Gimme Shelter: Mobile home parks in disrepair

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spk_0 Gimme Shelter is supported by the James Irvine Foundation, committed to a California where all low-income

spk_0 workers have the power to advance economically.

spk_0 Buy a house in Buenos Aires and you have a collection of

spk_0 uh, of Carpinchos in your backyard. We will

spk_0 absolutely make time to talk to you again.

spk_0 Welcome everyone to Gimme Shelter, the California Housing Crisis podcast.

spk_0 I am Liam Dillon, housing affordability reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

spk_0 And I'm Manuel Etollias and I write about housing and homelessness at Calmatters.

spk_0 And today is some of you might already be able to tell because we've switched up who was doing the intro.

spk_0 We have a very special episode. It is exciting but also sad because we're going to be saying,

spk_0 goodbye to my co-host of nearly two years as she goes on a new journey.

spk_0 That's right Liam. After nearly four years reporting on different issues relating to poverty,

spk_0 and inequality in California, including housing for the last two years,

spk_0 and many, many more living in the United States, I will be moving home to my native Buenos Aires,

spk_0 Argentina in April. This is a huge move for me, inspired mostly by my family, almost all of whom are in Argentina.

spk_0 And I can't say too much more right now, but I will continue to do journalism over there.

spk_0 Well, I'm going to have more to say about you and the excellent work that you've done on this

spk_0 podcast and in general later on in the episode, but it's really tough for me to express how much

spk_0 I'm personally going to miss doing this with you and miss spending time with you mostly virtually,

spk_0 but nevertheless. And I can't help but wonder if really after Argentina won the World Cup,

spk_0 which is a foregone conclusion. You know what I mean? You're exactly right. I mean,

spk_0 I wouldn't blame you for blaming messy for this.

spk_0 As your last contribution to the show, you're going to be sharing a very important project that you

spk_0 just finished up earlier this week, talking about an investigation on mobile home parks

spk_0 that I would definitely recommend all of our listeners check out,

spk_0 publish right now on CalMatters.org.

spk_0 Yeah. So Liam, let's get into the heart of the story. I want to start by taking you straight

spk_0 to a mobile home park. I've been reporting on for several months now. It's called Stockton Park

spk_0 Village and it's on the outskirts of Stockton about an hour south of Sacramento in California Central

spk_0 Valley. Here's a picture of that park from the first time I visited it this past November.

spk_0 Can you describe what you see here to our listeners? So I'm looking at this photo. There's trash

spk_0 everywhere. I'm seeing a huge pile of garbage, soiled mattresses, and I guess it's around what's

spk_0 supposed to be a playground area, but really looks mostly like a dumping ground.

spk_0 So that swing set belongs to an 87 year old man named Bobby Riley. He bought it for his seven year

spk_0 old granddaughter Brooke. He loves when she comes over to visit and wanted her to have a fun place to

spk_0 play when she came over. And here's Bobby. You can see what's happening right here with a playground.

spk_0 This used to be all clean. It was really nice. That thing right here. That's the toy thing. If the kids,

spk_0 I left that there. So if kids do come around, my granddaughter's here right now. It's for you to

spk_0 got this land. But I actually take it out of here because now the garbage has reached it.

spk_0 And nobody wants their kids after you're playing in the garbage.

spk_0 The trash Bobby is talking about started to pile up around 2019. And the problems got even worse

spk_0 sometime in 2020 when the park owners abandoned the property and the manager died,

spk_0 opening it up to squatters and illegal dumping. And even worse, surfacing raw sewage that started to

spk_0 pull after the septic system failed. The problem lingered for nearly four years. And during the worst

spk_0 of it in early 2021, Bobby told me he could even smell the liquid that surrounded his home through

spk_0 his walls for months on end. She just said everywhere. Excuse me, but that's what it was. Man, these

spk_0 sound really horrific conditions. It's tough to just think about living in this way. Manuela,

spk_0 you know, someone pushing 90 and dealing with all of this stuff. So how did Bobby get to be living

spk_0 in this situation? So the root of the issue here is that the state of California has given its

spk_0 housing agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development or HCD, limited powers to

spk_0 intervene when conditions at mobile home parks get this bad. Because believe it or not, the department,

spk_0 which oversees conditions at mobile home parks across the state, has known about this park and

spk_0 visited countless times starting in 2018. Wow. So the state has known about what this park has been

spk_0 like for five years now, but they haven't done anything about it. Well, we'll get into what they

spk_0 didn't do later. But clearly their intervention wasn't enough to fix the problems. So what options

spk_0 were they working with? So in cases like this, there are essentially three options under what's

spk_0 called the Mobile Home Parks Act. That's the law that governs mobile home parks in the state.

