent by 30%, but they eventually lowered the number to 10% following pushback.
Residents say rent stabilization is not a new concept for mobile home parks in California. According to the Mobile Home Park Home Owners Allegiance, there are more than 90 cities in California that have instated different forms of rent stabilization for mobile home park space rent.
RE: California Mobile/Manufactured Home Parks
Fri, Jan 12, 2024 – 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.
- Option 1 – Buy the Home, Buy the Land/Lot (HOA Fee), Resident Owned Community (ROC)
- Option 2 – Buy the Home, Lease the Land/Lot (Space Rent), Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO), Private
- Option 3 – Buy the Home, Lease the Land/Lot (Space Rent), RSO, Corporate
- Option 4 – Buy the Home, Lease the Land/Lot (Space Rent), No RSO, Private
- Option 5 – Buy the Home, Lease the Land/Lot (Space Rent), No RSO, Corporate
Note: Labels: Private = Privately Owned, Corporate = Corporate Owned
RE: California
Mon, Jan 1, 2024 – According to data obtained from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), there are 5,231 Active Mobile Home and RV Parks totaling 453,250 lots/spaces in the State of California. Of those 453,250 lots/spaces, 363,492 are mobile home spaces, 66,931 are RV lots with drains, and 22,827 are RV lots without drains.
There are 677 Closed Mobile Home and RV Parks totaling 21,574 lots/spaces. Of those 21,574 lots/spaces, 11,946 are mobile home spaces, 6,776 are RV lots with drains, and 2,852 are RV lots without drains.
As of Thu, Jun 1, 2023, the HCD has data for a total of 5,908 Mobile Home and RV Parks totaling 474,824 lots/spaces which includes Active and Closed listings. Of those 474,824 lots/spaces, 375,438 are mobile home spaces, 73,707 are RV lots with drains, and 25,679 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 in California are based on the HCD Mobile Home and RV Parks Active Listings as of Mon, Jan 1, 2024.
California – Top 10 Largest Mobile Home Parks
# | Mobile Home Park Name | Address | City | ST | Zip | SPC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Casa de Amigos Operated By: Casa de Amigos Ltd |
1085 Tasman Dr | Sunnyvale | CA | 94089 | 923 | |
Plaza del Rey Operated By: Plaza del Rey Owner LLC |
1225 Vienna Dr | Sunnyvale | CA | 94089 | 800 | |
Hemet West Mobile Estates Operated By: Western States Mobilehome Parks |
5001 W Florida Ave | Hemet | CA | 92545 | 771 | |
Westwinds Operated By: MHC Operating LP |
500 Nicholson Ln | San Jose | CA | 95134 | 723 | |
Swan Lake Mobile Home Park Operated By: Hamner Park Associates |
5800 Hamner Ave | Eastvale | CA | 91752 | 716 | |
Los Alisos Mobile Home Estates Operated By: Miller, Willis Ranch Co |
772 Garden Grove Blvd | Westminster | CA | 92683 | 705 | |
Casa Del Lago Mobile Home Park Operated By: San Jose Investments Ltd |
2151 Old Oakland Rd | San Jose | CA | 95131 | 618 | |
Adobe Wells Operated By: Mobilehome Communities |
1220 Tasman Dr | Sunnyvale | CA | 94089 | 613 | |
Oakridge Mobile Home Park Operated By: Oakridge Ltd |
15455 Glenoaks Blvd | Sylmar | CA | 91342 | 600 | |
Plantation on the Lake Operated By: Plantation Company LLC |
10961 Desert Lawn Dr | Calimesa | CA | 92320 | 557 | |
7,026 |
California – Top 10 Largest RV Parks With Drains
# | RV Park Name | Address | City | ST | Zip | Lots |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Golden Village Palms RV Resort Operated By: GVP LLC |
3600 W Florida Ave | Hemet | CA | 92544 | 1,019 | |
Silent Valley Club Operated By: Silent Valley Club Inc |
46305 Poppet Flats Rd | Banning | CA | 92220 | 850 | |
Caliente Springs RV Park Operated By: Timothy Manthei |
70200 Dillon Rd | Desert Hot Springs | CA | 92240 | 677 | |
Soledad Canyon Operated By: MHC TT Inc |
4700 Crown Valley Rd | Acton | CA | 93510 | 641 | |
Fountain of Youth Spa Operated By: Fountain of Youth Spa Corp |
1500 Spa Rd | Niland | CA | 92257 | 615 | |
Wilderness Lakes Operated By: MHC NAC Inc |
30605 Briggs Rd | Menifee | CA | 92584 | 523 | |
Sands RV Resort Operated By: Sun Sands RV LLC |
16400 Bubbling Wells Rd | Desert Hot Springs | CA | 92240 | 507 | |
Mountain Lakes Operated By: Robert Burlingame |
277 Lytle Creek Rd | Lytle Creek | CA | 92358 | 494 | |
Rivers Edge RV Resort Operated By: Brenda Agular |
2299 Winterhaven Rd | Winterhaven | CA | 92283 | 480 | |
