Happy Thanksgiving to Tatum, Kaplan and all MCM employees....

Happy Thanksgiving to Jeffrey Kaplan, Thomas Tatum, Chelu Travieso and all of the MCM employees who have helped them make our lives miserable.

When you sit down to enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner please give thanks to this lady and the many like her who paid for your meals this month with their exorbitant rent checks.  Please give thanks to her and those who sacrificed their social security checks, pensions, disability checks and hard earned income through the years to pay for your multi-million dollar estates.  As you, your family, your friends eat your Thanksgiving dinners please give thanks to those residents who have taken food off their tables to pay their rent so you can enjoy your meals.  As your children and grandchildren enjoy their desserts be thankful that they do not know to what extent you have taken advantage of  the less fortunate, all for the sake of your greed.  If your Thanksgiving dinner tastes particularly good this year give thanks to this lady and all the residents in your mobile home parks because it is their sweat and their tears that spice your food.

Legalese

Tatum-Kaplan's 10 year lease contract is nearly 40 pages long and is filled with ambiguities and legalese.  It's confusing and difficult to understand even if you have a command of the King's English.

Click here to see a great example of legalese.

Earlier this year Mobile Community Mangagement initiated an "Emergency Rent Stabilization Program" for qualified residents. 

The above MCM notice reads like they are doing you a big favor but don't believe it.  To qualify you must agree to and sign an addendum allowing the park "Right of First Refusal."  You also have to sign a 23 page addendum that is even more confusing than the original contract.  As I understand it, if you sign this agreement, you are allowing the owners to charge you for utilities or services you are not currently being charged for, you are allowing the owner to increase your rent to pay for judgments against the park and you are agreeing to not hold the park owners responsible for failure to maintain the park.  There is much more in this paperwork that I don't understand but my main question is this...WHAT DOES ALL THIS HAVE TO DO WITH STABILIZING OUR RENTS???  Are they actually doing you a favor by reducing your rent or are they just giving you a few bucks back so they can put the screws to you later?

At the beginning of  this post I provided an example of what legalese can do to masquerade a well known song.  Here is an excerpt from page four of the Mobile Community Management addendum that I have been discussing:

"As used in this paragraph, the term "Cost or Expense" means all costs and all expenses paid by Owner in connection with the operation of the Park (computed on a cash basis), including, and without limitation, taxes, licenses, insurance, legal and accounting, judgments (except as otherwise provided in Civil Code 798.42), management fees, repairs and maintenance, salaries, debt service (limited to adjustments to the periodic debt service [excluding balloon principal payments]) calculated as a separate category as to each debt (including any refinancing) of Owner which is or may hereafter be secured by or which otherwise relates or may relate to the Park (but excluding from such calculation that portion of any increase in debt service attributable to any increase in the outstanding principal balance of any debt as of the end of the calendar year first preceding the Annual Rent Increase Date over that which existed as of the end of the calendar year second preceding the Rent Increase Date as a result of any refinancing or new loan obtained during the calendar year first preceding the Annual Rent Increase Date); or pursuant to any contractual obligation of Owner to its lessor(s), or any third parties, and all other ordinary and extraordinary costs and expenses, excluding expenditures which Owner is required to capitalize for federal income tax purposes ("Capital Expenditures")."

That's ONE sentence and what does it mean???!!!  One confusing sentence that is 220 words long if my count is correct.  This is just a small part of the volumes of legalese you encounter when dealing with our park owners and management.  Were these contracts designed to confuse us?  Were they designed to to masquerade their true intent?  What do you think?

Tatum Kaplan/MCM Protest...November 14, 2009

Once again angry Tatum Kaplan/MCM mobile home park residents lined both sides of the street at Mobile Community Management's Santa Ana office in protest.  This time over 300 protesters strong waved signs and banners that expressed their feelings about the park owners' and management's unreasonable rents, poor park conditions and questionable business practices. 

Everyone got involved.

 

 

Once again the signs say it all.

 

 

 

 

 

 Much to see and discuss...a great get together to compare situations.

 

 

 

 

 

 Signs everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, it has been a terrific week for the demonstrators.  An opportunity to discuss and compare situations. An opportunity to vent anger and frustration not only against Tatum, Kaplan and Mobile Community Management but also against elected officials who seem to drag their feet while residents continue to loose their homes.   An opportunity to bring a complex and evil situation to the media and the public's attention.  It was also an opportunity to strategize and provide hope for our future.

Unintended Consequences and Unwanted Attention

Two days ago the following notice was circulated in the Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park informing residents of the protest that took place at the MCM/Santa Ana office on November 11.  The notice also informed residents that there is to be another demonstration there on Saturday, November 14 between 11:00am and 1:00pm.

(double click on document to enlarge)

Today, park management circulated the following letter to our park residents:

(double click on document to enlarge)

I love the second paragraph and it needs to be repeated here..."A demonstration or protest and any resulting media attention, may bring unwanted attention to Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park.  In the current economic times, you may experience difficulty in selling your mobilehome.  Imagine how much more difficult it will be when your fellow residents depict Upland Cascade and the Park management in a negative manner."

How utterly laughable this is.  How could residents of Upland Cascade depict this park and MCM in any manner other than a negative one when MCM and the park owners have taken every opportunity they can to gouge us with exorbitant rents.  How could we depict them in any other way when they allow spaces to remain vacant for months/years.  How could residents depict them in any other way when our experiences show that they are not to be trusted.  "Protest and any resulting media attention, may bring unwanted attention to Upland Cascade...", unwanted attention for whom...I say bring it on because our houses are not selling now.  Many residents here have had their houses up for sale but when the prospective buyers find out how much the rent is they withdraw their offers.


There is already a "dark cloud" upon our community and this cloud has not been brought about by its residents.  Our park owners and management are responsible for the cloud and we know that they are foolish to claim otherwise.

"NOTE: THE CITY OF UPLAND HAS A RENT CONTROL ORDINANCE"...This appears at the bottom of the notice. Rent control is the one thing that Tatum and Kaplan have spent hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars to eradicate yet they feel they need to point this out in their notice to us.  If we were on rent control, we would not have come to this point.  Less than 20 of the spaces in this park of 188 are currently on rent control.  The rest of us in one way or another were mislead and duped into signing long term leases giving up our right to be covered by the rent control ordinance.

So there it is..."unintended consequences" and "unwanted attention to Upland Cascade"???  This is what ALL Tatum Kaplan park residents should be striving for and maybe then our elected officials will feel the pressure and choose to do something about the problem rather than continually pass the buck between ineffectual agencies.  I SAY BRING IT ON!!!

Modern Day Robber Barons...November 11, 2009 Protest

On November 11, 2009, angry mobile home park residents from 5 Tatum Kaplan owned parks took part in a protest at Mobile Community Management's Santa Ana office.  Protesters carrying signs lined both sides of the busy street at 1801 E. Edinger Ave.  The main issues were outrageous rents, poorly maintained parks and unfair business practices.  The demonstration was peaceful and well organized but it appeared that MCM felt  intimidated by the 150 or so protesters and called upon security to protect themselves.

There is another demonstration scheduled for Saturday, November 14, 2009 between 11:00am and 1:00pm.  The turn out is expected to be much larger.

I am including several pictures from the demonstration.  The signs seem to say it all.

Double-click on a picture to enlarge it.

 

 

The building across the street is where MCM is located.

 

 

 

 

Some feel there is no help from legislators.

 

 

Many hid their faces behind signs...for fear of retaliation???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The security motor pool.