Double-Whoa!!! It's back!

Our park entrance sign is back again. Personally, I liked this old one with the bird poop on it. Seemed to be more appropriate IMHO.

Trees and Driveways

Here it is...straight from the 2008 Mobile Home Residency Law

798.37.5 TREES AND DRIVEWAYS

(a) With respect to trees on rental spaces in a mobilehome park, park management shall be solely responsible for the trimming, pruning, or removal of any tree, and the costs thereof, upon written notice by a homeowner or a determination by park management that the tree poses a specific hazard or health and safety violation. In the case of a dispute over that assertion, the park management or a homeowner may request an inspection by the Department of Housing and Community Development or a local agency responsible for the enforcement of the Mobilehome Parks Act (Part 2.1 (commencing with Section 18200) of Division 3 of the Health and Safety Code) in order to determine whether a violation of that act exists.

(b) With respect to trees in the common areas of a mobilehome park, park management shall be solely responsible for the trimming, pruning, or removal of any tree, and the costs thereof.

(c) Park management shall be solely responsible for the maintenance, repair, replacement, paving, sealing, and the expenses related to the maintenance of all driveways installed by park management including, but not limited to, repair of root damage to driveways and foundation systems and removal. Homeowners shall be responsible for the maintenance, repair, replacement, paving, sealing, and the expenses related to the maintenance of a homeowner installed driveway. A homeowner may be charged for the cost of any damage to the driveway caused by an act of the homeowner or a breach of the homeowner’s responsibilities under the rules and regulations so long as those rules and regulations are not inconsistent with the provisions of this section.

(d) No homeowner may plant a tree within the mobilehome park without first obtaining written permission from the management.

(e) This section shall not apply to alter the terms of any rental agreement in effect prior to January 1, 2001, between the park management and the homeowner regarding the responsibility for the maintenance of trees and driveways within the mobilehome park, except that upon any renewal or extension, the rental agreement shall be subject to this section. This section is not intended to abrogate the content of any existing rental agreement or other written agreements regarding trees or driveways that are in effect prior to January 1, 2001.

(f) This section shall only apply to rental agreements entered into, renewed, or extended on or after January 1, 2001.

(g) Any mobilehome park rule or regulation shall be in compliance with this section.

(Added by AB 862, (Correa), Ch. 423 (2000), eff. 1/1/2001)

Tatum and Kaplan

The following are excerpts from various news articles regarding Thomas Tatum and Jeffrey Kaplan. They are several years old but still IMHO have a familiar ring to them. More to follow.

Article from The Los Angeles Time, February 16, 1996 The Maverick at Center of Mobile Home Rent Battle

Resting in the dairy farm country of northwestern Riverside County, the Swan Lake mobile home park once was a quiet refuge for many low- and middle-income retirees.

That tranquility, however, was shattered after a partnership half-owned by Jeffrey A. Kaplan, a Los Angeles lawyer turned real estate maverick, took over Swan Lake in the late 1980s.

The new landlords soon demanded bigger annual rent increases. They pushed so hard, in fact, that Riverside County officials authorized construction of a new mobile home park at public expense largely to provide a sanctuary for financially squeezed Swan Lake residents. To the residents' dismay, the county project later was scuttled--when Kaplan's firm filed a lawsuit that threatened to hold up work for years.

Such tactics have made Kaplan, who owns interest in about 15 mobile home parks, a symbol of greed to many of his opponents and one of the most controversial park landlords in California. But now Kaplan, 49, is antagonizing even more of the state's 1 million mobile home park dwellers..................

Some park owners have learned the art of defusing tensions by dealing diplomatically with tenants and charging moderate rent increases. But by all accounts, Kaplan--short, wiry and engaging yet hot-tempered--has never taken that tack.

Kaplan is disliked even by some park landlords who support Prop. 199; they privately blame Kaplan's tactics for inspiring many communities to adopt profit-shrinking rent-control ordinances in the first place.

"In this industry, there's room to gouge," said a Prop. 199 supporter who asked not to be identified. "People can't take their house and walk away. Jeff pushed the limit in his parks, more than most of us think is right."

The resulting animosity has fostered still-pending private lawsuits accusing Kaplan and Tatum partnerships of misleading customers into signing exorbitant land leases, allowing their parks to deteriorate into near-slums and threatening to evict residents who protested.

Moreover, the Santa Clara County district attorney's office in December filed a complaint accusing two Tatum-Kaplan Financial Group partnerships in San Jose of duping customers--many of them unsophisticated in real estate matter--into signing high-rent, long-term leases that violated the city' rent control law. An untold number of residents, the complaint alleges, have been forced to abandon their homes or sell them at distressed prices......

Meanwhile, abandoned homes are spreading throughout Swan Lake--the result, Griffiths says, of foreclosures stemming from the escalating rents.

But why would Tatum-Kaplan want to drive out residents? One possibility is raised in the Santa Clara County district attorney's complaint against the Tatum-Kaplan partnerships and related defendants in San Jose.

The complaint charges without specifying details, that the Tatum-Kaplan partnerships "are purchasing mobile homes abandoned by resident who cannot afford the rent and reselling them for a profit. By raising rents to a point where tenants abandon their homes, (the Tatum-Kaplan partnerships) are not only increasing the residents' injuries. . . but are also reaping additional profit for themselves."

