WHAT IS A GANG?
According to Wikipedia, "A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity." Now that's the nice definition. Keep this definition in mind while you read this post and you will understand how appropriate the term "gang" is when applied to the Tatum Kaplan organization.
INTEGRAL PARTS OF THE TATUM KAPLAN GANG
Tatum Kaplan Financial Group is pretty much a self contained organization in all aspects of the mobile home park industry. Mobile Community Management Co. (MCM), Community Mobilehome Sales (CMS), the California Mobilehome Parkowners Alliance (CMPA) and the Manufactured Housing Educational Trust (MHET) are all in one way or another a part of the Tatum Kaplan gang. Jeffrey Kaplan is a lawyer and CPA and Thomas Tatum is a real estate broker. So, with this set up and the lobbyists and lawyers they employ, there is not much if anything this organization cannot do at any level to further their greed based business and continue to prey on prospective and existing mobile home park residents.
I will now provide you with information regarding each part of this operation and this should show you just how closely these parts fit together in the scheme of things. Some of this may be a little redundant as I have provided the information in earlier posts however, I feel I must repeat it in order to paint the big picture.
Tatum Kaplan Financial
I have already covered this part of the gang quite extensively but I will repost some basic information. According to the California Secretary of State both Thomas Tatum and Jeffrey Kaplan have active corporate registrations under Tatum Financial Corp. and Kaplan Financial Corp. The address for both of these corporations is 924 Westwood Blvd Ste 910, Los Angeles, Ca. 90024
Mobile Community Management (MCM)
This is the company that manages all of the Tatum Kaplan owned parks. According to the California Secretary of State, MCM is listed as a corporation with address of 924 Westwood Blvd Ste 910, Los Angeles, Ca. 90024. MCM's agent for service of process is Jeffrey A Kaplan.
MCM's actual address is:
Mobile Community Management
1801 E. Edinger #230
Santa Ana, Ca
(714) 480-1120
The president of Mobile Community Management is Chelu Travieso.
Community Mobilehome Sales
If you live in a Tatum Kaplan owned park it is not uncommon to see a CMS for sale sign taped in the window of a recently evicted resident's mobile home window.
Community Mobilehome Sales is located at another Tatum Kaplan owned park, Swan Lake Mobile Estates:
5800 Hamner Ave Sp705
Mira Loma, Ca. 91752
(951) 360-3591
CMS also has an office listing at:
1801 E. Edinger Ave #230
Santa Ana, Ca. 92705
(714) 480-1120
contact: Chelu Travieso
According to the Orange County fictitious business name search, the business owner listed for CMS is Mobile Community Management.
According to the California Secretary of State, the California Mobilehome Parkowners Alliance is an active corporation whose address is:
924 Westwood Blvd Ste910
Los Angeles, Ca 90024
The agent for service of process is Chelu Travieso at 1801 E. Edinger Ave, Santa Ana, Ca.
A third address that CMPA uses is:
25241 Paseo de Alicia Suite 120
Laguna Hills, Ca 92653
(949) 380-3304
According to Jeffrey Kaplan, CMPA is a trade association that represents California land-lease parkowners. CMPA is quite active in California, particularly in regards to anti rent control legislation. CMPA is the spearhead the Tatum Kaplan Gang and this is where the money goes to fight laws and legislation that are not to their wallets' advantage. They employ Sacramento lobbyists Edelstein, Gilbert, Robson & Smith to preach their sanctimonious spins to the governor and legislative committees about how they run their parks in a manner which is beyond reproach. What else should we expect being that the Chairman of the Board for CMPA is Jeffrey Kaplan and the only two other executive board members are Thomas T. Tatum and Chelu Travieso. So remember elected officials, when you have a lobbyist in front of you representing CMPA, he is more than likely representing the greed of Tatum and Kaplan rather than a trade association of parkowners.
Now I find it a bit strange that an organization such as CMPA does not have a website that promotes their position and goals, recruits membership and informs its members of what is happening in California that could be to their benefit or detriment. Isn't that what a trade association does? Well then let's look at the word "alliance" which Wikipedia defines as "an agreement between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests." I guess CMPA executive board members feel no need to promote via a website...doing so could mean that at some point in time they might have to compromise there goals and common interests with others who may not be as insensitive about taking advantage of park residents as they are.
Manufactured Housing Educational Trust (MHET)
According to the California Secretary of State MHET is an active corporation located at:
25241 Paseo de Alicia Suite 120
Laguna Hills, Ca 92653
(949) 380-3303
Their agent for service of process is Vickie Talley.
Chelu Travieso serves a vice president on MHET's board of directors.
MHET does have a website and I must say it isn't too bad. So why am I including them as a part of the Tatum Kaplan Gang other than they share a common address with the California Mobilehome Parkowners Alliance and that Chelu Travieso is their vice president? Well then, take a look at this!!!
MHET gave Jeffrey Kaplan and Thomas Tatum a "life time achievement award in 2009. How could MHET not be aware of Tatum and Kaplan's questionable pasts and business practices? How could MHET not be aware of the outrageous terms of the leases Tatum and Kaplan use to take advantage of trusting residents. How could MHET not be aware of the exorbitant rents that are being charged residents in Tatum and Kaplan parks, even in cities where there are rent control ordinances. It appears that MHET has chosen to close its eyes to Tatum and Kaplan's deplorable behavior in the mobile home park industry and present them with a "life time achievement" award...a façade of respectability for a couple of good ol' boys patting their own backs. (Oh, did I mention that Jeffrey Kaplan is also a member of the board for MHET?) For these reasons I am of the opinion that MHET deserves a place in the gang.
So, look back over this information. Notice the shared addresses and phone numbers each part of this gang uses. Notice how Chelu Travieso has her hands in all the segments of this gang making her the third prong of the devil's pitchfork that residents must contend with. Watch for them in your parks, on the internet and in the news and remember...don't trust them!
1 comment:
I do believe these people are evil. Even the Manager (I will not say which one) agrees the only thing they want is your money. All of it! Stay the hell away from these parks. You will regret it. I do. I'm now trying to figure out how I can take my home out of the park and still keep it. They sucked me dry and with the economy as it has been my employer is now, in all likelihood, going belly up. I've taken pay cuts along with others trying to keep the company alive. Worse now, I'm two months behind on receiving a paycheck. But these bastard park owners know only ONE THING. Raise The Rent! They again raised my rent earlier this year and now they are doing it again. Evidently, some convoluted formula in the rental agreement allows for additional rent increases on certain months of a lease term! They plan to bump it another $350 after they just raised it back in May!It will be over $1800.00 a month for 30 days of a dirt covered space. I hate these people.
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