HOA Meeting: Tuesday 12/8, 7:00 p.m.

Join us on Tuesday, December 8 at 7:00 at the Clubhouse.

WE HAVE A VACANCY ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SERVING AS A DIRECTOR AT LARGE OF THE HOA, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO GGMHOA@GMAIL.COM.

HOA Meeting: Tuesday 8/11, 7:00 p.m.

Join us on Tuesday, August 11 at 7:00 at the Clubhouse.

WE HAVE TWO VACANCIES ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SERVING AS A DIRECTOR AT LARGE OF THE HOA, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO GGMHOA@GMAIL.COM.

Agenda includes:

• Manager’s Update
• Park Conditions, status of management’s responses
• Community Garage Sale
• New Business

San Fernando Valley mobile home park residents prevail in lawsuit against owners

Five residents who alleged they were living under dangerous conditions, including an inadequate electrical system, are awarded a total of $350,000 in back rent.
By Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times
(view the article by clicking here)

A judge has ruled in favor of five mobile home park residents near Canoga Park who alleged that the park owner failed to make repairs and allowed dangerous conditions to persist for years, including a faulty electrical system that had been cited more than 100 times by state inspectors.

Based on an eight-day trial held in April, Judge Gregory C. O'Brien sided last week with Gary and Deborah Gibson and three other tenants of Mountain View Mobile Estates, which contains 156 homes tucked into a hillside with a panoramic view of the west San Fernando Valley.

They sued Mountain View's owner, G.J. Park Associates, and its management firm, M.A. Cirillo & Associates, which does business as Star Mobile Home Park Management.

G.J. Park and Cirillo said the park was well-run and that they had spent millions of dollars to make repairs in a reasonable amount of time. But O'Brien disagreed, spelling out his decision in a scathing 31-page opinion scheduled to be filed today in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The landlord collected the tenants' rent, O'Brien wrote, "for which the tenants received in return endless insults to their sensibilities: Years of noise, mud, dangerous conditions, a studied neglect of simple services, a clubhouse with no furniture, a badly maintained pool and spa, and inexcusably rude, petty and bullying behavior."

O'Brien is a retired Superior Court judge who works for ADR Services Inc., a private arbitration and mediation service in Los Angeles that both sides hired to hear the case.

He awarded the group $350,000 in back rent for four years, or about $90,000 per household, and decided that G.J. Park and Cirillo should pay punitive damages as well as the plaintiffs' attorney fees and court costs.

"Maybe this will give residents of other mobile home parks with landlords like ours a glimmer of hope for some kind of fair play, especially the elderly," said Gary Gibson, 62, a 10-year resident of Mountain View who spearheaded the lawsuit.

Attorney Dale B. Goldfarb, who represents the park owner and management company, could not be reached for comment Friday.

The lawsuit, filed in March 2007, contended that G.J. Park and Cirillo poorly maintained Mountain View for years and failed to make repairs related to more than 250 notices of code violations issued by state regulators since 1999. Those included the inadequate electrical system -- a key safety issue because of the potential for fire and electric shocks.

Steven H. Haney, the tenants' lawyer, alleged that park operators were negligent, engaged in unfair business practices, failed to keep the park in good working order and deliberately committed continuous violations of the state Mobilehome Residency Law, which requires park owners and residents to maintain a clean and safe environment.

Residents testified that since May 2004 they had to endure scores of park-wide electrical outages, at least 20 park-wide water shut-offs, unstable soil, sewer backups and flooded streets during rainstorms. The electrical system was so poor, they said, that the park was plagued with power surges, dim lights, damaged appliances and so little electrical current that heaters could not be used in winter and air conditioners could not be used to relieve summer heat.

The evidence indicated that park operators took more than six years to make improvements to the electrical system.

Though state inspectors eventually signed off on the work, the plaintiffs' expert testified that the repairs -- some completed by an unlicensed contractor -- were haphazard and that the electrical system still doesn't meet national standards.

Residents further testified that their complaints were often met with derision by park staff, who called them "troublemakers" and failed to respond. Gibson's wife testified that she received several anonymous death threats, and Gibson told the judge he was repeatedly harassed, including being denied use of the pool for failing to sign a waiver of liability -- the only resident of whom the demand was made.

