By Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks | Source
When she received a 60-day eviction notice, Rhoda Davison (pictured), a 91-year-old resident who’s lived in her West Sacramento mobile home park for over three decades, was sent into a panic.
“I was set with all the Christmas gifts, and now I can’t put two and two together to get gifts wrapped,” Davison said, sitting in her wheelchair, her hands trembling from a recent stroke. “It’s a heavy load, and when you’re 91, it’s even more so.”
Davison is one of dozens of residents facing eviction at Westwind Estates, a mobile home park that primarily serves lower-income and older residents. Some are fearful they will lose the homes they own and end up homeless.
Operated by Leasco Management Company, Westwind Estates sent 52 homes — nearly a third of the park’s tenants — eviction notices Oct. 30 for apparent health and safety violations identified by a state inspector in March. The evictions came after the California Department of Housing and Community Development told the park owner Oct. 6 in a letter that it would pull its operating permit because of outstanding violations.
But residents and community advocates say the majority of the evictions are unjustified. Several residents say they corrected violations earlier this year. Some violation notices were too vague, and residents were never able to get information from Leasco or the state Housing and Community Development department about how to fix errors. Some residents only speak Spanish and received violation letters in English only. Five families bought homes at the park after the initial state inspection in March and were never notified of outstanding violations.
The 60-day evictions seem particularly harsh, residents and community advocates said, given the worsening coronavirus pandemic and weakened economy that has disproportionately impacted lower-income and older residents. The situation in West Sacramento represents a breakdown in communication and responsibility, said resident Forrest Gardens, and has caused unnecessary confusion.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how devastating this has been, especially for our senior folks,” Gardens said. “It is so disheartening to see a full-grown 82-year-old man bawling his eyes out because he doesn’t know what he did wrong and why he’s being thrown out.”
A few days after sending out eviction notices, Leasco Management sent a letter to residents walking back the evictions, and urging people to correct violations within the 60-day notice timeline, or call the state agency if the violation was already fixed.
“Once HCD confirms compliance we will rescind the Notices,” wrote Alex Williams, the company’s operations director.
Residents remain wary. The evictions are still in effect, and residents worry the state agency and the park will remain unresponsive. The initial eviction notice from Leasco explicitly stated, “This is not a notice to cure a violation or comply with a rule and/or regulation,” sowing further uncertainty.
‘SILENCE FROM MARCH TO THE EVICTION’
Many of the violations have easy remedies, Gardens said, such as a dinged carport column or a loose handrail. The lack of follow-up, warnings or reminders regarding HCD violations from park management has been particularly frustrating for some.
“There was this silence from March to the eviction,” Gardens said. “There was nothing in between.”
A state audit released this summer raised questions regarding inadequate communication between state inspectors and park residents and owners. It found that the California Department of Housing and Community Development struggles to provide oversight over mobile home parks, and frequently fails to notify residents about violations identified in inspections.
“For example, HCD did not consistently notify residents of violations within required time frames, nor did it share all required information about the rights, responsibilities, and resources available to park residents,” the July audit read. “As a result, some residents may have missed opportunities to obtain help in correcting violations before parks initiated steps to evict them.”
In an email, Joseph Carroll, an attorney representing Leasco, said his “client’s goal is to rescind all the 60 day notices that were served earlier this month.”
“HCD had advised the park owner that its permit to operate would be suspended if any resident/homeowner did not immediately correct the violations noted on their homesite,” Carroll said in an email.
Sending out eviction notices was “the only way (for the park owner) to gain possession to correct the violations,” since residents own their own homes,” Carroll said in an email.
When the state agency sent the October letter to Westwind Estates saying it planned to pull their operating permit, “this puts the park on notice that they need to take action to show they are making an effort to correct all remaining violations,” said department spokeswoman Alicia Murillo in an email.
“The HCD Notice does not force evictions as we don’t have that authority” Murillo said, but added that when a park issues evictions, “HCD may pause enforcement to allow the park to be brought into compliance and for any civil action by the park to occur.”
“So long as the resident/homeowners gain compliance before the 60 day notice expires on December 29, 2020, management will agree to rescind the termination notice,” Carroll said in an email.
‘I CAN’T PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER’
The small mobile home park community of 165 homes packed together is close-knit, Gardens said. Some resident have created elaborate gardens in their front yards. Wind chimes tinkle in the breeze, and school-age kids leave bikes on curbs and run along narrow winding streets. One resident hoses down their elderly neighbor’s trash bins every Tuesday after the garbage is collected.
Though residents own their homes, they essentially rent space at Westwind Estates, a mobile home park sandwiched between Sacramento Avenue and a train line used by Amtrak, and ringed with a concrete retaining wall. Mobile homes are typically a more affordable form of housing for Californians, and a vital option for older residents who may be on fixed incomes.
Until March, Davison said she never had a health or safety violation at her property. Her eviction notice stems from a violation flagged by the state inspector earlier this year: She needs a guardrail gate on her wheelchair lift. She was also told she can’t use an extension cord to power it. When she got her notice from the state inspector, Davison immediately went to the site manager’s office to request help.
“I passed it to him and said, ‘You know, I can’t do anything like that, I’m alone,’” Davison said. The manager took the notice, told her not to worry about it, “and that’s the last I heard about it.”
Davison said she can’t afford to rewire the wheelchair lift, and the proposed gate is impractical for her porch. Her neighbors have begun advocating on her behalf, and have found an electrician willing to donate their time, but repairs have yet to be made. She said she can’t imagine what might happen if she’s evicted.
“I can’t move this (house), this would cost $10,000 to move this,” Davison said. “Plus you’d have to buy property to put it on, and that all can’t be done overnight, or even a few weeks.”
‘A LOT OF SLEEPLESS NIGHTS’
Now, residents with outstanding violations are racing to fix issues on their property. During recent weekends, volunteers have helped clear yards and repair porch steps, said Tiffany McFadden, who doesn’t live at the mobile home park but has been helping organize efforts to clear violations and keep residents housed.
“We feel like we should be able to resolve all of them,” McFadden said.
They have started a GoFundMe to raise money to help cover the cost of repairs and potential legal fees. A HCD inspector came to the park Thursday, Gardens said, green lighting some repairs that have already been made, and providing clarification for residents.
One of those residents who needed further guidance is Raquel Rodriguez, whose lived at the park 15 years. The 60-day eviction notice shocked Rodriguez, since she had fixed all the violations flagged during the March inspection within a couple months. She spent $750 to fire-proof the shed in her backyard, but it was still flagged by the state agency in October.
Rodriguez has repeatedly called the state agency, but is always met with a full voicemail. Rodriguez, who’s raising her two grandchildren and is low-income, said worst-case scenario, she will scrape together the money to tear down the shed if it means she can continue to live at the park.
“It’s caused me a lot of sleepless nights,” Rodriguez said. “I have proof I completed the repairs by the deadline, it’s just the inspector never came back. I have cameras pointed at my shed, my cameras would’ve picked him up. He cannot say I didn’t comply and didn’t do the repairs.”
Ed. Note: GSMOL leaders are working with the residents of Westwind.
