THE MOBILE HOME PARK LEASE ALERT

I'm Still Around

2011-09-30T23:00:00.000-07:00

I must apologize for my absence over the past several months. I've had a few health issues that slowed me down for a bit but now I'm back of top of things and will be posting again. During my time off Iwas still able to research and read my mail but posting and answering correspondence had to be put on the back burner. My return will most likely disappoint Jeff, Tom and MCM but that's just too bad. As I have said in the past, I want this to be a clearing house for all information regarding the Tatum-Kaplan organization...good or bad...although as of yet, I have found found nothing good to post about them.
If you have any information regarding the Tatum-Kaplan organization that you don't see here, please forward it to me and if appropriate, I will share it with our readers. Thanks again for your visits.

Are You Ready to Kiss Your Home Goodbye???

2010-11-21T22:52:00.000-08:00

I recently found the following two sentences buried deep within a lengthy City of Upland document:

"Land in Upland is becoming too valuable to use as mobile home parks.

Owners of existing parks are considering selling their land for development."

Apparently if you are a resident in ANY of the mobile home parks in Upland, your days on your current lot may very well be numbered. So much for the protection of the City of Gracious Living's rent control ordinance. It had already failed many of us anyway.

A big "Welcome to the nightmare" for Mountain View Estates, Oasis Mobile Estates, Upland Eldorado Mobile Home Park, Upland Meadows Mobile Estates and Upland View Terrace.

Is this the Future of Tatum Kaplan Owned Mobile Home Parks???

2010-10-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Just wondering is this is what residents of Tatum Kaplan owned parks have to look forward to in the future due to our ever-escalating rents...

The Rent is Too Damn High.....

2010-10-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a message for those of you who feel our rents are too damn high. Jeffrey, Thomas, Chelu...even you might enjoy this.

1 UNLAWFUL DETAINER...2 UNLAWFUL DETAINERS...3 UNLAWFUL DETAINERS...etc.,etc.,etc...

2010-10-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

What is an Unlawful Detainer Lawsuit?

"An unlawful detainer lawsuit is a suit brought by a landlord to obtain possession of the rented property and receive payment of back rent. In order to legally evict a tenant (remove and lock the tenant out of the property), the landlord must file an unlawful detainer lawsuit. An award for possession of property authorizes the landlord to evict you from the property. If the landlord is also awarded judgment for payment of back rent, he or she may collect the judgment by attaching your property, garnishing your wages, or any other legal means." (State of California Superior Court, San Bernardino County)

Here are some interesting figures for you involving unlawful detainers filed by the Tatum and Kaplan organization against their mobile home park residents. The parks mentioned here are only of few owned by Tatum and Kaplan but the examples most likely reflect what has occurred in their parks throughout the state. The information pertaining to the number of unlawful detainers was obtained via public records searches of the San Bernardino County Superior Court.

Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park has approximately 188 spaces. Since 1994 our park owners have filed approximately 120 unlawful detainer lawsuits against the residents of Upland Cascade.

Rancho Monte Vista MHP in Chino Hills has 226 spaces and since 1990 our park owners have filed approximately 190 unlawful detainers lawsuits against its residents.

Lake Cadena MHP has 281 spaces and since 1991 our park owners have filed approximately 200 unlawful detainers lawsuits against its residents.

That comes to a whopping total of 510 unlawful detainers in just 3 of the 19 Tatum Kaplan owned mobilehome parks. I'll let you do the rest of the math to figure out how huge this could be in their parks throughout the state.

So what happens to their homes after ~~victims~~ residents are evicted or just walk away because they have been rent gouged out of the park? I have mentioned in previous posts that Community Mobilehome Sales a.k.a. CMS is part of the Tatum Kaplan Gang and handles the sales of the park owned mobile homes. CMS currently has a website listing approximately 80-90 mobile homes for sale in the various Tatum Kaplan owned parks. Check it out here. I wonder how these listings were acquired by CMS?

The Tatum Kaplan Rent Stabilization Packet

2010-09-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a copy of The Tatum Kaplan Rent Stabilization Packet that is distributed by the park owners/management to residents. In my opinion this packet is just another 30 pages of legalese and trickery devised to give our park owners more financial and legal advantages over residents. This is a prime example of the methods the Tatum and Kaplan organization will stoop to in order to empower themselves and squeeze every last cent from us. Sure, they'll give you a rent decrease that will probably amount to less than $20.00 per month but if you carefully read the packet you will discover that what it sets you up for in the future could be even more devastating than the atrocious situation we are currently facing. This packet of paperwork along with the copy of the Tatum Kaplan Long Term Lease that I posted earlier should be required reading for any of our elected officials, particularly those officials who seem to believe that this is not their problem.

I have highlighted one section in the document that has the infamous 200 plus word sentence. I challenge anyone who reads it to email me a concise, clear explanation of what it means. That challenge also applies to any of our legislators that have visited this blog.

More to come in later posts regarding this

A Copy of the Tatum Kaplan Long Term Lease

2010-09-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

I am posting a link to A Copy of the Tatum Kaplan Long Term Lease. Keep in mind that this is only one document among many, many, many documents presented to prospective residents at the time of their final interview before they move into the park. Look it over and see for yourself how confusing/misleading/deceptive it is. Is this intentional...I'll let you be the judge.

Review of Previous Information...

2010-09-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

Every so often, I review some of my previous posts. Tonight I found two posts buried deep within the blog that I feel deserve to be a little more accessible to visitors. Both posts deal with the Tatum-Kaplan predatory contracts and I have now placed links to them in the side bar. As you read these posts please remember that these are only 5-6 pages of the 60 plus total pages presented to current and prospective residents.

A Challenge to Sacramento...

2010-09-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

I have listed below two State of California Committees that play an important part in mobile home and mobile home park legislation. Some if not all of these committee members have at one time or another received complaints regarding the Tatum Kaplan organization. If these committee members are aware of what is taking place in Tatum-Kaplan owned mobilehome parks, then why has nothing been done. Why do our state representatives continue to sit on their hands, year after year and do nothing to help us as the Tatum-Kaplan Gang continues to take from us all our properties and funds and then kick us to the curb when there is nothing left???!!!

I am issuing a challenge to each and every one of these committee members. It's a simple challenge and will not require much time to complete. Take a few minutes and drive through one of the Tatum-Kaplan mobilehome parks near you. Look around the park ask yourself why are these residents required to pay space rents as high as $1500.00 per month? Ask yourself why someone would sign a long term agreement that is filled with confusing legalese and does nothing less than take advantage of unsuspecting residents up to the very end of the contract. Ask yourself why there are so many empty spaces and vacant homes? Then, when you return to your committees and have some representative from a lobbying firm sitting before you that spouts about the "extremely sophisticated property owners" they represent remember the drive you took through the Tatum-Kaplan mobilehome park.

Too many residents have lost their piece of the "American Dream" to the Tatum-Kaplan greed based business. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS! Our elected officials from the local level on up seemingly do not want to support us and appear to just look the other way when we point out the questionable business practices of our park owners. If our elected officials don't start taking some meaningful actions against these predatory landlords, it may very well be time for mobile home park residents to start looking the other way at the ballot box. It is our strong feeling that the Tatum-Kaplan organization needs to be investigated state wide. Enough is enough!!!

Senate Select Committee on Manufactured Homes and Communities
Members:
Senator Lou Correa (Chair)
Senator Elaine Alquist
Senator Ellen Corbett
Senator Tom Harman
Senator Alex Padilla
Senator Mark Wyland

California State Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development

Norma J. Torres - Chair Dem-61 (916) 319-2061

Juan Arambula - Vice Chair Ind-31 (916) 319-2031

Steven Bradford Dem-51 (916) 319-2051

Mike Eng Dem-49 (916) 319-2049

Danny D. Gilmore Rep-30 (916) 319-2030

Steve Knight Rep-36 (916) 319-2036

Lori Saldaña Dem-76 (916) 319-2076

Tom Torlakson Dem-11 (916) 319-2011

Van Tran Rep-68 (916) 319-2068

REQUEST...ONE WAY YOU CAN HELP

2010-09-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

In the last 2 months, approximately 37% of the visitors to this blog got here by entering "Tatum and Kaplan" or a name variation i.e. "Jeffrey Kaplan," "Thomas Tatum" in their chosen search engine. If we add "Mobile Community Management" variations to the count the percentage increases to over 50%. We are now placed extremely well in three major search engines, Google, Yahoo and Bing. (Top three depending on what is entered.) You should keep in mind that these are nation-wide searches for Tatum-Kaplan related information. This indicates to us that a lot of people are doing some type of research on our park owners.