spk_0 First, they can take away the park owner's ability to collect rent from residents. Second, with

spk_0 the state's permission, the city or county can take over and sue the park owners. And third,

spk_0 they can shut down the park altogether. Okay, so that actually does sound like they have some options.

spk_0 You do. The problem is these parks are some of the state's last and biggest stocks of affordable housing.

spk_0 So it's a catch 22. Shut down problematic parks, that third option and displaced residents who are

spk_0 often one step away from living in their cars or use enforcement powers sparingly as health and

spk_0 safety margins use faster. You know, what you're talking about here is so striking and familiar and

spk_0 frankly sad whenever I've reported on bad living conditions or slum housing over the years,

spk_0 I always hear the same argument. It's like, well, if we as a city or the state or whomever shut down

spk_0 a property because of rampant road infestations or faulty plumbering or wiring or things like that,

spk_0 then we're worried that the conditions existing residents face may end up being worse than what

spk_0 they're living in right now. Yeah, that is exactly what I heard over and over again. And one of the

spk_0 reasons that I was excited to share this reporting with you because I feel like you've seen this happen

spk_0 across the state over many many years. And it was especially interesting to see that dynamic play

spk_0 out here where you literally had a clash between the existing mobile home residents and people moving

spk_0 in who were unhoused. So you're going to tell us a little more about what the state's been doing

spk_0 is it tries to strike that balance between keeping mobile home parks open because they are, you know,

spk_0 in fact, a crucial source of affordable housing, kind of last resort housing, while also at the same

spk_0 time making sure that conditions of the park are actually livable. Okay, so let's pull back a little

spk_0 bit. What can you tell us about the broader mobile home population across the state? Are there

spk_0 characteristics or statistics that many residents share? So as I said, I've been working on this

spk_0 investigation for going on five months. So I have lots of stats more than one and a half million

spk_0 people live in mobile homes across the state. And most of those are in mobile home communities,

spk_0 these parks that can range from a couple to more than a thousand lots. The park that Bobby Riley

spk_0 lives in is 34 lots. Their residents are poor and older than the average renter and increasingly

spk_0 Latino. So we've referenced this a little bit already, but when we talk about mobile homes being

spk_0 a crucial stock of affordable housing in California, what type of kind of rents and things like that

spk_0 are we talking about? As far as recurring expenses go, leasing a lot at these mobile home parks is

spk_0 much less expensive than renting. When Bobby Riley moved into his park, he was paying $370

spk_0 a month, less than 400. A one bedroom apartment in Stockton now costs about 1300 a month. And

spk_0 Stockton is considerably cheaper than many other cities in California. Yeah, indeed, and even there,

spk_0 that's quite a difference. It absolutely is. And these savings are even more important when you're

spk_0 a senior and you're on a fixed income like Riley is. Also, as I mentioned, a lot of elderly people

spk_0 live in these parks. Many are specifically 55 plus. And this is really the end of the line for them

spk_0 given the prohibitive cost of housing in the state. Bobby was relieved to get his spot in the park

spk_0 when he moved in in 2018. He was ready to live out his days in peace watching Westerns and

spk_0 spending time with his family, especially his granddaughter whose playset you just described.

spk_0 That's why it was so disappointing and exhausting to have to deals with issues like pools of

spk_0 raw sewage for months on end. Yeah, one or two, can you explain a little more about what the

spk_0 relationship is with people renting the piece of land to help people understand a little better

spk_0 how these arrangements works for Bobby Riley and how they sort of typically work in these parks.

spk_0 So Bobby owns the home. His daughter bought it for him four years ago in the foothills of the

spk_0 Syras. And he moved it into the park where he then rents the lot. And that's the arrangement most

spk_0 mobile homeowners have. They own the home, but they rent the land, which leads to some of these

spk_0 much more precarious living situations than a regular homeowner or a renter.

