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Have you received a 3-Day Written Notice along with a 60-Day Notice for Termination of Tenancy (referred to as a 3/60) from Sierra Corporate Management for not paying rent, and/or utilities, and/or reasonable incidental service charges? If you have, we hope that you've promptly addressed the matter and have paid all of the monies due within the three days you were given at the time of notification.

Beware that you can only be late, then pay within the three-day notice period, 3 times in any 12 month period. If you are late a fourth time in that 12 month period, SCM do not have to give you a three-day written notice. Don't test this, you will end up with a 60-day termination of tenancy notice. At that time you can be assured that SCM will not accept a late payment – period. You've already exercised your California MRL mandated three-strikes option – you're outta there.

Do not be late with your monthly rent payment to SCM which usually includes your utilities and any incidental service charges that may be due. Yes, your entire bill is due, not just the rent portion. You must pay the entire balance due or be subject to eviction due to non-payment of one or more of the items on your monthly billing statement.

If you haven't responded to the three-day written notice and it was accompanied by a 60-day termination notice, and you are delinquent with rent, utilities and/or incidental charges, you may now be faced with eviction from your mobile home in sixty (60) calendar days after receiving the notice for termination of tenancy. You should begin preparing for the worst, you may now have only fifty-seven (57) days remaining before you lose your mobile home.

This is a tactic that may be utilized by Sierra Corporate Management in their managed mobile home parks. This will happen in fifty-seven (57) days so you need to start preparing now. Put your mobile home up for sale. Begin packing. Get your finances in order. Start looking for a new place to live. You have sixty days (60) from the day the termination of tenancy notice is received before you are illegally occupying the mobile home space.

Note: Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays and the day the three-day written notice is received do not count toward the three-day window. For example, if you received the notice on a Friday, day one of the three-day written notice window would begin on Monday. However, the 60-day termination of tenancy is based on calendar days and begins on the day you receive that notice. Don't wait, address the matter promptly and avoid the potential for losing your mobile home.

If you were served a three-day written notice along with a 60-day termination of tenancy, and you have not cured the default (paid your bill) within the 3-day period provided at the time the two (2) notices were served, SCM can consider your tenancy terminated after the first three-day written notice period has expired. SCM have no legal obligation to accept your space rent during the remaining 57 days – there is no three-strikes rule. What does this mean? This means you may have only 57 days to move out. This means you may lose your mobile home.

If you still carry a mortgage/loan on your mobile home, your lender may be able to provide assistance in curing the default (paying your bill) and offering you a reduced mortgage payment. If you find yourself in the above emergency situation, contact your lender now and discuss a reduced loan payment with them to offset the financial hardship imposed on you by Sierra Corporate Management. Many lenders in KSFG/SCM mobile home parks are aware of the situation you may be in and will work with you. The very last thing your lender wants is a vacant mobile home sitting in a Sierra Corporate Management managed mobile home park.

From the California Mobilehome Residency Law, Article 6, Termination of Tenancy, click/tap the linked items below to expand/collapse the California Civil Codes being referenced in this article.

§798.55(b)(1) – The management may not terminate or refuse to renew a tenancy, except for a reason specified in this article and upon the giving of written notice to the homeowner, in the manner prescribed by Section 1162 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to sell or remove, at the homeowner’s election, the mobilehome from the park within a period of not less than 60 days, which period shall be specified in the notice. A copy of this notice shall be sent to the legal owner, as defined in Section 18005.8 of the Health and Safety Code, each junior lienholder, as defined in Section 18005.3 of the Health and Safety Code, and the registered owner of the mobilehome, if other than the homeowner, by United States mail within 10 days after notice to the homeowner. The copy may be sent by regular mail or by certified or registered mail with return receipt requested, at the option of the management.


§798.55(b)(2) – The homeowner shall pay past due rent and utilities upon the sale of a mobilehome pursuant to paragraph (1).