So now, we are requesting that if you are a resident of a Tatum-Kaplan owned mobile home park, get out your digital cameras and snap a few pictures. You've seen some of the examples we have posted on the blog from Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park and Brookside Mobile Country Club. Send us your examples with a brief comment and we will try to post them here. Don't worry, we will not divulge your identity or e-mail address. It's an easy way for you to help expose these jerks. Since we created this blog, we have had visits from numerous government agencies, banks, law firms, insurance companies, newspapers, etc., but we doubt that any of them have driven through a Tatum Kaplan owned park to see what it really looks like. Your pictures can help take them on a virtual tour of all the Tatum Kaplan parks.

To help us create a Tatum-Kaplan Mobile Home Park Gallery, send your pictures here.

Thanks and best of luck to all of our visitors and a special thanks to Jeffrey A. Kaplan, Thomas T. Tatum and Mobile Community Management for helping us make this blog the success it is today.

An Example of MCM's Concern...

2010-08-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

The following picture was taken a few days before the meeting Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park residents had with Mobile Community Management. The former resident was evicted around January. This lot was mentioned during the meeting and pointed out to Ms. Costaglio.

The next picture is the same lot nearly one month after the meeting. (Click on the pictures for a larger view.)

A picture is worth a thousand words...unfortunately I cannot post them here.

Community Meeting with Mobile Community Management

2010-08-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

It has been nearly a month since we had our meeting with our park management company..MCM. In this post I will briefly tell you what was discussed as per information I received from attendees.

First of all approximately 50 residents attended the meeting with MCM being represented by David Starnes, State Facilities Manager and Natalie Costaglio, Senior Regional Manager. It was announced by Ms. Costaglio that Sue Brown and Dorothy Gunn could not attend because they were "very ill."

The meeting began with Ms. Costaglio stating that MCM has always wanted to have a good working relationship with its residents. This brought about a "since when!" response from one of our residents. Many of the residents felt that the only reason management was here now was because of a possible failure to maintain lawsuit. My feeling is that they were here fishing for information regarding what they might be facing should a lawsuit take place. So right off, MCM's sincerity was in question.

Ms. Costaglio then stated that MCM was not aware of any problems in the park because residents have not brought them to their attention. Residents then responded that when resident concern forms were turned in they were never acted upon by management and many felt that the forms probably went no further than the local office.

Some of the other topics discussed during the meeting are as follows:

One resident was concerned that management is not doing its job and so property values are declining.

Problems with dogs running loose were discussed.

Park appearance...park owned homes and empty lots are not being maintained. Management responded that they maintain vacant lots with weeding and chaining. (Chaining???) Also, if someone is evicted or walks away, there is an in depth legal process that may prevent management from cleaning up the lot.

One home was the focus of discussion by a resident who claimed that his neighbor left the home in January and at that time signed the home over to the park. It has sat there for months, unmaintained and an eyesore which is hindering his attempt to sell his own home. He asked management why they could do nothing if the home was signed over to them in January. Management offered no real answer to his questions.

Dried/dead plants and foliage around vacant homes were brought up as being a health and safety hazard. One carelessly thrown cigarette could start a fire that could take a few homes with it. It was asked, "does not MCM have employees go around the park and look at their own properties problems?" Do residents need to tell them of every single space of theirs that needs to be attended to?

Water cut-off and electric outages were discussed.

Poor night lighting.

Poor security that allows squatters to camp out on vacant lots at night.

A rumor was brought up that the park sells their homes by offering much lower rents than a resident can offer a prospective buyer.

An attempt was made to discuss the high rents in the park but Ms. Costaglio dismissed and ignored them because they were not a topic of discussion on her agenda. Although many felt that the high rents were driving many residents out of the park and further decreasing the values of their homes, Ms. Costaglio simply refused to discuss this item.

There were other items discussed, but I have listed here some of the most important that were brought up. If anything else is brought to my attention regarding this meeting I will bring it up in later posts.

Ms. Costaglio then closed the meeting stating that anytime residents want to have a meeting with management they are always willing to do so. This could also include park issues such as the rents.

We'll see.

blighted condition

2010-07-26T23:51:00.000-07:00

Within the last week, our park management has engaged in a frenzy of landscaping improvements around the clubhouse. I suppose this is in preparation of the sugar-coating we will see during the community meeting between management and residents. If you plan on attending this meeting prepare yourself to watch management pat themselves on the back for all the improvements they have made in this park. Be prepared to listen to them claim that they are not responsible for the parks deteriorating conditions. Be prepared for management to ask you to point the finger at your friends and neighbors for the problems we have in our park.

I recently found a web site with a letter posted from one of our park owners, Jeffrey Kaplan, to the City of Los Angeles. I found the following paragraph particularly interesting:

"I. Aesthetics: Potentially Significant Impact. The proposed ordinance would potentially degrade the existing visual character and quality of LA City hillside properties and surroundings areas as, for example, certain undeveloped lots and potions of lots will be required to remain in its "natural state" as opposed to being improved with new landscaping and development appropriate and consistent with currently existing area homes and properties. By way of example, currently graded or ungraded lots (i.e., fenced and unfenced vacant lots consisting of little more than dirt and weeds) would potentially remain in a blighted condition as compared to being beautified, utilized and developed."

Jeffrey Kaplan is talking about multimillion dollar properties located in Los Angeles but he mentions some conditions that sound quite familiar to residents who live in Tatum Kaplan owned mobile home parks. "By way of example, currently graded or ungraded lots (ie., fenced and unfenced vacant lots consisting of little more than dirt and weeds) would potentially remain in a blighted condition as compared to being beatified, utilized and developed." There you have it!!! Straight from Jeffrey Kaplan's keyboard. According to this paragraph composed by Jeffrey Kaplan, "Vacant lots consisting of little more than dirt and weeds" are representative of "blighted conditions." With this in mind, look at the following pictures and ask yourself why this quote would not apply to us. Why would his description of "blighted conditions" apply only to vacant lots in Beverly Hills or Bel-Air but not to his mobile home parks in Upland, Santa Ana, El Monte, etc.?

Look at the following pictures...pictures of vacant lots and abandoned homes and tell me why anyone would believe we are not living in a park filled with "blighted conditions."

Dead grass and foliage...a fire hazard in our recent heat spell or from a carelessly discarded cigarette.

Vacant, unimproved lots that sit in this state for years with "little more than dirt and weeds."

Dead leaves clutter this lot, again another fire and/or health and safety hazard.

Three vacant lots right next to each other with weeds and rubble.

So go to the "community meeting" and keep all this in mind as park management tries to spin things in their favor. Speak up and let them know what you think of them and their questionable business practices. Remember...Residents should not fear their park owners, park owners should fear their residents.

Possible Failure to Maintain Lawsuit??? part 2

2010-07-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well......In just a little over 24 hours after my previous post, look what appeared on Upland Cascade residents' mailboxes today:

Wow! The "Resident Concern Form" that park management claimed they distributed on 7/1/10 suddenly appeared on our mailboxes!!! What a coincidence! Wait a minute. You don't suppose that Mobile Community Management or even Tatum or Kaplan saw this post??? If that's true then I hope they will accept this blog and the concerns that I have expressed here in lieu of my completing their "Resident Concern Form." Besides, all my complaints wouldn't fit on that tiny little form.

Possible Failure to Maintain Lawsuit???

2010-07-18T01:34:00.000-07:00

It appears that residents of Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park are going to have a meeting with park management later this month. (See copy of notice below.) "The agenda will consist of discussing those topics raised in the law firm's questionnaire and any additional maintenance and rule violation issues raised in the Resident Concern forms." First of all, do any residents know what the topics are that were raised in the law firm's questionnaire? According to my information, not all residents received a questionnaire and those who did were not privy to what other residents claimed. Secondly, there was no "Resident Concern Form" distributed to the residents by the park as the notice below claims.

So, what will be discussed? Park management wants you to point your finger at your neighbors for the problems we have with this park. They want you to bring up "conditions of the Park, troublesome resident conduct issues that may arise, or the fact that not all residents maintain their mobilehomes and space the way they should." Is it your neighbor's fault that there are many spaces consisting of only dirt and weeds surrounded by chains that "remain in a blighted condition as compared to being beautified, utilized and developed?" (Jeffrey A. Kaplan, 4/6/10) Is it your neighbor's fault that many homes are now vacant because the residents were evicted or simply walked away from out of control rent increases and now their properties are filled with weeds and or dead foliage. Park management knows these homes are vacant yet they do little if anything to clean them up until they feel they can sell them. Is it your neighbor's fault that these blighted conditions are interfering with your attempts to sell your home?

If and when you go to this meeting, keep this all in mind. Park management will do anything they can to spin our problems in their favor. They will claim that they are professional and beyond reproach in managing all their parks throughout California. (Not true.) They will do anything they can to dodge the responsibility of their deplorable park conditions and point the finger of blame at you and your neighbors. But if you ask them anything at this meeting, ask them this...Why are they charging us the highest space rents in the city while our park appears to be the trashiest and poorest maintained?

In my opinion, a "failure to maintain" lawsuit simply does not go far enough for what is going on in Tatum-Kaplan owned parks.

