Below are pages 3 through 7 of the long term lease or maybe we should call it "the long term legalese." These pages describe how a resident's annual rent increase is figured. Five pages that are filled with Tatum-Kaplan's signature legalese that muddily says much but explains little of the truth of what can happen to you during the term of the lease.
Why would anyone in our park "choose" to sign a long term lease that would leave them open to a 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% or even 72% annual space rent increase rather than opting for month to month rent control coverage of only 1% to 3% annual increase? It doesn't make sense! Doesn't this seem just a little bit peculiar to you? Yet in our park of approximately 186 spaces, the vast majority of residents have "chosen" to sign a long term lease and "agreed" to pay exorbitant rent increases rather than be covered by rent control! Why would we do this? Could it be that we might have been misled when it came to signing the paperwork given to us by the park management?
Now take a look at the paragraph on page 7 that I have highlighted in yellow. This short paragraph is one of the most EVIL sections of the entire contract. This is where the soldiers crawl from the belly of the Trojan Horse and wreak the ultimate financial havoc on the residents of Tatum-Kaplan owned mobilehome parks. This is the paragraph that allows our park owners to increase a resident's rent by $300, $400 or even more than $500 a month. It is this paragraph that causes residents to be evicted because they can no longer afford the space rent or they just give up and walk away from their homes leaving them to the park owners. The Tatum-Kaplan legalese devotes five pages to confuse you about how your annual rent increase will be computed and then one small paragraph that allows them to increase your rent by more than 70%!!! By reading these five pages is there anyway you could have imagined this could happen? Furthermore, in my opinion the increases generated by this paragraph artificially inflate the market value of mobilehome park space rents...these are not willing consumers paying or attempting to pay these inflated rents, these are hostages living with and being controlled by an unconscionable contract that has stolen the value and marketability of their homes.
I am often surprised that many residents are not even aware of this small paragraph's potential until they receive a "courtesy notice" informing them of their 30% to 70%+ increase. Then it's too late. I am also surprised that WHEN I EXPLAIN THIS PARAGRAPH TO LOCAL AND STATE OFFICIALS they seem to play dumb when I spell out the damage it has created and will continue to create unless they do something about it. Local and state officials then act appalled and pass the buck to other agencies who in turn say there is nothing they can do to help us...consequently nothing ever gets done.
So now, what can we residents do? First, we can continue to ORGANIZE!!! In November, 2009 angry Tatum-Kaplan mobilehome park residents demonstrated in front of Mobile Community Managements office in Santa Ana. These demonstrations were successful in getting media attention and showing MCM that we are serious about fighting the abuses that are taking place in their parks. We must continue to ORGANIZE and help make the next demonstration even greater. The purpose of organizing is to share information between Tatum-Kaplan mobilehome parks, gain attention to our problems and pressure elected officials to do the right thing.
The second thing we can do is to start asking our park management questions regarding our rent increases. When you receive you "courtesy" notice from the park informing you of your annual space rent increase it's time to start asking for a break-down of how that increase was calculated. Don't let management just refer you to the examples in your lease...you want an exact explanation of how your increase was calculated not just an example. If the park used "costs or expenses" and "capital expenditures" to calculate your space rent increase it seems to me that you have a right to know the exact figures used to calculate your share. You need to know the total amount of "costs and expenses" and "capital expenditures" and how your share of that total was determined by management. The "courtesy" notice should also inform you of what the CPI was for the period used to determine your space rent. If management refuses to verify these figures then how do we know whether or not they are being truthful with us? Are we to just take their word for it that their figures are true and correct? Demand this information and if they refuse to comply then put pressure on your local officials and agencies to step in and help you get that information!
If you get a "courtesy" notice informing you that your rent will be increased to the arithmetic average of the three highest rents in the park demand that they verify this! What spaces are being used to calculate the three highest rents in the park? Again, can we just take their word for what they are using to calculate this increase.
It's time for us to start standing up to these people. It's time for us to question and scrutinize their actions. We cannot just sit back and hope for the best because if we do that we may as well sign our homes over to Tatum and Kaplan right now. It's time for us to band together and ORGANIZE!
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