§798.55(c) – If the homeowner has not paid the rent due within three days after notice to the homeowner, and if the first notice was not sent by certified or registered mail with return receipt requested, a copy of the notice shall again be sent to the legal owner, each junior lienholder, and the registered owner, if other than the homeowner, by certified or registered mail with return receipt requested within 10 days after notice to the homeowner. Copies of the notice shall be addressed to the legal owner, each junior lienholder, and the registered owner at their addresses, as set forth in the registration card specified in Section 18091.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
California Civil Code §798.55

A tenancy shall be terminated by the management only for one or more of the following reasons:
Showing Only 1 of 7 Authorized Reasons – §798.56(e)(1)

§798.56(e)(1) – Nonpayment of rent, utility charges, or reasonable incidental service charges; provided that the amount due has been unpaid for a period of at least five days from its due date, and provided that the homeowner shall be given a three-day written notice subsequent to that five-day period to pay the amount due or to vacate the tenancy. For purposes of this subdivision, the five-day period does not include the date the payment is due. The three-day written notice shall be given to the homeowner in the manner prescribed by Section 1162 of the Code of Civil Procedure. A copy of this notice shall be sent to the persons or entities specified in subdivision (b) of Section 798.55 within 10 days after notice is delivered to the homeowner. If the homeowner cures the default, the notice need not be sent. The notice may be given at the same time as the 60 days’ notice required for termination of the tenancy. A three-day notice given pursuant to this subdivision shall contain the following provisions printed in at least 12-point boldface type at the top of the notice, with the appropriate number written in the blank:


Warning: This notice is the [insert number] three-day notice for nonpayment of rent, utility charges, or other reasonable incidental services that has been served upon you in the last 12 months. Pursuant to Civil Code Section 798.56(e)(5), if you have been given a three-day notice to either pay rent, utility charges, or other reasonable incidental services or to vacate your tenancy on three or more occasions within a 12-month period, management is not required to give you a further three-day period to pay rent or vacate the tenancy before your tenancy can be terminated.


§798.56(e)(5) – If a homeowner has been given a three-day notice to pay the amount due or to vacate the tenancy on three or more occasions within the preceding 12-month period and each notice includes the provisions specified in paragraph (1), no written three-day notice shall be required in the case of a subsequent nonpayment of rent, utility charges, or reasonable incidental service charges. In that event, the management shall give written notice to the homeowner in the manner prescribed by Section 1162 of the Code of Civil Procedure to remove the mobilehome from the park within a period of not less than 60 days, which period shall be specified in the notice. A copy of this notice shall be sent to the legal owner, each junior lienholder, and the registered owner of the mobilehome, if other than the homeowner, as specified in paragraph (b) of Section 798.55, by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, within 10 days after notice is sent to the homeowner.
California Civil Code §798.56

  1. KSFG purchase, and SCM take over management of a mobile home park. Shortly thereafter, SCM may implement a significant space rent increase in addition to passing through any utilities that were previously included as part of the monthly space rent e.g. water, trash and sewage.
  2. Some residents (low-income/fixed-income) are immediately forced into financial hardship and cannot pay the new significantly increased rent amount nor the pass-through of utilities which alone, could amount to an additional $75+ per month.
  3. Some residents are served with 7/14 day notices to correct Rules and Regulations violations (e.g. weeds, landscaping, home maintenance, etc.) which may bear a $300 incidental service charge if not addressed within the 7/14 day notice period. These $300 incidental service charges are another way that SCM may impose financial hardship on the mobile home residents.

    SCM Imposed Financial Hardship: High utility bills, charging $300 for pulling weeds, making a mobile home owner do expensive repairs or paint the home. These types of unexpected costs could be the financial shock that may lead to the resident not being able to pay the space rent on time. The resident now qualifies for an SCM 3/60. These $300 incidental charges are billed inclusive of the rent statement and you cannot pick and choose which items you're going to pay, it's either pay all monies due or face potential eviction from your mobile home.

  4. Affected residents who cannot afford the immediate space rent increase and who have failed to pay rent on time may be served with a three-day written notice accompanied by a 60-day termination of tenancy notice.
  5. Affected residents who cannot pay the new increased space rent along with the SCM late fee, may be subject to eviction from their mobile homes sixty (60) days after receiving the three-day written and the 60-day termination of tenancy notices.

    Important Alert: Sierra Corporate Management can consider the resident's tenancy terminated after the first three-day written notice period has expired and has no legal obligation to accept rent during the remaining 57 days. This is a major loophole in the California MRL and allows an aggressive predatory mobile home park owner like Kort & Scott Financial Group to target and evict residents while taking possession of mobile homes which were paid for by the residents being evicted.

  6. Sierra Corporate Management may place a Warehouse Lien on the mobile home and it now belongs to them. Yes, the mobile home may now belong to SCM because the low-income/fixed-income resident who owned their mobile home could not afford the new increased rent and utility pass-throughs.
    1. Option: SCM offer to purchase the mobile home from the vacating resident for a fraction of its value. This may placate the resident and provide some much needed cash. Beware, any past due balances owed will be subtracted from the offer, don't expect much.
  7. The mobile home is prepared for the new profiled tenancy. Income qualifications may have changed to attract the new demographic for the mobile home park, usually 3x the current space rent e.g. $1,500 space rent x 3 = $4,500 verified income.
  8. The new profiled tenants are easily convinced into signing 20-30 page long-term lease agreements (15, 20 or 25 years) with a minimum annual increase which is usually 8%/15 years, 7%/20 years or 6%/25 years (see the SCM 8/7/6 Percent Trap). As soon as the new resident signs the SCM long-term lease agreement, any existing or future mobile home space rent control ordinance just became null and void for that mobile home space only.

    See Granada Villa Mobile Home Park in Santa Clarita, California which is owned by KSFG and has been managed by SCM since 2002. The mobile home park has 176 spaces, only 11 remain under rent control.

  9. This begins the process of rolling over the tenancy to one that can afford the increased rents and will sign a long-term lease agreement. In many SCM parks, this rollover equates to multiple tenants/families now sharing a mobile home and exceeding its occupancy standards. This presents major health and safety concerns e.g. Tustin Village Mobile Home Park.

This aggressive, predatory 3/60 tactic also effectively rolls the mobile home park over to no rent control protection (current or future) at which time space rents for potential buyers of resident owned homes will typically exceed Fair Market Rents in the area by a noticeable percentage. However, space rents for park owned homes and/or mobile homes owned by a KSFG affiliate will be considerably less, as much as 40%. Any resident owned homes for sale that have value will be almost impossible to sell – except to Sierra Corporate Management.

A common misconception is that in order to evict a mobile home resident for nonpayment of rent, Sierra Corporate Management must serve three or more 3/60 day notices over a twelve month period – unfortunately, this is not how the 3/60 process works.

If a mobile home resident is served with a 3/60, and does not pay the full amount due within three (3) days, or sell the mobile home to an approved purchaser, or vacate the space within sixty (60) days, the California MRL allows Sierra Corporate Management to proceed with an Unlawful Detainer Action (lawsuit to recover possession of the mobile home space) upon the expiration of sixty (60) days.

The so called "three strikes and your out" nonpayment of space rent notice is authorized by California Civil Code §798.56(e)(5) which allows Sierra Corporate Management to serve a 60-day termination of tenancy notice (without a fourth three-day written notice) for repeated failure to pay if SCM have, within the preceding twelve (12) months, served a mobile home resident with three (3) or more three-day written notices.

If the three-day written and the 60-day termination of tenancy notices (3/60) were properly served (copies were mailed via Certified/Registered Mail with a required return receipt requested) and the past due space rent, utilities and/or incidental charges were not paid within the allotted three (3) day period, the mobile home resident basically has two options available to them.

  1. Sell the mobile home in place to a Sierra Corporate Management approved purchaser, usually SCM themselves or a KSFG named business entity e.g. Tri Palms Ventures or Two Palms Real Estate.
  2. Remove the mobile home from the mobile home park within sixty (60) days from the date the termination of tenancy notice was served.

If after sixty (60) days the mobile home owner has neither sold the mobile home to an approved SCM purchaser or removed the mobile home from the space, Sierra Corporate Management have a number of options available.

  1. SCM can initiate proceedings to evict the mobile home owner for nonpayment of rent by the filing of the Unlawful Detainer Lawsuit.
  2. If the mobile home owner is not someone that SCM feel compelled to evict, they may have an opportunity to recover their attorneys' fees, or to obtain compliance with a long-standing R&R violation, as a condition of rescinding the termination of tenancy notice and reinstating the mobile home resident's tenancy.
  3. Even after filing the Unlawful Detainer Lawsuit, a conditional settlement prepared by SCM's attorney can provide the means to obtain a court enforced payment plan or R&R compliance, or both, which results in an eviction for non-compliance, this prevents SCM from having to start all over again.

The mobile home resident becomes a prisoner in their own home.

  1. Possible Eviction? Must Read: California Courts Self-Help – Eviction

    In California, a landlord may be able to evict a tenant if the tenant: Fails to pay the rent on time; Breaks the lease or rental agreement and will not fix the problem (like keeping pets when not allowed); Damages the property bringing down the value (commits "waste"); Becomes a serious nuisance by disturbing other tenants and neighbors even after being asked to stop; or uses the property to do something illegal. Landlords must follow a series of steps in order to legally evict a tenant.

  2. Everything We Wanted to Know About 3/60 Notices

    Author: Larry W. Weaver, Esq.
    Serving Manufactured Home Community Owners and Operators in California

  3. California Civil Codes §798.55 and §798.56

    Mobilehome Residency Law
    §798.55 Legislative Intent; Termination for Cause; 60-Day Notice
    §798.56 Seven Authorized Reasons for Termination of Tenancy

  4. Section 7209 of the Commercial Code

    Warehouse Liens

  5. Section 1162 of the Code of Civil Procedure

    Possession of Property

  6. Sections 18005.3 and 18005.8 of the Health and Safety Code

    Junior Lienholder, Legal Owner

Emergency Assistance: If you now find yourself facing eviction and possible homelessness, the Allegiance pledge to help. If you have read and understood the above eviction process as outlined by the California Department of Consumer Affairs and the California Courts Self-Help Eviction page, and you don't have the resources available to follow the instructions given, the Allegiance pledge to help.

Again, if you are not able to handle this on your own, and you're not sure where to begin, contact us for more information. We may have legal and low-income resources available to assist you. If we don't, an Allegiance member may be able to assist you in locating those resources in your area.

: If you were served with a 3/60 by Sierra Corporate Management on Monday, March 18, 2024, and you cannot pay your space rent, here is a detailed timeline (click/tap the calendar icon at right to expand/collapse timeline) of when you can expect to be physically removed from your mobile home by the local Sheriff. This example uses a fast track timeline and does not take into consideration any extensions that may occur in the eviction procedures and is based on the number of business days and calendar days quoted at each stage of the eviction process.


Mon, Mar 18, 2024

  • Three-day written notice served properly.
  • 60-day termination of tenancy served properly.
  • Day 1 of 60 of the termination of tenancy begins.

Tue, Mar 19, 2024

  • Day 1 of 3 of the three-day written notice begins.
  • Day 2 of 60 of the termination of tenancy.

Wed, Mar 20, 2024

  • Day 2 of 3 of the three-day written notice.
  • Day 3 of 60 of the termination of tenancy.

Thu, Mar 21, 2024

  • Day 3 of 3 of the three-day written notice ends. You have until midnight to pay monies due.
  • Day 4 of 60 of the termination of tenancy.

Fri, Mar 22, 2024

  • Day 4 of 3 of the three-day written notice.
  • If monies due not paid by day 3 of 3, Thursday, March 21, 2024 at midnight, you are in default.
  • As of this date, SCM have no legal obligation to accept your check(s).
  • Day 5 of 60 of the termination of tenancy.

Thu, Apr 18, 2024

  • Day 31 of 60 of the termination of tenancy.

Fri, May 17, 2024

  • Day 60 of 60 of the termination of tenancy.
  • If you have not sold your mobile home to an approved buyer or you have not removed the mobile home from the space by midnight on day 60, you will soon be illegally occupying the mobile home space.

Sat, May 18, 2024

  • Day 61 of 60 of the termination of tenancy.
  • You are now illegally occupying the mobile home space.
  • At this point, you have approximately twenty-two (22) calendar days left until possible homelessness.