Upland...The City of Gracious Living Falls From Grace....

2010-06-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Many times I have pointed the finger at Upland City Hall as being part to blame for the problems Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park residents are facing. For years they have been made aware of our park owners questionable business practices yet the City of Upland has failed to lend its residents any support. In past posts I have pointed out that the City of Upland's motto is "The City of Gracious Living" and that to many of the City's residents, this motto appears only to apply to homeless animals and wealthy developers. Well recent news indicates that the City of Upland has had a hard fall from grace and that my feelings about wealthy developers may not be too far off base.

An excerpt from one of the recent Inland Valley Daily Bulletin articles follows:

FBI probe involves several Upland businesses

"UPLAND - The FBI and IRS investigation that closed City Hall for an entire day Thursday is a far-reaching one that involves not only the mayor but a number of businesses and business owners in the region.
According to an FBI search warrant served to Mayor John Pomierski on Thursday to support the seizure of his cell phone, investigators were seeking records related to a number of businesses and people including Chronic Cantina, JH Builders, Upland Market Place and many others.
The records - including e-mails, text messages and address lists - are described as evidence of violations, including conspiracy, extortion, bribery, fraud, money laundering and racketeering, according to the search warrant.
When reached for comment on Friday, Pomierski deferred comments to his attorney Robert Schauer.
"I truly believe what's going to come out of this is nothing," Schauer said. "When all the smoke clears, you'll see there isn't anything there."

A team of more than 40 FBI and IRS agents on Thursday seized boxes of evidence at four locations - City Hall, Pomierski's home, JH Builders and Statewide Bancorp"

Now this is exciting...I have always been of the opinion that our mayor is an arrogant buck-passing sob and it does my heart good to see that he is now caught up in something that could conceivably lead to jail time. Possible "conspiracy, extortion, bribery, fraud, money laundering AND racketeering" sounds pretty serious to me and if they have or will invoke the RICO Act any who knowingly participated might find themselves cellmates with the mayor.

And what about the mayor's lawyer, Robert Schauer??? Isn't this the same Mr. Schauer who is a member of the City of Upland's planning commission and who caused such an uproar when he used the "N-word" during a February 8, 2010 city council meeting? Class acts here.

Remember, it's the FBI and IRS (Federal agencies) that locked down City Hall from 9:00am to 10:00pm on Thursday while they searched for evidence. This is not something these agencies do in a frivolous manner without some kind of proof of wrong doing. City business came to a halt while the agencies searched and carried away boxes of material. Who knows what will be found in those boxes? I'll bet a lot of sphincter muscles tightened up at the news of this.

ARE THE RATS JUMPING SHIP???

2010-05-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a little update for you. This month I noticed more vacant homes and more homes up for sale. Another eviction took place at the end of March. It now appears that our park manager has also quit and moved out of the park.

So while our park's conditions continue to worsen, where is the City of Upland "our city of gracious living" when we need them? The city knows full well what is going on in this park as it has been reported to them on numerous occasions by many of the residents yet the city fails to offer any real assistance claiming it is not their responsibility. "City of Gracious Living???" Again it appears that this is only true for wealthy developers and homeless animals...not for the middle and low income residents who are themselves about to be homeless at the hands of the questionable business practices of Jeffrey A. Kaplan, Thomas T. Tatum and their cohorts.

How about our state officials...where are they? They are aware what is happening to thousands of residents in the Tatum-Kaplan owned parks throughout the state yet everything still remains the same...abuses continue while residents feel trapped with little or no hope of rescue.

At least someone sent help when the Titanic was sinking...what about us?

Mobile Community Management Alleges "Interference with Sales/Leasing"

2010-04-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, MCM was at it again with their self-righteous bullcrap. On January 11, 2010, they circulated a letter throughout Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park claiming that a resident approached a prospective buyer of a mobilehome and killed the sale with derogatory remarks about the park. (A copy of their letter is posted below.)

As you read this you might want to keep in mind four possibilities may have taken place here. The first possibility is that this allegation could just be made up by MCM in order to further intimidate residents into keeping their mouths shut about conditions in the park. The second possibility is that maybe it is true and exactly as they have stated. The third possibility is that maybe a resident approached a prospective buyer of one of the mobile homes that MCM (CMS) has for sale here and killed the sale with negative remarks and now MCM is pissed. The fourth possibility would be that someone selling their mobile home in the park is claiming that the park management may have interfered with the sale of their home and the park wants to turn the blame around onto its residents. I don't know what actually happened but why should residents have to take what the park says in their letters as fact? Past experience has taught me that I must question and investigate anything that MCM states is true and you should do the same!

Let's look at the letter very closely and try to see what MCM is actually telling us. In the first paragraph they say, "We have been informed about something disturbing that is happening in the Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park community. We are writing to you out of a concern this has caused." If our park owners and management are really concerned about your ability to sell your homes it's only because they hope you will play their game and sucker someone into accepting the terms of the long term lease from which you are trying to escape.

The second paragraph claims "that at least one resident who has negative feelings and thoughts about the mobilehome park had intentionally approached a prospective buyer and voiced their judgmental and derogatory opinions about the park to that buyer." Again, do we have to take this statement by MCM as fact? Remember and think about the four possibilities I have mentioned above. The second paragraph continues, "Every person is entitled to their own opinion and freedom of speech; but to intentionally seek out a potential buyer of a neighbor's home and possibly kill the sale is just wrong and unkind." Yes, we are entitled to our opinions and freedom of speech...no debate there however, based on all the information that has been provided previously in this blog, in your wildest imagination can believe that Jeffrey Kaplan, Thomas Tatum and MCM have room to preach about something being "wrong and unkind" in their parks? Paragraph two ends up sounding a bit hypocritical when you watch your neighbors being unfairly priced out of their homes. What is so righteous and kind about that?

Paragraph three then goes on to explain how potential buyers may visit the mobile home park several times to evaluate the possibility of living here. MCM explains that potential buyers may "engage a resident in a conversation looking for some insight as to whether or not to buy in the mobilehome park. We would ask residents to use their common sense and to not let their emotions get in the way of giving objective answers to any questions." How on earth does one give an objective answer to a question without speaking the truth??? If you find yourself swimming in a pool of hungry sharks and someone on shore yells out to you "How's the water?"...do you set your emotions aside and reply "The water is fine." with no mention of the sharks? This is what MCM and our park owners are asking you to do and this is totally absurd.

Paragraph four states: "Negative statements by current residents may not only stop a sale, but may eventually have the potential of decreasing home values throughout the park." My God, how sickening that statement is in view of what MCM, Jeffrey Kaplan and Thomas Tatum have done to their park residents!!! Our home values have already been decreased due to our park owners' greed, outrageous rents, unconscionable long term leases, deteriorating park conditions and questionable business practices.

In closing, I have not and would not intentionally seek out a prospective buyer with intent to kill the sale of a home in this park, but if someone approaches me and asks my opinion I would not hesitate to do the right thing, the honest thing and warn them about the "sharks." What would you do?

RAMBLE ON....

2010-04-20T00:10:00.001-07:00

Thought I'd do some somewhat off topic rambling tonight. You see, sometimes the depression gets to me and I need to vent in order to sort things out and try to move on. At times I feel like I've been so unlucky. Poor choices? Too trusting? Naivety? My own stupidity? What has placed me here? I guess all of the above. *lol* But what has also placed me in this situation is the apparent insatiable greed of others. There are two diametrically opposite positions at work here of which I find myself on the short side. All I ever hoped for was to live comfortably, at ease with myself and to provide the same for my wife. (Could that be a much different than what Jeffrey and Thomas strive for?) I am most saddened by seeing my wife hurt, her pain, her heartache and I know she hides a lot from me so as not to bother or worry me. But still, she supports me and tells me no matter what she'll be with me, even when we lose our home to Tatum and Kaplan. That's one of the reasons I love her so much and that's why I will continue with this blog for as long as I am able. Maybe I am not quite so unlucky after all.

THEY CALL HIM FLIPPER...or Bring on the Clowns!!!

2010-04-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey Kaplan and Thomas Tatum have once again shown us all that they are "extremely sophisticated property owners." They have now joined the ranks of cheap insurance, furniture and mattress sales by hiring a "flipper."

I couldn't stop laughing when I saw this guy gyrating on the corner of San Bernardino and Grove. I wasn't laughing because the flipper was particularly good at his job, I just found this method so hideously foolish on the park's part. What next??? Circus clowns and cotton candy vendors???

FIRE!!!...News from Brookside Mobile Country Club in El Monte

2010-04-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

On Easter Sunday afternoon, a mobile home in Brookside Mobile Country Club burned to the ground. According to our on site contacts and a newspaper article approximately 30 firefighters showed up to put out the fire. No one was injured and I was told that the home had been vacant due to a recent eviction. One of Brookside's residents spoke with arson investigators on the scene and was told that it appeared the fire had been deliberately started. If this is true then who did it? The former owner? A disgruntled resident? Kids playing with matches?

