California MHP News

Thu, Jun 27, 2024 – Last week we reported on a ruling against the owners of Little Woods Mobile Home Park in Petaluma. The arbitrator in the case rejected a jump in the cost of renting space to park a mobile home from $495 to more than $2,000 a month.

Asked for a reaction to the ruling, Ubaldi wrote that he is disappointed, adding, ‘We are hardly surprised, Petaluma has not been a hospitable environment for business owners, the recent change to the rent stabilization ordinance will ultimately drive us out of business,’ Ubaldi wrote in an email.

A letter sent to Petaluma’s city manager by park owners Friday, and shared with KRCB News by Ubaldi, reiterates plans to begin the process of closing the mobile home park. Park owners are also challenging the city’s required closure procedure, along with recently enacted zoning rules.

Ubaldi responded in writing, ‘We will continue litigating against the city until we achieve a fair outcome or close the park.’ Ubaldi stated in his email that Petaluma can’t force private parties to provide affordable housing.

Wed, Jun 26, 2024 – Residents expected owners to do something like this, ‘but didn’t think it’d happen so soon,’ Sanchez said.

‘We knew that they were going to be trying this every single year. They’ve made it very clear at other parks, too, that they’re very litigious, and they’re willing to essentially try different legal tactics to do what they want – either raise the rents or close the parks,’ Sanchez said.

The Little Woods arbitration closely followed a similar hearing in January over proposed rent increases of more than 100% at Youngstown. In that case, which was decided in late March, an arbitrator awarded park owners monthly rent hikes of $118 retroactive to Dec 1, 2023. The ruling was a blow to residents, but far below the $900 monthly increase sought.

Park owner Daniel Weisfield then pursued more than $434,000 in attorney’s fees and other costs from residents, ultimately winning a judgment of more than $78,000.

Ubaldi and other owners insist they have no other option to protect their investment other than pursue rent increases that exceed the city’s caps or consider closure altogether. He believes arbitrations are a lose-lose for all parties, given the necessary investment, but said his company is committed to annual rent hikes which trigger arbitration.

Mon, Jun 24, 2024 – According to data obtained from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), there are 5,230 Active Mobile Home and RV Parks totaling 453,810 lots/spaces in the State of California. Of those 453,810 lots/spaces, 363,594 are mobile home spaces, 66,403 are RV lots with drains, and 22,813 are RV lots without drains.

There are 680 Closed Mobile Home and RV Parks totaling 21,708 lots/spaces. Of those 21,708 lots/spaces, 12,014 are mobile home spaces, 6,842 are RV lots with drains, and 2,852 are RV lots without drains.

As of Mon, Jun 24, 2024, the HCD has data for a total of 5,910 Mobile Home and RV Parks totaling 475,518 lots/spaces which includes Active and Closed listings. Of those 475,518 lots/spaces, 375,608 are mobile home spaces, 73,245 are RV lots with drains, and 25,665 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, Jun 24, 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

HCD MH and RV Parks Search

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

ROC in California

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

Sat, Jun 22, 2024 – In a resounding defeat for a landlord this week, an arbitrator has rejected any and all rent increases at Petaluma’s Little Woods Mobile Home Park.

Park operators had sought to raise the charge for mobile home spaces by more than $1,500 a month. The average ground rent is currently $495. An appeal is possible, if not likely and park owners can petition for reimbursement of some legal costs.

But Petaluma mobile home tenants rights advocate Jodi Johnson said the arbitrator recognized inconsistencies, contradictions and faulty methodology in the expert testimony and evidence from attorneys representing the owners.

The arbitrator, in her ruling, found the park owners failed to present enough evidence to prove their case. She noted that park owners had initially sought a rate of return of 11-12 percent, but also mentioned 11-20 percent.

‘The City of Petaluma is going to set precedent because this is happening in every city, in every state in the United States right now. When you stand up, they will not prevail.’

Johnson said she is gearing up for a new battle, as Petaluma’s Capri Mobile Home Park was recently purchased by the same limited liability company.

Wed, Jun 19, 2024 – San Jose, the city with the most mobile home parks in California, has adopted new rules to protect tens of thousands of park residents from displacement by making it more difficult to redevelop the sites for other purposes.

Over the past decade, the city has worked to establish a new land-use category specifically for its 58 mobile home parks. The latest update means that when a developer or property owner wants to turn any of those parks into housing or another kind of development, they must first ask the City Council to change the zoning regulation to allow a project that’s not a mobile home site.