"The expectations described by the witnesses were hardly extravagant: End the noise, stop the mud, fix my driveway, restore my view . . ." O'Brien wrote. "For the most part, the resident office managers seem to have a standard reply: 'I'm working on it.' Evidently, they were not."

HOA Meeting Highlights: June 9, 2009

Manager’s Update:

• The 14-day notices appear to have been effective; the park is looking better.
• Residents expressed concern regarding non-resident vehicles coming into the park to dump their trash in our dumpsters. This issue was discussed at length, with several residents concerned about pests and sanitation, as well as overloaded dumpsters which may result in increased costs for trash service. Carlos will look into options, such as locking the dumpsters, to prevent “drive-by dumpings” by non-residents. Carlos asked residents to provide license plate numbers of suspected non-resident vehicles using the dumpsters.
• Pool use is a concern among several residents now that summer is coming. Residents asked how many guests each resident is permitted to have; the response was “it depends on the lease.” Those in attendance recalled that their copies of the Park Rule state two guests per resident in the Clubhouse and Pool areas. Residents would like management to ensure that the pool is available for their use, by monitoring and preventing non-residents from using our facilities and also keeping certain park residents from abusing the rules regarding guests in the recreational areas.
• One resident raised a specific question regarding cracks in his driveway, and described a significant problem with shifting concrete. Carlos reported that he would take a look at it the next day, and that driveway repairs would be done after the retaining wall projects are complete. He reported that they are wrapping up Phase 2 and getting ready to start Phase 3 of the retaining walls. Then other repairs will be undertaken.
• Residents asked about rules regarding noise and whether there are established “quiet times” (e.g. 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.). Excessive noise at any time is “disturbing the peace” and should be addressed. If the issue occurs at night and immediate assistance is needed, residents should call the non-emergency number for the Sheriff. If it can wait, contact Carlos and he will address it at a later time.

Old Business:

• Community Garage Sale – Tabled until the next meeting, or when a volunteer committee comes forward to coordinate the event.
• HOA Elections – No new candidates came forward for positions on the Board of Directors. The existing officers and directors in attendance agreed to remain in their positions, and this was approved by a consensus vote. Current Board of Directors is as follows: President-Ken Takei, Vice President-Al Servey, Treasurer-Sandra Coine, Secretary-Suzanne Ervine, Director at Large-Susan Kite. There are two vacancies for Directors at Large.
• Meeting Schedule – Don Heck moved that the HOA meeting schedule revert back to bi-monthly, on even-numbered months, pursuant to the Bylaws. Al Servey seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

New Business:

• Rent Control Lawsuit - Ken Takei reported that he attended the SMOAC meeting this month. An attorney will be filing a suit to recover excessive rents collected in violation of the City ordinance, when the law was interpreted or applied incorrectly (100% of CPI). Potential plaintiffs in the case are asked to come forward and contact Jim Montague (SMOAC and Meadowbrook) or Karen Bisegnano (SMOAC and Mission Del Magnolia).

HOA Meeting: Tuesday 5/12, 7:00 p.m.

Join us on Tuesday, May 12 at 7:00 at the Clubhouse.

THIS MONTH: ANNUAL HOA ELECTIONS! IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A LEADERSHIP POSITION WITH THE HOA, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO GGMHOA@GMAIL.COM.

Agenda includes:

• Manager’s Update
• Park Conditions, status of management’s responses
• Community Garage Sale
• HOA Elections
• New Business

CRITICAL ALERT: WHAT THE PARK OWNERS COULD NOT ACCOMPLISH WITH PROPOSITION 98, THEY ARE NOW CLOSE TO ACHIEVING WITH AB 761 & AB 481

Below is a letter written by Attorney William Constantine, as published by the Coalition of Mobilehome Owners - California (CoMO-CAL). Urgent action is needed!

CRITICAL ALERT: WHAT THE PARK OWNERS COULD NOT ACCOMPLISH WITH PROPOSITION 98, THEY ARE NOW CLOSE TO ACHIEVING WITH AB 761 & AB 481: STATEWIDE VACANCY DECONTROL & WORSE!