spk_0 I think that raises a question not just for Bobby's situation, but for others who might be living in

spk_0 sort of difficult circumstances. If people own their actual trailer, why don't they just find a

spk_0 different park to live in when they're dealing with conditions that are this bad? Yeah, it's a really

spk_0 valid question. And it's what I kept wondering about Bobby when the sewer problems started getting

spk_0 really bad in 2021. He said he wanted to up and move. What I found out is it would cost thousands

spk_0 of dollars to tow his trailer. And because his home is so old, it could even break apart during

spk_0 that move. That's the case for a lot of residents in these older parks. And especially these lower

spk_0 income folks that we're talking about. But even in the best case scenario that he was able to

spk_0 afford that move, there are very few vacancies at parks across the state. And again, the age of

spk_0 Bobby's trailer is an issue here. The problem is this is an older trailer. Your nice trailer court

spk_0 don't want to sit there. All right, let's broaden this out a little bit. How common are the

spk_0 issues that Bobby's facing now in mobile home parks across the state? So Bobby's park represents

spk_0 some of the worst of the worst in terms of conditions at mobile home parks in the state. The way I

spk_0 actually found his park was I asked for complaints coming from parks all over the state in the recent

spk_0 years. And his park was at the top with some of the most complaints. It was about 45 complaints

spk_0 with allegations of these different health and safety issues. It's one of about 40 parks in

spk_0 California that have had their licenses suspended by the state housing department, which means that

spk_0 the park owner can't collect rents, but residents can still continue to live there.

spk_0 To put that in perspective, there's just about 4,500 mobile home parks in California. So a pretty

spk_0 small percentage. And there's even other kinds of parks like RV parks and unlicensed parks,

spk_0 but today we're just focusing on these mobile home parks. Yeah, so again, 40 out of 4,500

spk_0 doesn't actually sound like it's that bad. I know. In that context, it may seem like this isn't

spk_0 a big deal, but let me explain why these numbers don't paint a full picture of the situation.

spk_0 By law, the state only has to inspect 5% of all its parks, those 4,500 that I mentioned every year,

spk_0 which amounts to about just under 200 parks a year. That means Liam that a park can go 20 years

spk_0 without getting a full inspection. Okay, so like no one may be going to these parks for

spk_0 like maybe even two decades. Yes, and no. In 2020, the state auditor assessed mobile home park

spk_0 inspections across the state because we're in this deep housing shortage and they recognize that

spk_0 these parks provide some of the cheapest housing to flow income folks. They found that in the

spk_0 previous decade between 2010 and 2019, inspectors did these park wide inspections in just under half

spk_0 of parks, 45%, but it actually did visit most remaining parks to address individual complaints

spk_0 and approved construction permits. However, during these complaint inspections and these

spk_0 permit approvals, the state isn't required to do a full inspection, only respond to the problem

spk_0 they were called out to see. You might have a park with 1,500 spots and the inspectors only going

spk_0 out to check out one single spot. Right, and if I'm the inspector checking out that spot and I'm

spk_0 here to look at their report permit, for instance, I see sewage pulling around someone's home next door

spk_0 under these rules or guidelines. I wouldn't have to report that leak. Technically no. You can write it

spk_0 up, but you're not necessarily required to when you go out to do a complaint inspection or

spk_0 permit approval. You only go out to do what you were called out to do. Yeah, so I can definitely see

spk_0 the gaps here. It's important to say that 330 parks got no visits at all, so not even that

spk_0 porch inspection. And these proactive inspections matter because numerous studies have shown that these

spk_0 parks are much more vulnerable to climate change phenomena like flooding, like we've been having,

spk_0 and wildfires than other homes. All the time reporting a story, I would get Google alerts and

spk_0 find parks that single homes that had had electrical fires constantly. The vast majority of these

spk_0 homes were built before 1976 when the federal government first came up with standards for these homes.

spk_0 We're not really any before that. So these aging parks need regular maintenance inspections.

spk_0 Here's how Jerry Ryu, a longtime policy consultant, put it. He's going to use the acronym HCD,

spk_0 which is a state's housing and community development department.

spk_0 Parks that are that bad, probably you represent 50 or 60 parks in the state. But there's the next level

spk_0 that they're not quite as bad. But if they don't expect it for 10 years, how bad will they be?

spk_0 And I think most of the people won't file a complaint with HCD because they're afraid that they'll

spk_0 be thrown on the street and they have nowhere to go. That point he makes about people being afraid to

spk_0 complain is what advocates told me up and down the state. Some people don't know how to complain

spk_0 or who to complain to. Many people think it's their local code enforcement department.