Now if a former or current resident set this fire I can understand the frustration and anger that would lead them to do such a thing. I can understand how park owners' and park management's abuses would push them to light a match to something they feel was being unfairly taken from them. I can also understand how insensitive, ineffective city and state officials who are seemingly deaf to the problems of Tatum and Kaplan mobile home park residents would help lend a spark to this fire. Residents want to be heard and although acts like this may call attention to our problems, they also endanger other homes and families. Because of the possible danger to others, I do not support this kind of protest. If this fire was the result of an accident, faulty electrical system or some kind of spontaneous combustion then an immediate and thorough investigation needs to be made to prevent this from happening again.

If this fire was intentionally set then that is a crime and if those responsible are caught they will most likely go to jail. It's that simple. The root cause of the crime is not quite so simple.

More Evictions, Empty Homes and Lots...Oh My!

2010-01-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

I spotted another empty dirt lot in our park today and that raises the total to 14 empty lots. There were also 4 evictions in December and January and that brings the empty homes total to at least 15. If you are trying to sell your home do you think that so many empty lots coupled with eviction notices posted in windows would in some way interfere with your attempt to sell? Every eviction, every empty lot, every empty home and every rent increase only further reduces the value and marketability of our homes. To top this all off, Mobile Community Management warns residents not to participate in protests or say anything negative about the park owners and management becuase this could result in a "decreasing of home values throughout the park." The core of the problems we face in Tatum Kaplan owned parks all boils down to egregious rents brought about by the unconscionable contracts used by our predatory landlords...not by our voicing our opinions.

HELD HOSTAGE IN OUR OWN HOMES

2010-01-09T00:51:00.000-08:00

The following is paragraph 1.3 on page 1 of Tatum Kaplan "Standard Multiple Year Lease/Rental Agreement." It explains what you can do to cancel the lease. Let's take a look at this short paragraph.

"RESIDENT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT RESIDENT IS RECEIVING MANY IMPORTANT BENEFITS FROM THIS AGREEMENT, EXAMPLES OF WHICH ARE: PEACE OF MIND BECAUSE OF THE LONG-TERM RENT STABILITY AND KNOWLEDGE OF HOW RESIDENT'S RENT INCREASES WILL BE CALCULATED IN THE FUTURE;..." In retrospect, I would really like to to question the important benefits we receive from this "agreement?" The paragraph states that we will have "peace of mind because of the long-term rent stability." Ask any resident who has signed this lease and they will tell you that there is nothing further from the truth. How can we have "peace of mind" with a contract that allows for anywhere between 10% to more than 70% rental increases?

"The knowledge of how resident's rent increases will be calculated in the future" is supposedly another benefit the contract claims we receive. I have covered the rent calculations in a previous post however, with the confusing way in which this contract is constructed, how could a prospective resident foresee the possibility of the egregious increases we now face that force many of us out of our homes?

Another "benefit" that supposedly provides us with "peace of mind" is the "resident's ability to terminate this agreement without any liability to owner by selling/transferring residents mobilehome or assigning resident's right to occupy resident's space to someone who will accept an assignment of this agreement." So, in order to cancel this contract, you must submit to playing the park owners' nefarious game by convincing someone else to accept this Trojan Horse contract. If you somehow convince someone to buy your home and accept assignment of this agreement, then they will not be eligible to the benefits of rent control. There is nothing in this contract that would indicate the difficulties we would face in selling/transferring our homes in the future.

The final section of this paragraph states that you can terminate this agreement without any liability to the owners by moving your mobilehome from the park and allowing control of the space to revert to the owners. This is not as easy as it sounds since it may cost $15,000 to $20,000 to move a mobilehome. If you can't afford the rent that has ballooned up beneath your home then where is $15-20,000 going to come from? Also, it is my understanding that some mobilehome movers will not move a used mobilehome...depends on the age of the home.

There are two other ways you can terminate the contract. One is to just wait and do nothing until the rent has been increased so much you cannot afford to pay it. This will then result in an unlawful detainer being filed against you and most likely you will be evicted. The end result is a judgment against you and the parkowners get your home. The second way is to simply walk away from your home and this results in the parkowners getting your home.

So, does it feel like you are being held hostage in your own home? Every month you pay Tatum and Kaplan ransom in order to keep your home which you are unable to sell because of their predatory contract. You can't sell your home because at this point in time the rent far exceeds space rents in other parks in the City of Upland. You can't move your home because of its age or the costs of moving it. The ultimate ransom you must pay to escape these evil landlords is giving them your home. Where are the "benefits?" Where is the "peace of mind?"

Pictures from Brookside Mobile Country Club

2010-01-06T15:39:00.000-08:00

The following pictures are from one of our sister parks...Brookside Mobile Country Club. I'm not joking, "country club" is part of the name. Tatum and Kaplan own this park and I am told that it was once a very nice park prior to their ownership. At this time, many of the space rents far exceed $1500.00 per month and the park now abounds with a number of vacant homes and vacant spaces. Imagine the difficulty of living in this park and trying to sell your home when empty dirt lots and boarded up homes surround you. These empty dirt lots and boarded up homes in my opinion add up to slum-like conditions. What do you think?

A lobbyist for the California Mobilehome Parkowners Alliance claimed in front of an Assembly Housing Committee that Tatum and Kaplan are "extremely sophisticated property owners." Look at these picutres. Look around your Tatum Kaplan owned park. Does it look like Tatum and Kaplan are "extremely sophisticated property owners?" Do our state representatives actually buy into CMPA's lobbyists' claims? They need to visit our parks to see what is actually taking place.

Behind the Wall - part 6...the cancer spreads

2009-12-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

Today I saw another empty dirt lot here. That makes 13 dirt lots in Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park. There is also another eviction in the process and that home will probably be empty shortly after the New Year. Lastly, I noticed that one of our neighbors was packing his belongings into a moving van this morning. THE CANCER CONTINUES TO SPREAD.

Upland...The City of Gracious Living???

2009-12-04T07:43:00.000-08:00

"The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) periodically requires the City of Upland to prepare and adopt a Consolidated Plan for the City’s CDBG Program. The Consolidated Plan is a long-term strategy for the use of the City’s CDBG funds over the next five years (2005-2010). The Consolidated Plan identifies prioritized programs to assist the City in providing decent housing and suitable living environments, addressing community service and facility needs, and expanding economic opportunities for primarily low and moderate income persons."

"Along with the five year Consolidated Plan, HUD requires an annual Action Plan outlining the City’s uses of CDBG funds for one- year." (The preceding quote is from a City of Upland Notice of Public hearing f/y 2009/2010.)

Now I would like to address some of the things that the City of Upland has included in these annual Action Plans regarding its Mobile Home Rent Control Program.

In the 2003/2004 annual report, the City of Upland declares that it "Maintained rent stability for the 860 mobile home occupants." The city also states that "the Redevelopment Department and the City Clerk's offices received inquiries regarding the Mobile Home Rent Control Ordinance" and that "the Redevelopment Department began the process to amend the City's current Mobile Home Ordinance. During year five of the Consolidated Plan, the City will have amended its existing Mobile Home Ordinance."

In the 2005/2006 annual report, repeats basically the same thing. "Maintained rent stability for the 860 mobile home occupants." The report also states that the City continued to receive "numerous inquiries regarding the Mobile Home Rent Control Ordinance" and that the current rent control ordinance was still in the process of being updated. A major difference in the 2005/2006 report was that listed under "Lead Agency" was the Upland Redevelopment Department AND the IFHMB (Inland Fair Housing and Mediation Board.)

In the 2006/2007 annual report, under "Accomplishments and Time Frame" the city states "Maintain rent stability for the 860 mobile home occupants; update ordinance by Winter of 2006.

In the 2008/2009 annual report, again under "Accomplishments and Time Frame" the city state "Maintain rent stability for the 860 mobile home occupants" and then says the the ordinance will be updated by Winter of 2008.

In the 2009/2010 annual report, the City of Upland again cuts and pastes its declaration to HUD..."Maintain rent stability for the 860 mobile home occupants" and this time states that the ordinance will be updated by Winter of 2009.

Now, is the City of Upland blind? How can the City of Upland state that it has maintained rent stability for it mobile home residents when it does not even know how many of us receive the benefit of rent control? The City does not know how much rent is being charged for each of the 860 mobile home park spaces because it has never conducted a complete and accurate space rent survey and has never surveyed who and who is not on rent control. In Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park, only a handful of the 188 spaces receive the benefit of rent control yet the City, year after year, continues to state that it maintains rent stability for its 860 mobile home occupants...this simply is not true. Our space rents continue to skyrocket and the city officials continue to pass the buck or sit on their hands and do nothing.

Is the City of Upland lame? The City admits that it has received "numerous inquiries regarding the Mobile Home Rent Control Ordinance" and for AT LEAST 7 YEARS claims it is updating the ordinance. Seven years and still no update to the ordinance and all along many Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park residents have been and continue to be priced out of their homes due to the egregious rents they are being charged...in a City that has rent control. It is sad to say that at this point in time any updates to the ordinance will be too late for many of us.

Is the City of Upland mute? Mayor John Pomierski, Councilmember Brendan Brandt, Councilmember Ray Musser, Councilmember Tom Thomas and Coucilmember Kenneth W. Willis...you know of the abuses that have been taking place behind the walls of Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park yet you say nothing and offer us no assistance other than refer us to your buffer, the Inland Fair Housing and Mediation Board. IFHMB then 'kowtows' to park management/owners and we are again left out in the cold. (my opinion) It appears that for at least the past 7 years the City of Upland has made inaccurate and erroneous claims in its reports to HUD. If you cannot/ will not help your City's residents, taxpayers and voters with the problems we are facing then you should at least make an effort to provide truthful and accurate information to other agencies. Especially if you are asking them for money.

Residents have asked for help...begged for help yet the City continues to say this is a "civil matter" and there is nothing it can do. We are low and moderate income residents struggling to make ends meet in the face of exorbitant rents and do not have the resources to take on our park owners in a civil lawsuit. Our park owners are aware of this and continue to take advantage our situation. The City of Upland is aware of this and for some reason continues to shamefully turn its back on us hoping that we will just go away. The information I have provided in this post indicates that for years the City of Upland has actually been a part of the problem rather than a part of the solution to the financial mayhem that is taking place in Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park. Our efforts have been stymied, patronized and ignored by this city. How can we make it any clearer that something is terribly wrong here. Is the City of Upland deaf or does it just have selective hearing? The City of Upland's motto is "The City of Gracious Living." To many of its residents, this motto appears only to apply to homeless animals and wealthy developers.

TATUM KAPLAN LONG TERM LEASES...Trojan Horse Contracts

2009-12-02T12:48:00.000-08:00

Let's take a look at part of a Tatum-Kaplan long term lease. To begin with I must say that I am of the opinion that the Tatum Kaplan long term lease is designed to be confusing. The 10 year lease is nearly 40 pages long and is filled with hard to understand legalese that masquerades its true intent...and that is to take advantage of any resident who signs it.

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.

As I read it, the pages explain that your annual increase will never be less than 4% and the example that is shown indicates a 6% increase. Six percent sounds meager compared to what is actually happening in Tatum-Kaplan owned parks. The truth is that your annual increase can range between 10% to over 70% during the term of this lease. Who would ever have imagined that any reputable business would be allowed to take advantage of residents in such a manner.

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!

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

2009-11-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-17T23:30:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-13T00:08:00.000-08:00

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.

Behind the Wall - part 5...the war zone.

2009-10-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

These are the empty spaces that are currently in our park. Imagine trying to sell your home that has one, two, three or more of these in close proximity. Do you think this would raise some questions with your prospective buyer? Do you think this might lower the value of your home?

Basically, they are just dirt lots, so why are some of us paying over $1300.00 a month to rent them???

The Tatum Kaplan Gang...exposed

2009-10-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

I am going to temporarily interrupt the "Behind the Wall" series because I have found some extremely revealing information regarding The Tatum Kaplan Gang. This information is so important that every park resident should be aware of it. Every mobile home resident advocacy group should also be aware of this information. If they are not already aware of it, every federal, state and local official that has to deal with any segment of the Tatum Kaplan Gang should be informed of what is hiding behind this gang's façade of respectability.

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.

California Mobilehome Parkowners Alliance (CMPA)
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!

Behind the Wall - part 4...A Heartbreak of the Worst Kind

2009-10-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, a five year old child was killed in the streets of Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park. He was riding on a skateboard and his brothers watched as he was struck by a car. A small memorial of candles, pictures and messages was left near where the boy died and it remained there until recently. Now there is just a pile of rocks and yet each day that empty pile of rocks reminds of the tragedy that occurred there.

Of course, the family was devastated. They remained in the park for a couple of months following the accident and then moved out and understandably so...how long and painful those last months here must have felt to them. The home has now been vacant for nearly two years.

For weeks after the accident there was much finger pointing as to who was to blame. The parents, the driver or the park??? I honestly cannot say who was to blame but one fact that I can stand by is that this happened in the streets of Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park. With that in mind, I have come to the conclusion that the streets in this park are not a safe place for our children to play...period!!!

Behind the Wall - part 3...Rent Increases and Walkaways

2009-10-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

It is not uncommon in this park to hear that someone is getting a 20%, 30% or 40% annual rent increase but how about a 72% annual rent increase. Yes, that's right, even though the City of Upland has a rent control ordinance a resident at our park last year received a notice from the park stating that their rent would be increase from $749.00 to $1293.00 per month...that's over 72%!!! I guess they decided not to pay this outrageous rent increase because their home is now empty and has a for sale sign in the window.

I am not sure how old the home is but it appears to be approximately 9 or 10 years old. This for sale sign in the window is asking $39,000 cash.

Double click on the image to enlarge.

This is another example of how many of our residents have been priced out of their homes in this park.

Behind the Wall Part 2...Trashing Your Home 101

2009-10-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

This is the lot directly across the street from the previous post. (Behind the Wall...part 1) Late last year the residents who lived here were evicted but before they left, they trashed the home which I believe was around 30 years old. They stripped some aluminum siding, walls, doors and Lord knows what else.

The awning over the carport collapsed, the door to the water heater was gone and some of the siding was missing on the back of the home.

Siding was stripped from this side of the home exposing framework and insulation.

This home remained like this for months and in my opinion not only was it an eyesore, it was a health and safety hazard. Children play in our streets every day and it was amazing that no inquisitive little minds tried to explore these premises and get hurt. Imagine though, trying to sell a home nearby and having prospective buyers see this in the park. Do you think that would have created a loss in value or a busted sale?

The house was finally cleared and now all that remains is an empty dirt lot. One eyesore among 12 and rising.

Behind the Wall - part 1

2009-10-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

Many hopes, dreams and hearts have been shattered behind the walls of Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park. Many of us have unwittingly placed our trust in individuals who ended up severely taking advantage of us. Many of us could never have imagined that state and local officials would allow a business to prey upon the trust of individuals as Tatum Kaplan Financial Group has. In this "Behind the Wall" series of our blog we will share some of the individual stories that have been and are still taking place in this nightmare of a park. This first story involves an attempt to sell a mobile home in our park.

This is a 2002 Golden West mobile home that I believe was purchased in park by its current owner in 2005. A few month back, he put his home up for sale due to the "ridiculous rent" in the park. The terms were to be take over payments with an approximate balance of $59,000. A few days ago I passed by his home and found these sign showing a reduced asking price of $15,000! (Double click on the pictures for a larger view.)

This is a 7 year old mobile home but still the owner has a problem selling it even for $15,000. Don't let our management fool you. This is not because of our nation's current economic situation. The problem here is that of excessive rents, deteriorating park conditions and greedy park owners.

Runnin' on Empty

2009-10-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

This is what you see when you first enter the Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park. Notice that the waterfall is now trickling slowly rather than running freely as it had in the past. Is the well running dry? Perhaps a metaphor as to what is going on behind the walls at our park.

According to my figures the park currently has 12 empty dirt lots and approximately 11 vacant mobile homes out of 188 total spaces. In my opinion, many of these empty lots and empty mobile homes are the direct result of evictions or 'walk aways' brought about by residents being priced out of their homes via uncontrollable rents and the unconscionable terms of the park's leasing contract. Is all this now coming back to bite the Tatum Kaplan gang in the butt??? Maybe a little bit.

OK...in our park, the rents range from approximately $600.00 a month to $1300.00+ a month. The median rent in our park would then be $950.00. Since we have 23 lots homes that are not collecting rent at the present time then the park is not collecting approximately $21,850.00 in revenues each month. That would be approximately $260,000.00 a year of lost revenues due to Tatum Kaplan's exorbitant rents.

I chose to use median rents rather than average rents because I don't have the actual rents charged for each space but if we calculate the above using a low guesstimate of what the average rent might be then this would be what we find. Lets guesstimate that the average allowable rents at this time for the 23 empty spaces would be $800.00 per month. Then $800.00 X 23 vacant spaces would be $18,400.00. The annual loss would be $220,800.00. Still, with the low estimate, that is a considerable chunk of change.

Jeffrey Kaplan recently wrote a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In his letter, Kaplan cites a 21 year old article that states that "land-lease parks represents over 4% of California's housing stock and...is clearly one of the most efficient forms of housing when measured by the cost per square foot and the quality of shelter." ("Legal-Economic Analysis of Rent Controls in the Mobile Hom Context: Placement Values and Vacancy Decontrol" Hirsch and Hirsch) Kaplan then adds, "Yet, this market is currently underserved by lenders at all levels--from the park owners who are unable to refinance their existing loans to developers who would build more affordable housing spaces to potential new tenants who wish to buy new and used mobilehomes. Of course, I believe what Kaplan is getting at here is to have the government free up more money so it can go into his own wallet. It is my belief that not much ink flows from Jeffrey Kaplan's pen that does not serve to support his own greedy self-interest. The problem with Tatum and Kaplan owned parks is not that loans are not available for refinancing or the purchase of new and used mobilehomes. It is my opinion that the problem with Tatum Kaplan owned parks reaches back much further than this nation's current economic situation and the core of this problem is that no one now wants to buy into one of their parks because the word is out...the rents are too high, the conditions in their parks are deteriorating and the owners and management cannot be trusted. It's that simple!

Rapacious Rats

2009-10-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hello friends. Good news! Once again I am as right as rain and ready to roll with rebellious rants regarding those rapacious rats relentlessly robbing residents with ridiculous rents and no remorse. After an unexpected lengthy respite my doctor finally signed my papers allowing me to return home from the asylum and I am excited about getting back to it so let's get it on!!!

I see that during my absence, my designated bloggers fell a bit short of my high expectations however, they have done a lot of research that will provide me with much to blog about. I am looking forward to your visits, comments and e-mails but remember that I am not here to provide legal advice and I will make no attempt to do so. The information/documentation I share here is truthful and accurate to the best of my knowledge and the statements I make regarding this documentation are my opinions. Read, investigate and then you be the judge. When you review the material on this blog, I am sure you will be convinced that there is something terribly wrong with what is going on in the Tatum Kaplan owned mobile home parks.

What others are saying about Tatum-Kaplan and Mobile Community Management (part 2)

2009-02-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

From Yahoo city guide

08/21/2007

Del Prado Mobile Park is a JOKE. They have park managers who are ignorant. DOn't move into any of the Del Prado Moblie Parks. You have been warned. They replace park mangers like i change my son's diapers.
They are very shady. Del Prado has one of the highest lot rents in OC. Some tenants are paying $1,500.00 a month for rent.
They raise your RENT 10% EVERY YEAR.....

Swan Lake Reviews found as of January 28, 2009

hey I was a owner there for 3 yrs it was a drug haven for meth and I seen a lot of good kids turned into dope fiends with gangs and dealers roaming freely with a security team who would hang out with them, if they did a better job with security and sherrif comunications and maintnence it would be a lovely place to live it is a awsom park

In Mira Loma, Kaplan and Tatum were accused of operating a ‘slumlike’ mobile home park.

“…more than 100 residents at Swan Lake have accused the partners in court of allowing their property to deteriorate. Park residents contend… that owners and managers neglected the Swan Lake electrical system, which caused blackouts."

“They also said the park had an inadequate septic system that allowed raw sewage to back up into homes…”

December 02, 2008

Google search Kaplan + Tatum + mobile +home and you will learn the truth about the owners of swan lake. they own almost 20 parks in california and almost every single one has higher than average space rent, lower than average maintenance, and lots of empty homes and lots. They treat people like scum and even sued the estate of a dead man for back rent. A deaf woman was raped in Swan Lake a couple of years ago but because she literally has no voice, no one knows and nothing has been done. Anyone can walk into that park and commit any sort of crime against any of its residents and no one cares. I do not know who you idiots are posting in defense of the place but you really have no clue. Swan Lake is one of the slummiest mobile home parks in So Cal.

October 14, 2008 by

cars are stolen from here a lot.

sure it looks nice when you see the gate but it is not a true gated comunity as down on the southwestern corner there is a very large area where anyone who pleases can enter at will.

just look for the big crowd of shopping carts left by the residents who just don't care.

a year or two ago someone was nearly raped near my home.

management doesn't care. they pretend to be concerned but all that matters is that you pay your space rent on time, so they do not have the hassle of having you booted.

August 03, 2007

What others are saying about Tatum-Kaplan and Mobile Community Management

2009-02-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

From the “Topix Mobile Home Living” forum:

Jun 10, 2008

My wife and I purchased a home two years ago in the Ponderosa Mobile Home Park in Escondido CA. Im just now finding out about the greedy assholes (also known as Tatum-Kaplan) that own the park and the shifty, underhanded practices they engage in. I find it hard to believe that these jack-asses have gotten away with taking advantage of the poor hard working people of this country for as long as they have. My wife and I have to sell our house because we cant afford the space rent anymore, but because of the astronomical anual increase to the rent we will most likely be taking our 2 year old daughter and 1 week old son, and walking away from the home we thought we would be raising them in. Its not right and these people need to pay. I need to know how to stop them.

Mar 24, 2008

I see that nothing has changed since I moved out of my home in Del Prado Garden Grove. It's so sad that those greedy owners don't care about anything other than getting their space rent every month. I have been out of Del Prado for 7 months now. I will never go back to an MCM managed park again!

Feb 16, 2007

7 years ago, my husband and I opted to buy a manufactured home and set up residence in the Del Prado Mobile Home park of Anaheim. The lease was reasonable and we could manage the small mortgage. What a mistake. The owners of the park and their mangement representatives have little moral judgement. Oh, they operate within the law (Anaheim
has no rent control) but they are raping people big time with 10% incrases in rents every year. Can you imagine paying $1500 -$2000 a month for a small piece of property with no home on it??? I mean we are talking about may 35 ft X 70 - 80 ft max.
My whole purpose for writing this is to get people who are considering purchasing a manufactured home to think twice, have a lawyer read the least before making any decisions. Our lease is written in another language (just kidding) had I had legal counsel I would have understood that 4%+ CPI + a little for this and a little for that would end up to be unmanageable. Our homes in this park are being devaluated because we can't sell them. One poor tenent has had her home up for two years. People are having to just leave their homes and find other residences. Someone ought to investigate. We already hired alawyer and the park is operating within the law. That's the legal law, not the law of being a morally rightious business entity. Don't move here, don't even look.

Mar 11, 2007

I agree! I live in the Garden Grove park. I have an older home, but, in very good shape. I have been trying to sell it for almost 3 years now. Everytime I have someone that is intested in it, they get scared off because of the rent. The last persone who wanted to purchase it (12/06) was told that the rent would be $1225.00 a month!
Do not buy, or sign any lease in a MCM park!

Mar 21, 2007

Del Prado Garden Grove wrote:

I am currently paying $1245.00!!!! And I started at $650 7 years ago. What a rip off. Wish we could do something but it appears that we are helpless. I can't afford to lose my but with my mortage and the lease I am paying almost $2000 a month. I may as well have bought a house.
Disgusted

From Citysearch review:

swan lake mobile home estates

04/06/2008 Posted by

the worst place you can ever imagine living in. There's dangerous people in there and everyhting looks disgusting. that whole place is a dumpster, and the employees look unprofessional and trashy. just like the place

The Emergency Rent Stabilization Program

2009-01-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

In December 2008, our park management/owners sent some of us this flyer regarding their "Emergency Rent Stabilization Program." They point out that they have "voluntarily instituted this program because of the nation's uncertain financial situation, the rising costs of living, and the effect these matters may have on our residents." They would like you to think that they are doing you a big favor but don't believe it. They are just using this sham to dupe residents into signing 20-30 additional pages of amendments to their existing lease agreements. Amendments that allow our park owners to squeeze every penny out of us that they can. Amendments that empower them and further take advantage of residents.

When you read this horse crap flyer remember this. Don't trust them! Don't believe them!

A LIST OF TATUM-KAPLAN MOBILE HOME PARKS

2008-09-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

FYI...The following is a list of mobile home parks that are owned/operated by Tatum and Kaplan. There may be more and I will post them later.
Please notify me regarding any omissions or errors and I will add or correct them ASAP.
Pueblo Del Sol Mobile Home PRK was added to our list today.

BROOKSIDE MOBILE CC
12700 ELLIOTT AVE
EL MONTE, CA 91732
Manufactured Home Spaces: 421
Operated By:
BROOKSIDE INVESTMENTS LTD
924 WESTWOOD BLVD #910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

CASA DEL LAGO MHP
2151 OLD OAKLAND RD
SAN JOSE, CA 95131
Manufactured Home Spaces: 618
Operated By
SAN JOSE INVESTMENTS, LTD
924 WESTWOOD BLVD STE 910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

DEL PRADO ANAHEIM
1616 S EUCLID AVE
ANAHEIM, CA 92803
Manufactured Home Spaces: 130
Operated By:
DEL PRADO MOBILE HOME PARK
924 WESTWOOD BLVD #910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

DEL PRADO MOBILE HOME PARK
8200 BOLSA AVE
MIDWAY CITY, CA 92655
Manufactured Home Spaces: 189
Operated By:
MOBILE HOME PARK-BOLSA L P
924 WESTWOOD BLVD #910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

LAKE CADENA MHP
2851 S LA CADENA DR
COLTON, CA 92324
Manufactured Home Spaces: 281
Operated By:
LAKE CADENA INVESTMENTS LTD
924 WESTWOOD BLVD #910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

LAMPLIGHTER MH PARK
4201 N FIRST ST
SAN JOSE, CA 95134
Manufactured Home Spaces: 265
Operated By
TATUM-KAPLAN FINANCIAL GROUP
924 WESTWOOD BLVD STE 910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

ORANGE MOBILE HOME PARK
1931 E MEATS AVENUE
ORANGE, CA 92865
Manufactured Home Spaces: 179
Operated By
ORANGEWOOD INVEST. L P
924 WESTWOOD BLVD #910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

PARK TERRACE
4080 W FIRST ST
SANTA ANA, CA 92703
Manufactured Home Spaces: 191
Operated By
PARK CONTEMPO LTD
924 WESTWOOD BLVD #910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

PLAZA MOBILE ESTATES
3101 S FAIRVIEW ST
SANTA ANA, CA 92704
Manufactured Home Spaces: 237
Operated By
MHP-PLAZA MOBILE LLC
924 WESTWOOD BLVD #910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

PONDEROSA MOBILE HOME PARK
1575 W VALLEY PKWY
ESCONDIDO, CA 92029
Manufactured Home Spaces: 104
Operated By:
PONDEROSA GROUP, L.P.
924 WESTWOOD BLVD., SUITE 910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

RANCHO FIESTA M.E.
5505 W TULARE AVE
VISALIA, CA 93277
Manufactured Home Spaces: 284
Operated By
R F GROUP, LP
924 WESTWOOD BLVD., #910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

RANCHO HERMOSO MHP
16079 YARNELL ST
SYLMAR, CA 91342
Manufactured Home Spaces: 93
Operated By
HERMOSA INVESTMENTS L P
924 WESTWOOD BLVD #910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

RANCHO MONTE VISTA
15050 MONTE VISTA AVE
CHINO HILLS, CA 91709
Manufactured Home Spaces: 226
Operated by:
CARBON CANYON LTD
924 WESTWOOD BLVD #910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

TOKAY MANOR
7908 TOKAY AVE
FONTANA, CA 92335
Manufactured Home Spaces: 140
Operated By:
JEFFREY KAPLAN
1801 E EDINGER AVE, STE 230
SANTA ANA, CA 92705

UPLAND CASCADE MHP
1350 SAN BERNARDINO
UPLAND, CA 91786
MobileHome Spaces: 187
Operated By
UPLAND CASCADE L P
924 WESTWOOD BLVD #910
LOS ANGELES, CA 90024

TERRACE VIEW MOBILE HOME ESTATES
13162 HWY 8 BUS.
EL CAJON, CA 92020
Manufactured Home Spaces: 205
Operated By:
TERRACE VIEW PARTNERS L P
13162 HWY 80
EL CAJON, CA 92020

SWAN LAKE MOBILE ESTATES
5800 HAMNER AVE
MIRA LOMA, CA 91752
Manufactured Home Spaces: 716
Operated By:
MOBILE COMMUNITY MGMT
1801 E EDINGER SUITE 230
SANTA ANA, CA 92705

Pueblo Del Sol Mobile Home PRK
81351 Avenue 46, Indio, CA 92201
(760) 342-3099

Operated by:

Indio Investments, Inc

Jeffrey A. Kaplan 924 Westwood Bl Suite 910

Los Angeles, Ca. 90024

114 MONTH RENT INCREASE CLAUSE

2008-08-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a copy of one of the 35 pages of our 10 year rental/lease contract. Click on it to enlarge and read the bracketed part. This is the clause that allowed our park to inform a resident that his rent would increase by approximately $355.00 per month. I have been informed that his rent was $895.00 per month and would be increasing to around $1250.00 per month. If this is correct, by reading the above clause means at least one resident is paying over $1250.00 per month lot space here.

Well here's the good news. (tic) The management has recognized his hardship and told him they would reduce his rent to $800.00 per month if he would sign another 10 year lease agreement. He did. What a sad predicament for any of us to be in.

Our beloved sign is gone...

2008-08-02T12:47:00.001-07:00

Our sign that we have been viewing for years is now gone??? What happened to it??? Could it be the park management now realizes that it's not needed any longer since we aren't able to sell our homes due to the outrageously high lot rents here?

One man's story, is another man's shame...

2008-06-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

My wife and I went to the market Saturday and when we returned she mentioned to me how much she loves our home. As we walked in the door she then said almost in a whisper, "I hope we don't lose our home." This made me think about how hard we have worked, how much we have sacrificed to get this place. It made me think about how every year we have to pay more and more just to stay here. Her sad whisper made me think that although we don't have a whole lot, what we do have in this home is just as important to us as any rich man's mansion is to him.

I picked up my daughter and gave her a hug thinking I was hiding my pain. I tried to think of some words that might comfort my wife. I could find none.

Rumors were going around the park this weekend about another eviction and letters threatening legal action being sent to some residents by Mobile Community Management.

62%-38%

2008-06-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

Prop. 98 was voted down by voters on Tuesday.

62% no...38% yes.

Ouch! That had to have hurt.

Words of wisdom from Jeffrey A. Kaplan???

2008-05-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

"For most people, their house is the most valuable asset they have and in this time of recession, the last thing people need is an additional economic loss in their house..." (Jeffrey A. Kaplan from a Bel-Air Association Blog post, January 27 , 2008)

I whole-heartedly agree with Jeffrey in this quote even though he was addressing an entirely different situation. Why should this statement be valid only to Jeffrey Kaplan's argument regarding opposition to the mansionization ordinance in Bel-Air and not valid to our argument regarding opposition to Prop. 98. Seems a bit hypocritical to me.

In our case, if Proposition 98 is passed by voters this June then additional economic losses will be had by all California mobile home owners. This is why it is so extremely important that we get the word out to everyone we know to VOTE NO ON PROP. 98! Call or write everyone you know and explain how devastating the passage of this proposition will be for 1000's of mobile home owners and apartment dwellers in California. Speak with your relatives...inform them of this 'Hidden Agenda' scheme and what it could do to you. You can make a difference...just tell them to VOTE NO ON PROP. 98!

Thanks for the quote Jeffrey, I couldn't have said it better myself. Let's do lunch.

For your reading pleasure....

2008-04-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

Here's an article that you might find interesting. When reading it keep in mind that both research and practical experience have shown that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

C.A. Upholds Penalties for Evading Mobile Home Rent Control

and....

Defendants Pay Landmark Judgment in Mobile Home Rent Control Case; Tenants Receiving Over $960,000

Pro Prop 98 Propaganda

2008-04-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

I heard a pro Proposition 98 radio advertisement last Friday and it really made me want to puke. It began with children talking about how they were afraid that government was going to take away their schools, parks and homes or something to that effect. Throughout the whole advertisement, there was not one mention of doing away with rent control although this is one of its main objectives.

It seems that Prop. 98 proponents now need to hide their true agenda behind children. They need to cloud the voters vision of what their proposition is really about. They are counting on voters to not be fully informed by taking the time to read their ballots. They are counting on voters not to understand that the approval of Proposition 98 would do away with rent control.

Does this method sound at all familiar to you? Am I the only one who sees the similarities between the presentation of this ballot measure to the public and the manner in which our long term leases were presented to us? IMHO, they are very similar.

Swan Lake Blog

2008-04-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

A new blog has started up for Swan Lake Mobile Estates, another Tatum-Kaplan owned park. It's called "Muckraker: The Swan Lake Mobile Estates Blog" and its admin sent me the following pictures:

Give Swan Lake a visit. I'm looking forward to good info from them.

This makes three Tatum-Kaplan owned parks with three separate blogs! Keep it up residents. Lets get more blogs from different parks.

By the way, can you find any spelling errors in these signs? Good job MCM. (LOL)

Welcome.....

2008-04-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome to "The Mobile Home Park Lease Alert." We have compiled a wealth of information for you to look at here regarding Tatum-Kaplan Financial, Mobile Community Management, rent control, long term leases etc.

There is something here for everyone.

If you are under rent control check our links and archives for information about how Tatum-Kaplan have and continue to fight against rent control. They want rent control abolished and if they succeed, this will only fatten their wallets even more and continue to drive us to Tent City. No on Prop. 98

If you signed a long term lease check our links and archives to see how the wool may have been pulled over your eyes. Simply handing a prospective tenant volumes of material to read and sign in an hour or less doesn't mean they are "better informed." Did you feel better informed when you signed your lease or were you confused by the volumes of paper placed before you and believed you were protected by rent control? If anyone signing a long term lease was fully informed they would have realized that their rent could more than double with an annual 9-10% increase within the term of that lease. So if you were fully informed, why did you sign a long term lease and give up your protection under rent control with a 3% annual increase?