Article from the San Jose Mercury News, March 23, 1996

MOBILE HOME RENT CONTROL BATTLE STATE MEASURE IS TARGET OF GRASS-ROOTS EFFORT

Why didn't the mobile home owners understand what they were signing?

''These leases are about 30 pages thick. Home buyers were told they couldn't take one outside to review it,'' said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Ken Rosenblatt, who is prosecuting Kaplan and Tatum and their firms for alleged rent-gouging and operating an elaborate scheme to circumvent San Jose's rent control.

The leases called for rent hikes of 8 percent or 9 percent a year for five years, with an additional 10 percent tacked on in th fifth year for a total of 18 percent or 19 percent that year. The fact that they were for 25 years was buried deep in the document, Rosenblatt said.

Article from the San Jose Mercury News, January 8, 2000
LAWSUIT CLAIMS RENT GOUGING CASE BEGINS: MOBILE-HOME PARK OWNEERS ACCUSED OF SKIRTING RENT CONTROL LAWS IN LONG RUNNING DISPUTE

After a five-year delay, prosecutors went to trial in civil court this week accusing the owners of two mobile-home parks of rent-gouging and running an intricate sham to skirt San Jose's rent control ordinance. .....prosecutors claim that the defendants, Beaumont Investments Ltd. and San Jose Investments Ltd., engaged in unfair business practices in a six-year scheme to circumvent the ordinance, which regulates how much mobile-home park owners can increase the rent on leases of one year or less. The companies are joint owners of Lamplighter and Casa del Lago mobile home parks, which are managed by Thomas Tatum and Jeffrey Kaplan.

Santa Clara County prosecutors claim that instead of offering shorter leases required by rent control, park operators m manipulated 90 prospective tenants into signing lucrative long-term lease and disguised costs that would ultimately raise their rents significantly.

Whoa!! What happened???

The park entrance warning sign is gone!
I didn't take it.

Things to do...

On my desk are folders, piles of papers, computer keyboard, monitor, printer and a small calendar with daily words of wisdom/inspiration. (FYI...the calendar has been long neglected.) Recently, my wife had a list of "honey-do's" for me so I tore the June 10, 2007 page from the calendar and listed them on the back. The list was then safely tucked away (and forgotten) in my wallet. This morning while looking for a Starbucks gift card I thought I had in my wallet, I stumbled across the forgotten "honey-do" list. Whoops!!! Fortunately I had somehow covered most of the bases of the list...at least enough to keep me out of trouble for a while. Anyway, while having my coffee this morning with no newspaper, I turned the "honey-do" list over and read the following:

"The strong take from the weak and the smart take from the strong."

That's it. "The strong take from the weak and the smart take from the strong." It's time for us to get smart and deal with this long term lease situation. We need to get smart and stop spinning our wheels by just complaining about our individual cases at our Homeowners Association meetings. We need to get smart and set goals and focus our collective energies, strengths and ideas towards achieving them. We need to get smart and educate ourselves on issues such as Proposition 98 that will be on the June, 2008 ballot.

"The strong take from the weak and the smart take from the strong." A powerful message on a scrap of paper I had used for a to do list. Remember it and be sure to attend the next Homeowners Association meeting.

Inaction produces nothing. Spread the word.

What this blog is about.....

A few years ago my wife and I purchased a mobile home at the Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park in Upland, California. This blog will raise our concerns regarding the park, owners and management, rent control, lease agreements and many other topics that may relate to mobile home park residency throughout the state of California. I hope you will participate with comments, suggestions and additional information that I may not have access to as of yet. I would also like to ask you to share your story with me either by posting a comment or by sending me an e-mail at badlease@gmail.com.

We are facing some trying times with rent increases and ballot issues that may eradicate rent control altogether so we all need to voice our concerns!!!

Please do some research (because I can't do it all) and contribute information where you can. If you just wish to vent, feel free to do so.

Good luck and happy hunting.

Are you selling your mobile home???

If you have your mobile home for sale in Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park or if you are selling one in any park owned by Tatum-Kaplan Financial I would like to hear about your experiences. How long has it been up for sale? Have you had any offers? If you had offers and they fell through then why? Has your agent made any suggestions to help facilitate the sale? Please share your experiences with the readers of this blog or e-mail me at badlease@gmail.com.

Thanks

What's wrong with this picture?

or this one???



This is one of the Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park's vacant homes that I pass by everyday. It has been vacant for months now and looks very trashy. Do you think this would effect the value of surrounding homes? We pay $800.00 or more a month to look at this? Park owners and management should clean their own house before they hang their picayune letters on our mailboxes. Another fine example of the park owners' and management's neglect.

Immobile Homes-Big Money vs.No Money

Now follow this link to read a very good newspaper article written by Jennifer Davies over ten years ago.

Does it sound familiar? And here's a big surprise for you....the Tatum and Kaplan mentioned in that article are the same Tom Tatum and Jeffrey Kaplan that own Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park. IMHO they're using the same tactics to trick buyers into signing long term leases thus giving up their rights to rent control. (I don't think they're offering televisions and microwaves now.)

How can this unethical practice still be taking place? Why haven't city, county or state officials done anything about this? Have our elected officials turned their backs on us? Are these long term lease agreements legal or not? I really don't know but the manner in which they secured them is very very questionable in my mind.

Park Entrance Warning

When prospective buyers enter Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park they are greeted by this sign:
Maybe this is how it should read: