The Loophole

The following excerpts are from the 1996 “Immobile Homes” article I’ve mentioned before. A 12 year-old article...need I say more???

“A loophole in San Jose's mobilehome rent-control ordinance, which exempts long-term leases from rent restrictions, has allowed Kaplan and Tatum to jack up rents and then seize the mobile homes when the owners can't meet the payments.”

“A list of debtors at Kaplan and Tatum-owned parks in California reveals that hundreds more families have fallen prey to high rents throughout the state.”

"If 120 families were run out their homes by a natural disaster like a flood or a hurricane, you guys in the media would be up here in a second to cover it," Cushman says. "Well, with this lease deal, 120 families have lost their homes in just four years, and no one knows about it. It's so complicated that it's hard to get people's attention."

“As a result of the space rents rising beyond their financial means, most families, like the Camachos, abandon the mobile home. If the home has been paid for in full, Kaplan and Tatum get to keep it outright in lieu of the back rent. If there is a mortgage, the bank pays the space rent and usually ends up dumping the home to Kaplan and Tatum at a fraction of the original cost.”

“Once Kaplan and Tatum buy a home from the bank, as they have in the past, they can resell it for well below market price, because they've paid almost nothing for it. This fact makes it almost impossible for anyone else in the park to escape the rising rents by selling their own home.”