Mon, May 20, 2024

  • Day 63 of 60 of the termination of tenancy.
  • Unlawful Detainer Lawsuit filed by SCM.
  • You will have five (5) calendar days to file a written response to the lawsuit after being served with a copy of SCM's summons and complaint.
  • Normally a judge will hear and decide the case within twenty (20) calendar days after the tenant or the landlord files a request to set the case for trial.

Fri, May 24, 2024

  • Day 67 of 60 of the termination of tenancy.
  • Your written response to the lawsuit is due by the end of the fifth calendar day.

Mon, Jun 3, 2024

  • Day 77 of 60 of the termination of tenancy.
  • If the court decides in favor of SCM, the court will issue a writ of possession. The writ of possession orders the Sheriff to remove the owner from the mobile home, but gives the owner five days from the date that the writ is served to leave voluntarily.
  • Writ of possession served by the Sheriff, you have five (5) calendar days to leave voluntarily.
  • Today, Monday, June 3, 2024 counts as calendar day 1 of 5.

Fri, Jun 7, 2024

  • Day 81 of 60 of the termination of tenancy.
  • Today, Friday, June 7, 2024 is day 5 of 5 of the writ of possession – the final day. If you've made it this far, prepare to abandon your mobile home, you are just a few hours away from being physically escorted to homelessness or you've made emergency plans for immediate shelter.
  • If you have not left the mobile home space by the end of the fifth day, the writ of possession authorizes the Sheriff to physically remove and lock you out of your home.
  • Prepare yourself, the Sheriff will be arriving shortly to physically remove you from your mobile home along with any personal belongings that you can take with you.
  • SCM is not entitled to possession of your mobile home until after the Sheriff has physically removed you from the mobile home park property.
  • SCM may now seize (take) your belongings that have been left in the mobile home and place them in storage.
  • SCM may now place a warehouse lien on your mobile home and place it in storage or store it on-site. Eventually SCM take possession of the abandoned mobile home.

Important Note: Please keep in mind that while the above 3/60 is taking place, you are legally liable for all past, present and future balances that may be due.

If the court decided in favor of SCM, there is a strong possibility that in addition to any balances owed to the park, there will be litigation fees that have been accrued by SCM and may be awarded to them as part of their damages. These fees will be subtracted from whatever equity may be left in the abandoned mobile home upon resale to a new tenant. You may or may not receive the remaining proceeds from the resale of the mobile home, see comment below.

Councilmember Conley suggested the sunset of the senior park be until the last current lease expires with future agreements disclosing that at that date the conversion may be considered. He stated he feels the property owner has an unfair business practice and leases should be rolled back to the amount at the date of expiration. He suggested future rate increases be based on half of the social security increases. He stated he would support staff review of the Concord model for the rent control ordinance. He spoke to a repossession that occurred and questioned why the owner did not receive the net equity after all expenses.

Sierra Corporate Management - Combined 3-Day and 60-Day Notice - Page 01

Task Force of 9 Formed to Investigate

Mobile home parks run by Sierra Corporate Management have become a statewide problem because of highly questionable business practices and management. A task force, including District 4, the District Attorney, Yolo County Housing Authority, Legal Services of Northern California, the CAO, the Assessor, the Sheriff, the State Department of Housing and Community Development, and County Counsel, has been formed at Yolo County to investigate and respond.

The County BOS office is receiving many calls from the residents in the Royal Oaks Mobile Home Park because of hazardous fire conditions, title issues, allegations of fraudulent business practices, and units in ill repair. Most of the residents are low income and do not have extra funds for repairs or charges made by the owners. D. Ewing suggested a possible donation of funds to provide CO detectors to these residents. Provenza will investigate this option and report back at the next meeting.
Chair D. Ewing – 2015


SCM Reviews

Sierra Mobile Home Park

Seniors are a very special class of people that are on fixed incomes, don’t have the ability to run out and get a job to support their families. And, if the net result is that park owners take ownership of a park and then raise the rents at such a rapid rate that the seniors cannot afford to live in their homes in Santa Clarita, then I will tell you there is a special place in hell reserved for you.
Councilman TimBen Boydston – 2016


Vista Diablo Mobile Estates

Councilmember Kalinowski reported the Antioch Development Agency was a party to the rent gouging through rent subsidizes. He suggested the City investigate the possibility of elder abuse, determine whether or not there were legal grounds to pursue rent control and consider an investigation into some of the ongoing business practices of Sierra Corporate Management.
Antioch City Council – 2006

It's elder abuse, it's terrorizing senior citizens – and it's got to stop. It just simply has to stop. I'm hopeful that the owners (Kort & Scott Financial Group) will truly sit down in good faith – because I think it's only been bad faith – and truly negotiate with us.