spk_0 Yeah. But the biggest fear is retaliation from their landlords, the park owner, which could

spk_0 actually mean losing their home. So kind of gap upon gap of potential enforcement and inspection here.

spk_0 Let's get back to Bobby's Park. You know, you told me a lot of parks, probably issues are sitting

spk_0 unexpected. You've said Bobby's Park has had its license suspended, so clearly the state was there

spk_0 as you mentioned and did take some action in this case. Yes, they did. In part because residents

spk_0 and neighbors and county officials flooded the state agency with complaints starting mainly in

spk_0 2019 when the problems were getting bad. And the state kept coming out and finding violations

spk_0 and issuing warnings to the park owners when violations wouldn't get fixed, the state would suspend

spk_0 the owner's license, which stops them from collecting rents. But even that normally powerful action,

spk_0 because you want to get paid, didn't accomplish much here because by 2020, the owners had abandoned

spk_0 the park. But even after all of this, the state still didn't shut the park down. That's right.

spk_0 Remember Liam, the last thing the state wants to do is sacrifice more affordable housing.

spk_0 Yeah, this is exact issue. Keep coming back to. The next best thing they can do is refer the

spk_0 unfixed violations to the county, which they did at the counties behest in the summer of 2021.

spk_0 The county then sued the park owners when they failed to respond to the lawsuit. And they put the

spk_0 park into a receivership. That receiver is now in the process of selling the park to a new owner.

spk_0 But he says he hasn't had any money to do substantial repairs. Even get trash picked up for months.

spk_0 I talked about this to Zoe Merrill. She's the San Joaquin County attorney who says she's been

spk_0 asking the state to take stronger action on the park for years. What frustrates me is that we have

spk_0 asked HCD to get the policy question answered. If the Mobile Homes Park Act is putting you HCD in a

spk_0 position where you don't think we can enforce basic health and safety laws, then go to the legislature

spk_0 and figure out how do we address it? What is the right answer? Because as far as us at the county

spk_0 level, as far as we are concerned, not enforcing basic safety laws is not an option. It's not an

spk_0 option for the legal residents. It's not an option for the community. It's just not an option. And so

spk_0 we certainly don't want to take any action that makes somebody homeless. But HCD, you have created

spk_0 hostages. Okay, so that was powerful. She sort of speaks to the heart of what's going on here.

spk_0 When we started this competition, we said we're going to try to give a sense of balance that the

spk_0 state is striking between keeping this source of affordable housing available to people while also

spk_0 keeping Mobile Homes Park's livable for their residents. In the end, what is your reporting shown

spk_0 about how they're balancing those two issues? I found they're struggling to do that. The state

spk_0 recognizes that they don't have much affordable housing to offer these people and they want to be

spk_0 careful not to displace them. Bobby himself was on multiple wait lists for affordable housing. And

spk_0 you know, like many people that we talk to just aren't able to get off that list for years. The

spk_0 state also has not historically been able to offer money to owners directly to make repairs. And

spk_0 they're really wary of doing that as well. And you know, putting that taxpayer money, which they

spk_0 have had money to make repairs to Mobile Homes Park's, but it's really hard to access and it's

spk_0 mostly through resident ownership models. And lawmakers told me that's changing this year with

spk_0 $100 million in grant and loan funding to make some of those repairs, even some of which will be

spk_0 available to owners as long as they keep rents cheap. But at the end of the day, yeah, keeping people

spk_0 housed still seems to be the top priority. And you know, the good is the enemy of the perfect.

spk_0 Something that really crystallized for me how the state sees Stockton Park Village,

spk_0 Bobby Riley's Mobile Home Park, as they said, it's a shining example of a system working

spk_0 according to plan. That was a direct quote from the housing department's director of codes and

spk_0 standards, CalCrow's. It's tough to imagine calling a place where people have lived for years. If

spk_0 we're all sewage surrounding them, a shining example of a system working, but I guess here we are.

spk_0 Yeah, despite all the challenges, residents of face, the back and forth with the county, everything,

spk_0 the state sees the fact that the park has stayed open as a victory. And ultimately, it is now on the path

spk_0 to getting a new owner who is supposed to make all of those repairs and bring it back up to code.

spk_0 That is a victory compared with shutting down that park and displacing these residents forever.

spk_0 Crow said the state was consistently responsive and exhausted its enforcement capabilities at the park.

spk_0 Tell us about Bobby Riley. Where did things stand for him now?

spk_0 So in January, the county went out and cleared all of the squatters and all of the garbage,

spk_0 piles and piles of garbage, which at one point were eight feet tall, resulting in what state

spk_0 officials told me is a night and day difference. That's some of what Crow's is referring to in that quote.

spk_0 However, the lawyers representing the tenants told me that during that process, the park's water got

spk_0 shut off. So we marial the county attorney we just heard from seconds ago also told me the electrical

spk_0 panel for the park was ironically stolen the day after the sheriff's cleanup.

spk_0 So Bobby has been depending on a generator through this record cold winter.

spk_0 On my last visit, there were dishes piled in a sink waiting to be washed with a stock of

spk_0 jugs of water. And he was trying to keep warm with his black Reebok sweatshirt and a generator.

spk_0 I'm still here, but right now I have no water. I have to buy cooking water, everything I do,

spk_0 I have to buy it. I can't get water to bathe in. I can't shower. No electricity. That's why I had to go

spk_0 buy a generator. Those things aren't cheap. Those either of that, you know, are free to do that.

spk_0 Man, that's something. Well, thank you, Manuela, for introducing us to Bobby and writing through

spk_0 this story, which we write a lot about housing issues and not just us, but many reporters around

spk_0 the state and there's very little reporting on mobile home parks, especially comprehensive

spk_0 stories like this. And so this is quite a service that you've added to helping us understand

spk_0 housing problems at all levels for folks in the state and all across the state. And I guess

spk_0 this sort of the sad part of that we're coming to the end of this episode, which means that we're

spk_0 coming to the end of our time together. And I just really want to express how much of a privilege

spk_0 it's been to co-host this with you over the past couple of years. Many things that have really

spk_0 impressed me about you. I've just been so kind of odd, frankly, at how quickly you were able to

spk_0 pick up and understand the housing issues at such a base level and then such a broad level too.

spk_0 And then also the way you were able to bring so much empathy in really all of your coverage. And

spk_0 I think it's just been, you know, a gift to be able to work with you. And I'm sad that we won't

spk_0 be able to do it anymore, although I am, of course, excited for you and what's coming next.

spk_0 Thank you. Oh, that's really kind. And it means a lot for you to say that, Liam. And I've learned

spk_0 so much from you doing all of this coverage as well. I've had some incredible examples to look to

spk_0 and learn from. And it's definitely not the end of our friendship and of my reporting on these

spk_0 issues, but thank you for the kind words. Hopefully we'll have, we'll have Manuela back as a guest host

spk_0 at some point in the future. And yes, when I buy a house, yes, maybe when I'm 60.

spk_0 Buy a house in Buenos Aires. And you have a collection of of Carpinchos in your backyard. We will

spk_0 absolutely make time to talk to you again. I would love that. So make sure, of course,

spk_0 the checkout Manuela's story on this with some great photos and graphics and other information

spk_0 at CalMatters right now. And for people who might be in this situation, we are putting together a

spk_0 guide on how to file complaints about health and safety issues and other tendency issues as well

spk_0 at your mobile home park. And if you need any additional resources, you can also find those online.

spk_0 There's a very helpful website lawhelpca.org. The advocates have pointed us to and you can also

spk_0 get in touch with us at info at calmatters.org. So before we leave, I imagine our listeners are

spk_0 going to want some news on the future of the podcast. Liam, what do you have for us?

spk_0 Right. So obviously, as we've said, have some very large shoes to fill, but I can tell you that some

spk_0 of the higher ups as it were at CalMatters and the LA Times are trying to figure things out for

spk_0 Jimmy Shelter going forward. And we all hope to be able to give people some definitive news soon.

spk_0 For the short term, yeah, we will be going on a bit of a hiatus.

spk_0 Cool. Well, I will look forward to whatever news comes out and I'll be following you on Twitter,

spk_0 like the rest of us for any updates.

spk_0 Thank you for listening to Jimmy Shelter, everyone. Our podcast is produced by myself Manuela

spk_0 To Yes from CalMatters and CalMatters Audio Editor, Mary Franklin Harvin. Our engineer is Victor

spk_0 Figueroa. Thank you, Victor. And my amazing co-host, Liam Dillon, to all of our fans and loyal

spk_0 listeners and hopefully new listeners as well for following us on this journey.

spk_0 Thank you and we hope to see you again soon.

Gimme Shelter: Mobile home parks in disrepair

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