Catalina RV Spa Operated By: Catalina Spa & RV Inc |
18800 Cork Hill Rd | Desert Hot Springs | CA | 92240 | 477 | |
6,283 |
California – Top 10 Largest RV Parks Without Drains
# | RV Park Name | Address | City | ST | Zip | Lots |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lawsons Landing Operated By: Carl Vogler |
137 Marine View Dr | Dillon Beach | CA | 94929 | 1,000 | |
Calaveras Timber Trails Association Operated By: Calaveras Timber Trails Association |
1071 Avery Sheep Ranch Rd | Avery | CA | 95224 | 500 | |
Lake of The Springs Operated By: MHC TT Inc |
14152 Frenchtown Rd | Oregon House | CA | 95962 | 465 | |
Holcomb Valley Ranch Operated By: Holcomb Camp |
34300 Holcomb Valley Rd | Fawnskin | CA | 92333 | 400 | |
Soledad Canyon Operated By: MHC TT Inc |
4700 Crown Valley Rd | Acton | CA | 93510 | 385 | |
De Anza Campland Operated By: Campland on the Bay |
2211 Pacific Beach Dr | San Diego | CA | 92109 | 339 | |
Thousand Trails Pio Pico Operated By: Thousand Trails Vehicle Park |
14615 Otay Lakes Rd | Jamul | CA | 91935 | 336 | |
Morgan Hill Preserve Operated By: MHC TT Inc |
12895 Uvas Rd | Morgan Hill | CA | 95037 | 298 | |
Annetts Mono Village Operated By: Annetts Mono Village Inc |
13425 Twinlakes Rd | Bridgeport | CA | 93517 | 281 | |
Lake Minden Operated By: MHC NAC LP |
1256 Marcum Rd | Nicolaus | CA | 95659 | 274 | |
4,278 |
California – Top 10 Largest ROC Mobile Home Parks
# | Mobile Home Park Name | Address | City | ST | Zip | SPC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Palm Desert Greens Operated By: Palm Desert Greens Association |
73750 Country Club Dr | Palm Desert | CA | 92260 | 1,922 | |
Tri Palm Estates Operated By: Tri Palm Unified Owners Association |
32851 Desert Moon Dr | Thousand Palms | CA | 92276 | 1,629 | |
Sierra Dawn Estates Operated By: Sierra Dawn Estates Homeowners Association Inc |
950 S Lyon Ave | Hemet | CA | 92543 | 1,474 | |
Sabre City Estates Operated By: Researching… |
Doolittle Dr | Roseville | CA | 95747 | 726 | |
Desert Crest Operated By: Desert Crest Community Association |
69400 N Country Club Dr | Desert Hot Springs | CA | 92241 | 582 | |
Black Lake Mobile Estates Operated By: Researching… |
234 Crosby Way | Nipomo | CA | 93444 | 555 | |
The Groves Operated By: The Groves Homeowners Inc |
5200 Irvine Blvd | Irvine | CA | 92620 | 533 | |
Golf Knolls Mobile Home Park Operated By: Golf Knolls Association |
29070 Camino Alba | Murrieta | CA | 92563 | 520 | |
Rancho Carlsbad Operated By: Rancho Carlsbad Owners Association Inc |
5200 El Camino Real | Carlsbad | CA | 92008 | 504 | |
Portola Country Club Operated By: Portola Country Club Homeowners Association Inc |
42500 Portola Ave | Palm Desert | CA | 92660 | 499 | |
8,944 |
U.S. Mobile Home and RV Parks
According to data obtained from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (HIFLD) and as of Thu, May 26, 2022, there are 53,432 Mobile Home and RV Parks in the U.S. Top 10 States are highlighted in green.
# | State | Parks |
---|---|---|
Alabama | 2,454 | |
Alaska | 89 | |
Arizona | 1,472 | |
Arkansas | 959 | |
California | 5,054 | |
Colorado | 684 | |
Connecticut | 111 | |
Delaware | 203 | |
Florida | 5,881 | |
Georgia | 1,422 | |
Hawaii | 0 | |
Idaho | 503 | |
Illinois | 842 | |
Indiana | 1,062 | |
Iowa | 462 | |
Kansas | 548 | |
Kentucky | 880 | |
Louisiana | 1,762 | |
Maine | 359 | |
Maryland | 227 | |
Massachusetts | 212 | |
Michigan | 1,092 | |
Minnesota | 628 | |
Mississippi | 859 | |
Missouri | 1,015 | |
Montana | 494 | |
Nebraska | 287 | |
Nevada | 427 | |
New Hampshire | 322 | |
New Jersey | 219 | |
New Mexico | 681 | |
New York | 1,580 | |
North Carolina | 2,874 | |
North Dakota | 304 | |
Ohio | 1,304 | |
Oklahoma | 761 | |
Oregon | 970 | |
Pennsylvania | 1,581 | |
Rhode Island | 52 | |
South Carolina | 2,427 | |
South Dakota | 334 | |
Tennessee | 1,426 | |
Texas | 3,547 | |
Utah | 276 | |
Vermont | 223 | |
Virginia | 1,366 | |
Washington | 1,261 | |
West Virginia | 736 | |
Wisconsin | 951 | |
Wyoming | 249 | |
Totals: | 53,432 |
HIFLD Type Breakdown | Parks |
---|---|
Mobile Home Parks (MHP) | 50,345 |
Recreational Vehicle (RV) Parks | 3,087 |
Totals: | 53,432 |
HIFLD Size Breakdown | Parks |
---|---|
Small – Less than 50 Units | 37,463 |
Medium – 51 to 100 Units | 8,946 |
Large – 101 Units or More | 7,023 |
Totals: | 53,432 |