I am fully aware that lawsuits are going to happen, I tell my staff to always pick your battles. I’m willing to pick this as one of my battles, because – quite frankly – this is elder abuse. The more I learn about what these individuals do (Sierra Corporate Management), the more concerned I am. It’s unconscionable – absolutely unconscionable. For them, it’s about money; to me, it’s all about greed.
Mayor Don Freitas – 2007

When you look at the rents that are being charged (for just the land under the mobile home) this is obscene what they (Sierra Corporate Management) are doing. You're paying a little less than what I pay for a mortgage on land with a house. That's wrong, that's totally wrong. I'm very mad at these folks. I think it's wrong. It gives free enterprise a completely bad name.
Councilman Arne Simonsen – 2007

I wanted to voice my total disdain to this management company (Sierra Corporate Management) for their insistence upon, in my mind, wreaking total havoc and discontent from the owners of the individual coaches in the park. I find this very troubling. I believe strongly in corporate responsibility.
Councilman Reggie Moore – 2007

The way this group (Sierra Corporate Management) has been conducting business has been slimy – and that’s being nice. From my perspective, nothing about this smells right. You have 70-plus-year-old seniors signing leases for 20 years or more with an automatic 6% increase in rent each year. How do you do that to someone on fixed income?
Councilman Brian Kalinowski – 2007


Continental Manufactured Home Community

In June of last year, I was no longer able to afford the massive rent increases in my rent at a Santa Ana park managed by Sierra Corporate Management. My rent was $1,296 per month plus utilities and my SSA was under $1,200. For the last four years, I used every resource to make the rent, then buried my mom. That's when the heartless bastards at SCM (an acronym for scam) swooped in to take my home of 31 years.
Anonymous – 2015


Corona La Linda Mobile Home Park

Three months ago, Anaheim based Sierra Corporate Management purchased Corona La Linda Mobile Home Park. Since then, the price for new rentals has doubled from $650 to $1,300 per month. Dixon, one of several landowners who agreed to the deal, said he felt forced to comply with the majority decision. ‘I have a feeling the new owners are about as aggressive as they can be. I personally feel terrible for having done the deal.’
The Press Enterprise – 2015


Lamplighter Sacramento Mobile Home Park

2016 Mar – I am a calm and a peaceful person. I love all my jobs and give 100%. This company wanted to teach me how to do illegal sales. I told them that let's fix the homes and then sell them but this statement offended them and I ended up being the bad employee. Legally we are supposed to have a Property Manager, Assistant Manager and a full time Maintenance person. Instead, I was the only Property Manager there and we had a part time porter (not maintenance). As me being a great employee, I continued working there and doing 3 person's jobs all by myself. I know I was learning and, learning is the key to success. I will find a better job and be successful as I am a hard worker and a leader.
Onsite Community Manager (Former Employee)


Lincoln Center Mobile Home Park

But now, with $1,700 rent, more and more people are finding they can't afford their rent, and they are trying to sell their homes. However, the homes won't sell because the rent is too high. Since they can't sell, residents are walking away from their homes, and this park is receiving more and more foreclosures than ever before. Because of all the foreclosures, mortgage companies have "gotten the word," and are refusing to loan to buyers in this park.
Anonymous – 2015


Tustin Village Mobile Home Park

I have a friend who has been living at Tustin Village MHP for quite some time. They are getting on in years and are having trouble coming up with the $1,600 per month space rent. I’m not familiar with Mobile Home Parks and was hoping you could help shine some light. Their rent has gone up from $500 to now $1,600 during the time they've been there. My friend is on a fixed income and most of it now goes towards the rent.
Anonymous – 2015


CAUTION - KORT & SCOTT ARE COMING! (Family)