Residents of Mobile Home Parks in Northern California Protest Large Rent Hikes
Mobile Home Park Prevails in Court: Residents Won’t See Huge Rent Increase – Watsonville, Ca.- Residents of the Pinto Lake Mobile Estates were victorious in a Santa Cruz County Superior Court case revolving around a large rent increase that dates back to 2017.
The park, which has about 170 units, is owned by Pinto Lake Mobile Home Park LLC, and Roseville-based Waterhouse Management.
The issue began in 2017 when residents of Pinto Lake Mobile Estates found notice of a special monthly rent increase of $211 — which for some was a 47% increase — buried on the third page of their annual increase. County ordinance allows for annual rent increases to meet the cost of living increases and to impose special increases if park operators can give valid reasons for them.
Residents tried to negotiate with the owners, offering a smaller $40 to $100. Those negotiations failed, and so the residents formed their own faction of the Golden State Manufactured Home Owners League (GSMOL) to battle the increase.
Attorneys for the residents say the decision supports a County ordinance governing rent increases and has broader implications for residents of other mobile home parks when faced with similar increases.
Henry Cleveland, who was appointed by Santa Cruz Supervisor Zach Friend to serve on the County’s Manufactured Mobile Homes Commission, estimates the residents collectively saved some $1.7 million by not having to pay the increase. – Source: GOOD TIMES
Sunnyvale Mobile Home Park Owners Agree On Deal To Keep Rents Affordable “Temporarily” – Sunnyvale, Ca – Last May residents living at the Plaza Del Rey mobile home park in Sunnyvale began to express concerns over an increase in rent and for some, not being able to sell their homes.
Residents say the owners of the park Hometown America have increased rent for new owners by 25% and current residents by 7.5%.
Fred Kameda, a Plaza Del Rey tenant, told KRON4 News residents living at the mobile home park can’t afford the increase in rent as many residents are elderly and others are on social security or disability programs.
“Until August, I believe this year 2021 the rent to move in was almost $2,500 and most people are paying $1,200, so it’s doubling the rent,” said Gail Rubino, a resident of El Dorado Mobile Home Park in Sunnyvale, another mobile home park where residents are concerned with high rent increases, and home value depreciation as a result. “And what that does is whenever you raise the rent $100 it takes someone’s equity by $10,000,” Rubio added.
For months, residents at the Plaza Del Ray mobile home park protested the spikes in rent that eventually prompted the attention of Congressman Ro Khanna to step in and help. As a result, protests have seemed to have a temporary effect as the Sunnyvale City Council approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for owner-occupied homes.
The MOU was developed by Hometown America and Plaza Del Ray owners, rather than impose a rent stabilization ordinance that will regulate numerous items including maximum annual rent increases, maximum rent increases upon sale of your mobile home, and how to support residents with financial hardships. Source: KRON 4 News
