Avalon Mobile Home Residents Avoid Rent Hikes
Residents at the Avalon Mobile Home Park on Castro Valley Boulevard have beaten big, proposed rent hikes for February 1 that could have forced them out of their homes.
Back in December, the park’s manager distributed a letter calling off the rent increases that had been announced. The same day, the park owner, Daniel Weisfield, told county Supervisor David Haubert the rent increases were canceled.
At the Alameda County Board of Supervisors’ meeting on January 23, the Board reviewed the mobile home rent stabilization ordinance that limits annual rent increases to 4 percent. Weisfield of Three Pillars Communities argued that many of the units were recreational vehicles (RVs) and not mobile homes covered by the ordinance. The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) considers an RV a mobile home if it’s 400 square feet or less and is fixed to the ground — so the owner doesn’t have to register it as a vehicle. The supervisors voted 5-0 to add that definition to the current ordinance. They will need to vote on it again at a later meeting, most likely on February 6, to make the addition official.
While the Board of Supervisors agreed with tenants last week, they did not vote for a countywide moratorium on mobile home rent increases beyond 4 percent. The Supervisors are still waiting on Housing and Community Development staff to update the ordinance with potentially more mobile home protections.
Avalon residents are pursuing further protections for Castro Valley residents with the Municipal Advisory Committee (MAC), resident Tara Clancy told the Forum. They particularly want to guard against sudden sales of mobile home parks with the intent of closing them, with no notice given to the county or residents.
On January 13, Avalon residents held a “teach-in” at the Castro Valley library to share with the residents of all 19 mobile home parks in the unincorporated areas about their protections under law and how to fight abuses.
“There are about 600 mobile home spaces in the unincorporated areas, and we got 52 people to that meeting,” Clancy said. “We literally went door-to-door, canvassing in the rain, to invite them personally.”
There is an Alameda County ordinance for people in unincorporated areas, ordinances in several cities including San Leandro, and a state law that protects people whether they live in a city or not, Clancy said.
Violations of the county ordinance can be reported to the Housing and Community Development Department at 510-670-6417 or HCDAdmin@acgov.org.
Groups like Bay Area Legal Aid and Centro Legal de la Raza offer services for mobile home residents including those facing evictions. Other advocacy groups, such as the statewide Golden State Manufactured Home Owners League (GSMHOL) and the local group My Eden Voice, also offer support for mobile home residents.
My Eden Voice can be reached at www.myedenvoice.org. GSMHOL can be reached at www.gsmol.org or by calling 800-888-1727. Centro Legal de la Raza can be contacted at 510-437-1554 or info@centrolegal.org. Bay Area Legal Aid’s Legal Advice Hotline is at 510-250-5270.