California MHP News

Thu, Nov 28, 2024 – AB 2782, sponsored by GSMOL, was approved by the Governor on August 31, 2020, and took effect January 1, 2021. Civil Code 798.17 has long provided that leases which exceed 12 months in length are exempt from local rent stabilization ordinance (RSO) protection. AB 2782 ends this long-term lease exemption from RSO protection, and amends that provision to provide that:

1. All leases of any length signed on or after February 13, 2020 shall no longer be exempt from local RSO, and the local RSO rent limitations will apply to protect those residents regardless of what the lease provisions might say. The local RSO will effectively pre-empt the lease with respect only to its financial terms. The rest of the lease provisions remain intact.
2. All leases with a term 12 months or longer signed prior to February 13, 2020 will remain exempt from RSO until they expire, or until January 1, 2025, whichever occurs first. Thus, according to AB 2782 as of January 1, 2025 all leases in excess of 12 months will no longer be exempt from RSO protections.

In 2022 the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association (WMA) filed suit in Sacramento County Superior Court to enjoin (i.e. prevent) the State from enforcing AB 2782, and specifically the January 1, 2025 trigger date for all existing long-term leases to no longer be exempt. The Governor and the Attorney General are named as defendants. GSMOL has been monitoring the case, and supporting the Attorney General’s efforts to defend AB 2782. Recently WMA filed its motion for an injunction, as January 1, 2025 is fast approaching.

GSMOL members have been asking about the status of the injunction request. The court hearing was originally scheduled for November 5, 2024, but has since been twice continued to a new date on the motion of the Judge. The injunction hearing is now scheduled for December 6th at 10:00 a.m. The outcome shall likely determine if the January 1st trigger date remains, or is put on hold. Stay tuned to GSMOL for further updates.

Wed, Nov 27, 2024 – What this means – After several years of fighting with tenants and Fresno city leaders, the owners of La Hacienda Mobile Estates have been stripped of their ability to negotiate the sale of the park. Tenants and their supporters are celebrating the ruling.

A bankruptcy judge sided with the tenants of a beleaguered mobile home park in Fresno, dealing a crushing blow to the controversial park owners who have long been accused of operating in bad faith.

Bankruptcy Judge Jennifer E. Niemann ruled in favor of the residents of La Hacienda Mobile Estates by appointing a federal trustee – effectively removing the park owner from the negotiating table – to oversee the sale of the park to a non-profit organization aiming to keep the space open as affordable housing for a city that is in desperate need of more.

Niemann ruled last week that the case was not made in good faith, and that the malevolent tactics used by park owner Matt Davies, representing Stockton-based Harmony Communities, both against the tenants and in the courts, was enough reason to remove them from ownership of La Hacienda.

‘All (the park owner) has pursued is trying to kick the tenants off of the property, minimize the amount of the claims that they’ll have and litigate this stuff. And I just think that this case screams for a Chapter 11 trustee. It was not filed in good faith… and a trustee should be appointed,’ Judge Niemann later added.

Thu, Nov 21, 2024 – With a federal judge ordering a trustee to oversee the sale of a controversial mobile home park, the story of the fight between tenants and the park’s ownership appears nearing the end.

After U.S. Judge Jennifer Niemann on Wednesday called La Hacienda Mobile Estates’ bankruptcy filing not in ‘good faith,’ she denied the owner’s plan and ordered a Chapter 11 trustee to oversee the park’s sale.

She said the trustee would guarantee the owner sells the north Fresno mobile home park, protect tenants, and keep the owner from misrepresenting the property to buyers.

This after the attorney for the only bidder on the property – Visalia-based Self-Help Enterprises – called owner Matt Davies ‘unpredictable.’

During the bankruptcy process, it came out in court that Davies drastically changed the sale price, attempted to change the property line – leaving out a home on the property and attempting to protect himself from possibly misrepresenting the property as Self-Help sought to do due diligence.

Fri, Nov 15, 2024 – Illegal rent increases at a mobile home park just outside the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds have San Jose housing department staff turning to the city attorney for help.

A Nov. 7 report by Housing Director Erik L. Soliván alleges the owners of Western Trailer Park, Stockton-based Harmony Communities, told residents earlier this year rent would go up after purchasing the trailer park in March. Despite multiple warnings from housing officials that the company’s rent increases are illegal because they exceed the city’s 3.14% maximum allowable increase for 2023-24, company representatives said San Jose’s rent policy doesn’t apply to them.

Harmony Communities Regional Manager Nick Ubaldi told San José Spotlight the RV lots at the trailer park are not the same thing as mobile home lots, and therefore should be exempt from the rent control policy. Western Trailer Park has 94 lots.

‘Since the lots in question are designated and used for RVs, they do not meet the definition of mobile home lots,’ Ubaldi told San José Spotlight. ‘City staff appear to not understand their own (policy) and state law. We are operating in full compliance with the (policy). There have been no illegal rent increases.’

Legal advocates say rent has gone up as much as 50% for many trailer park residents.

Fri, Nov 15, 2024 – A few months ago, people living at a senior mobile home park in Orcutt were notified of a plan to open it up to all ages. Now, Santa Barbara is being sued by the owners for passing an ordinance that blocked the change. It all started with a letter to residents at Del Cielo Mobile Home Park earlier this year.

Residents turned to the County of Santa Barbara for help. A few months later, the county passed an ordinance preventing senior-only parks from converting to all-ages communities.

Now, the owners of Del Cielo have filed a lawsuit against the county, arguing the ordinance violates federal and state fair housing laws by discriminating against families with children.

Nick Ubaldi, Regional Manager for Harmony Inc., the park’s new management, says Del Cielo was operating as a senior park illegally and claims the change to an all-ages park is about following the law.

Fri, Nov 8, 2024 – Should the City of Stanton create a rent control program for mobile home parks in the city? That’s one of several issues going before the Stanton City Council when it meets on Tuesday.

Councilmember Donald Torres requested on Oct. 22 that the topic be brought forward for discussion. Rents are at historically high levels in Orange County and mobile home residents – who typically rent space in parks for the units – are considered especially vulnerable to rising costs because many of them are on fixed incomes.

Sat, Nov 2, 2024 – This table of Mobile Home Parks, RV Parks, and Manufactured Home Communities for Sale in California is a work in progress as of Saturday, November 2, 2024. Data is being updated regularly.

This is a partial listing and covers the period 2021-01-01 to 2024-11-02. 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.

Fri, Nov 1, 2024 – This table of 155 Investors, Park Owners and/or Park Management Companies is a work in progress as of Friday, November 1, 2024. 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.

Sun, Sep 29, 2024 – There are five (5) Assembly Bills and two (2) Senate Bills relating to mobilehomes that have been signed into law by the Governor to become effective January 1, 2025. The MHPHOA have updated our online California MRL in HTML to reflect these updates.

Updated Civil Codes Relating to Mobilehomes