Some parks became subject to that requirement earlier this year. Last week, the council unanimously agreed to extend the protections to the remaining 43 parks not yet covered under the added zoning.

Tue, Jun 18, 2024 – The idea of rent stabilization in Chico for mobile home parks was shot down at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

The Chico City Council voted 4-2 Tuesday night against a proposed rent stabilization on mobile home parks. The issues came after seniors from Pleasant Valley Mobile Home Estates came to the council asking for help after they said their rent was increasing significantly.

Despite the motion dying the chamber at Tuesday’s meeting, several people tell Action News Now that they’re looking at other options to bring rent stabilization to mobile home parks.

‘If they don’t want it this way, we’re going to get it on the ballot then. We’re going to keep fighting then, and we’re going to convince people that we deserve it, that we all deserve it,’ Macklin said.

Winslow explained to us that it may be too late to get it on the ballot this year, and Van Overbeek says once an item dies on the floor, it can’t come back to the council for another year. However, Winslow says depending on the election this year with the city council, there’s a chance we could see it back sooner if new council members bring it back.

Thu, Jun 13, 2024 – Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) and Manufactured Housing Action (MHAction) have released the Private Equity Manufactured Housing Tracker – A current list of private equity owned manufactured home parks in the U.S.

Over the past 20 years, manufactured home communities increasingly have gone from ‘mom and pop’ enterprises to ownership by private equity firms, hedge funds, and large, multi-state corporations that seek to capitalize on manufactured-home owners’ unique situation.

Corporate investors realized that manufactured housing could be a source of large profits. ‘The number of investors looking for mobile home parks to purchase is unprecedented,’ said Paul Bradley, president of ROC USA, a nonprofit that helps residents form cooperatives to buy their parks. From 2010 to 2020, he noted, manufactured housing parks were ‘the highest returning of all real estate asset classes – offices, commercial, industrial, storage units, parking garages, you name it – with a 22 percent annual compounded return.’

The private equity business model is simple. They buy a park, increase the rent in order to increase cash flow at the property and thus increase the park’s value, and then often sell it within a few years for a profit.

One example of this is in Sunnyvale, California where the Carlyle Group bought the Plaza Del Rey mobile home park, which has 800 homes, in 2015. Carlyle raised rents 8% a year, while the previous park owner had 3% annual increases. Carlyle paid $150 million for it in 2015, increased the rents, and then in 2019, just four years later, sold the park for $237 million – making a profit of almost $90 million in just four years.

Fri, Jun 7, 2024 – A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the city of Petaluma by owners of two mobile home parks who claimed the city infringed on their constitutional rights.

Owners of the two parks – the senior-only Youngstown on North McDowell and all-ages Little Woods Mobile Villa on Lakeville Highway – claimed the city’s mobile home rent control laws and its park closure regulations infringed on their rights because owners are forced to operate parks at a loss and it’s difficult to otherwise sell or convert the parks.

In the 23-page order granting Petaluma’s motion to dismiss, the judge found that complaints the city had violated the Fifth Amendment’s taking clause, which prohibits the taking of public property without just compensation – were insufficient.

The judge also dismissed claims that the city had violated the contract clause in the Constitution and ruled against claims that city and state regulations infringed on their contractual obligations.

Nick Ubaldi, whose family owns Little Woods, and who works for Harmony Communities, said owners will work with the city to facilitate park closure.

‘We will continue litigating against the city until we achieve a fair and equitable outcome, or we will close the park, whichever comes first. We remain committed to annual arbitrations and hope the city will take our businesses seriously. We will not continue to subsidize affordable housing for the city of Petaluma,’ he wrote. ‘If the city wishes to take on this responsibility, we are open to hearing their ideas. Otherwise, if they expect a private business to shoulder this burden, we hope they will consider the very reasonable terms we have presented.’

He also confirmed that Harmony Communities recently purchased Capri Mobile Villa on North McDowell Boulevard at its 2002 value, adding that the owners were ‘desperate to sell,’ and ‘terrified of changes made to the ordinance,’ he said.

Wed, Jun 5, 2024 – Two mobile home parks companies in Petaluma, California, that want to close or convert their parks, failed to convince a federal court that the current regulations that are allegedly preventing them from doing so are unconstitutional.

One plaintiff, Little Woods Mobile Villa LLC, owns a mobile home park with 78 lots; the second plaintiff, Youngstown MHP LLC, owns a park with 102 lots. The two park owners allege Petaluma’s rent control law has made park operations ‘economically infeasible’ and they want to close, but are being forced to operate at an ‘economic loss’ because of the law…