Last year, we stopped the park owners and their allies from getting statewide vacancy decontrol by defeating Proposition 98 by over 1 million votes. In fact, it was defeated by large margins in almost every city and Assembly and Senate district in the State. However, that has not stopped the park owners and their allies in the State Legislature. What the voters would not give to them with Proposition 98, they are close to getting from the California Legislature. Next Wednesday, May 13, 2009, the Assembly Housing Committee will be voting on two bills, AB 761 AB 481, that will achieve what the Park owners failed to get with the defeat of Proposition 98: statewide vacancy control and worse!

AB 761: Establishes statewide vacancy decontrol for all mobilehome rent control. This means your mobilehome park would be free to increase the rent on your mobilehome as high as they want when you go to sell it. This could either prevent its sale or cause you to have to sell your mobilehome for a small fraction of your investment it. This is what has happened at DeAnza Mobilehome Park in Santa Cruz and in Pacific Skies Mobilehome Park in Pacifica.

AB 481: Combined with AB 761, AB 481 will make the life in your mobilehome park far worse than if Proposition 98 had passed! The reason for this is that AB 481 will also greatly expand the categories of mobilehomes that are exempt from mobilehome rent control under various circumstances. Current law, Civil Code section 798.21 only allows a mobilehome park owner to exempt your mobilehome if you take a property tax exemption on another property. It also does not allow your mobilehome to be so exempted if you are either listing it for sale or subleasing it. AB 481 removes the subleasing exception and expands the category of rent control exempt mobilehomes enormously. For example, your mobilehome could be found exempt from rent control if: you have a cosigner on the title to your mobilehome; if you hold title to your mobilehome with your children as joint tenants to make it easier for them to inherit it; if your park owner is able to prove that you have anyone living in your mobilehome whom has not been approved for residency; it would eliminate rent control on your mobilehome if you own another rental property that you are relying on for your retirement income; it would eliminate rent control if you are away from your mobilehome for any, undefined, "significant amount" of time and it would also eliminate mobilehome rent control on your mobilehome when it is inherited unless your heirs quickly move into it.

Both of these bills are in the Assembly Housing Committee and they appear to have the votes to pass. To stop them we need to get as many Homeowners Associations and other sympathetic organizations as possible to immediately fax letters of opposition, on their letterhead, by 4 PM on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. These organizations will be then listed in the Assembly Housing Committee Report as the opponents of the bill. The support that these bills have on the Assembly Housing Committee has caught us by surprise, so we have to quickly.

I have attached model letters on each bill. Your Homeowners' Association's/ or other Organization's should use these model letters, or similar language, on your Homeowners' Association's/ or other Organization's letterhead and then immediately fax these letters to the Assembly Housing Committee whose fax number is 916-319-2061.

Your letters do not have to be long. They can be as short as one line: "Dear Assemblywoman Torres and Members of the Assembly Housing Committee: We are writing to inform you that the John Doe Mobile Home Park Homeowners' Association strongly opposes AB 761 and we strongly urge you to vote against it."

The important thing today and tomorrow is that we get as many Homeowners Associations and other Organizations listed as opponents to these bills as we can. Since we are almost out of time, we can only achieve this only if your Homeowners Association, or other organization, immediately faxes their opposition letters, on their letterhead, to the Assembly Housing Committee to their fax number of 916-319-2061 by 4 PM on Tuesday, May 5, 2009.

If either of the two bills pass out of the Assembly Housing Committee, we will have a hard time stopping them on the Assembly floor. If that occurs, I will be sending you further alerts on what you, your fellow mobilehome owners, and your friends should all do.

Please act now because of we do not act now quickly, our defeat of Proposition 98 will have been for nothing.

Please feel free to call me if you need more information.

Dictated but not proofread to avoid delay.

Sincerely,
Will Constantine

William J. Constantine, Attorney
303 Potrero Street, Building # 29, Suite 104
Santa Cruz, California 95060
Ph. (831) 420-1238
Fax: (831) 480-5934

HOA Meeting: Tuesday 4/14, 7:00 p.m.

Join us on Tuesday, April 14 at 7:00 at the Clubhouse. Agenda includes:

• Manager’s Update
• Park Conditions, status of management’s responses
• Community Garage Sale
• HOA Elections
• New Business