If you are in any Tatum-Kaplan owned park look for the similarities of what has gone on for years in their parks and your park in our archives and links.

If your park is managed by Mobile Community Management check our archives to see an example of their work.

If you wish to leave a comment you are able to do so anonymously. I will not know who you are and readers will not know who you are. If you wish to e-mail me I will not reveal your identity and the subject of the e-mail will remain confidential unless you express that it is ok for me to post.

Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park will be having a Home Owners Association meeting on May 1, 2008 at 7:00pm. It's time for you to show up and get involved. It's time for us to organize committees and focus on things that need to be done rather than just bitch and moan about them.

Guess who is crying "unfair?" UPDATE

2008-04-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Guess who made the following quotes in a letter posted on a blog on January 28, 2008?

"I live in Bel Air (am a member of the Bel-Air Assn and a lawyer and CPA)...."

"My major objection to the content and implementation of the Proposal is that it is not fair."

"It is not fair that the City has not advised homeowners that for many properties the reduction in building opportunity will be more than 50%..."

"It is not fair that the City has not advised homeowners (EVEN NOW) of any appraisal or broker analysis of the likely reduction in value many properties will suffer. For most people, their house is the most valuable asset they have and in this time of recession, the last thing people need is an additional economic loss in their house..."

"It is not fair that one part of the City (say Westwood) should "dictate" the zoning restrictions on another part of the City, like Brentwood."

Notice how often "it is not fair" is used in his blog entry.

And the final quote I like is, "My understanding from qualified brokers and appraisers is that it would be likely that values could drop 10-15% (or for many L.A. properties, $100,000+)." It seems to me we could use a value analysis in our park as well. How much did the value of our homes drop the day we signed or assumed long term leases?

Well have you guessed who is saying that things just aren't fair in his neighborhood? Go here and read what this is all about.

Guess who is crying "it is not fair?"

2008-04-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

Go here to read an interesting letter that was written by someone very close to us.

Notice how many times he says "it is not fair" when it comes to him possibly losing 10-15% of his property value. How much did the value of our homes drop the day we signed or assumed long term leases?

There's a word for this type of behavior but I will bite my tongue.

Homeowners Association Meeting?

2008-04-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

I received an e-mail today asking me if we were going to have an HOA meeting. I don't know, I am not on the board and not privy to any plans to have a meeting. Maybe a board member would like to post a comment here about when we might have a meeting.

FOR ALL TO SEE.....

2008-04-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

I have posted the 'article' here that appeared on page 4 of this month's Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park Magazine.

"COURT ORDERS TENANT TO PAY MOBILEHOME PARK $100,000 IN ATTORNEYS' FEES"

If you click on the image you can read the entire page.

I contacted the magazine and they informed me that our park magazine editor is Mobile Community Management Co (Royleen Johnson). (MCM...feel free to correct me or update me if I am wrong.)

Now I'm not saying that the information in this 'article' is untrue. However, I am of the opinion that the reason it has been presented to readers in this manner is to intimidate and threaten anyone who considers legal action against Tatum-Kaplan Financial and their henchlings. Note again in the last paragraph, "This harmful advice could put the tenant's personal well-being and financial well-being at risk."

I understand what they mean by 'financial well-being' being at risk, but what is meant by 'personal well-being' in this sentence?

So is this a "non-threatening reminder to residents?"
Read the 'article' and you be the judge.

"COURT ORDERS TENANT TO PAY MOBILEHOME PARK $100,000 IN ATTORNEYS' FEES"

2008-03-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

O.K. neighbors. Check out page 4 of this month's Upland Cascade Mobile Home Park Magazine.

"COURT ORDERS TENANT TO PAY MOBILEHOME PARK $100,000 IN ATTORNEYS' FEES"

In my opinion, this is nothing more than an editorial attempting to portray a factual article in order to make some of us cower like frightened mice. There are no names mentioned in the editorial other than it's apparent author, Diane Medina, Esq. and Mobile Community Management Company. No dates or locations (other than California) are cited. This editorial doesn't even mention what court ordered the tenant to pay $100,000 or which mobilehome park was involved.

So did Mobile Home Park Magazine research and write this editorial. In my opinion, probably not. As per the magazine's editorial policies "Each magazine must have an editor. The Editor takes responsibility for gathering information and sending it to us in a form they want." So who is our park's editor?

You may go here to read the Mobile Home Park Magazine's editorial policies.

Another paragraph from these policies states, "For Management, the magazines offers a way to communicate with all park residents at the same time, saving time and money. The magazine also acts as a non-threatening reminder to residents of existing or potential problems within the community."

The last paragraph of the "Court Orders Tenant to Pay..." editorial states, "Tenants should educate themselves first as to possible consequences and adverse effects when filing a lawsuit or joining in on a lawsuit against a mobilehome park owner. Advice given by a well-meaning friend or neighbor, or even an attorney, may not be the right advice. This harmful advice could put the tenant's personal well-being and financial well-being at risk."

So if any resident at Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park ever considers a lawsuit against it's management should they interpret this editorial as A NON-THREATENING REMINDER?

Landlords Funding Prop. 98 Have History of Mistreating Tenants

2008-03-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

Now who do you suppose this article could be about? Follow the link for a not so big surprise.
Landlords Funding Prop. 98 Have History of Mistreating Tenants

MCM Flyer

2008-03-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

On March 26th Mobile Community Management Co issued a flyer to all Upland Cascade residents regarding the anonymous flyer mailed to residents in February that alleged "lies, deceit, and trickery" involving long term leases. Of course, MCM states that "nothing could be further from the truth" in the anonymous flyer. The MCM flyer then goes on to describe the samples, forms. statements, supplements etc. that are provided to homeowners to help them make "an informed choice as to what type of lease to select."

We should all feel so much better now after reading MCM's flyer. In this flyer, they have shown us that they are the pillars of our community and the paragon of fair business practice in a "well-regulated industry."Upland Cascades owners and their agents are veritable saints and we should be able to sleep well tonight knowing we are now cradled safely in their protective arms.

Sleep well, neighbors.
*TIC*

The Loophole

2008-03-20T23:48:00.000-07:00

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.”

THANK YOU!!!

2008-03-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank those of you who have posted and/or e-mailed information, advice and encouragement. I particularly enjoy looking at information that I have missed in my research regarding the Tatum/Kaplan operations. Please keep it coming!!!

I would also like to remind you that I have configured this blog so that any comments you make are made anonymously and if you ever send me information via e-mail your personal information will remain confidential unless you request otherwise.

Contact Us

Know your park owners...

2008-03-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

Jeffrey A. Kaplan
-----------------------------------------------
The following excerpts are from a 1996 L.A. Times article:

After studying accounting at USC and earning a law degree at UC Berkeley, Kaplan went to work in Los Angeles as a real estate lawyer in the early 1970s. But soon, after getting acquainted with the mobile home business, he and Tatum began acquiring parks in Southern California and Santa Clara County.

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.

No matter how well business was going, however, Kaplan never was willing to stand pat. Impatient with the political moderates within the dominant lobbying group for California park owners--the Western Mobilehome Parkowners Assn.--Kaplan founded a hard-line breakaway group, the California Mobilehome Parkowners' Alliance, in 1988.

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."

----------------------------------------------
As of 2005....

Jeffrey Kaplan and Thomas T.Tatum, the sponsors, have a

combined 50-plus years of real estate experience.

They currently own 20 manufactured housing communities

throughout California totaling 4,846 pads.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT. The property manager of the Casa
Del Lago Mobile Home Park is Mobile Community Management,
a subsidiary of Tatum-Kaplan Financial Group and
an affiliate of the borrower.



More to come.

Do we still have a Home Owners Association?

2008-03-03T07:52:00.000-08:00

We haven't had a meeting since November(?). The HOA needs to meet a little more often than that in my humble opinion. And....at the next meeting they need to start putting in place committees that will get some things done around here. It's time for us to stop whining about our own individual problems and band together to begin some productive action.

Proposition 98

2008-03-02T18:07:00.000-08:00

If you are not aware of Proposition 98, "The California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act" you need to click on this link and read what it will do if it is enacted.

Another link with great information and references regarding the possible impact of Prop. 98.

And..... an in depth analysis of the potential effect of Prop. 98.

"The California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act" seeks this objective:
"Government may not set the price at which property owners sell or lease their property."
Since rent control is a principle provision in the measure and it is not summarized in the title as required by law, a law suit was recently filed to correct this.

Double-Whoa!!! It's back!

2008-02-25T14:26:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-23T09:55:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-22T23:47:00.000-08:00

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..................

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???

2008-02-22T23:25:00.000-08:00

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

Things to do...

2008-02-21T09:56:00.000-08:00

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.....

2008-02-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

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???

2008-02-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-02-13T10:02:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-12T09:48:00.001-08:00

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

2008-02-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

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