San Jose mobile park residents face illegal rent increases

Illegal rent increases at a mobile home park just outside the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds have San Jose housing department staff turning to the city attorney for help.

A Nov. 7 report by Housing Director Erik L. Soliván alleges the owners of Western Trailer Park, Stockton-based Harmony Communities, told residents earlier this year rent would go up after purchasing the trailer park in March. Despite multiple warnings from housing officials that the company's rent increases are illegal because they exceed the city's 3.14% maximum allowable increase for 2023-24, company representatives said San Jose's rent policy doesn't apply to them.

Harmony Communities Regional Manager Nick Ubaldi told San Jose Spotlight the RV lots at the trailer park are not the same thing as mobile home lots, and therefore should be exempt from the rent control policy. Western Trailer Park has 94 lots.

"Since the lots in question are designated and used for RVs, they do not meet the definition of mobile home lots," Ubaldi told San Jose Spotlight. "City staff appear to not understand their own (policy) and state law. We are operating in full compliance with the (policy). There have been no illegal rent increases."

Legal advocates say rent has gone up as much as 50% for many trailer park residents.

At a Housing and Community Development Commission meeting Thursday, Soliván said his department is informing the city attorney's office about the situation.

"We're exploring those areas of consideration, as well as revising our regulations to give us additional powers that already exist in the current (policy) to respond more comprehensively to these needs," Soliván said.

Housing officials held an initial intervention with Western Trailer Park managers to inform them of San Jose's mobile home rent policy -- but said the illegal rent increases continued. They sent a formal letter Aug. 7 telling Harmony Communities to stop the rent increases.

"If, within 15 days of this letter, we do not receive a written indication from you that you have rescinded your demanded rent increase and credited residents for the illegal amounts collected, we will refer this matter to the City Attorney's office for further review," the letter said.

Trailer park residents told city outreach workers in recent months they are paying the full rent amount in hopes of coming to a resolution with management.

City housing officials told San Jose Spotlight they can't discuss the ongoing matter.

Cynthia Chagolla, chief program officer for the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, said the foundation agrees with the city's assertion that Harmony Communities is violating the law.

"Just imagine how devastating that is to a household to learn that your rent is going to increase by nearly 50%," Chagolla told San Jose Spotlight. "What I find so stunning in this example, and I think why this example has really hit hard for the impacted families and stakeholders, is how defiant the property owners have been in correcting their illegal and improper rent increase."

Commissioners on Thursday raised concerns about the rent and called on the city to enforce the rent policy. Commissioner Daniel Finn said the rent increases have been an issue for about eight months and people are continuing to get hurt, especially older adults.

"I thought we were trying to keep people from becoming homeless and unhoused and parking their RVs on the street, and I would think the city would want to get very much deeply involved in this -- because that's what's going to happen to these people," he said Thursday. "I don't understand why we've allowed this situation to continue for such a long period of time."

Commissioner Roma Dawson said she was uncomfortable with the idea that a company managing mobile homes is allowed to raise rents illegally, and she has heard other stories of mobile home residents hit with costly rent increases.

"This is something that is urgent and should be taken care of, it ought to be seamless and it ought to be rapid," Dawson said.

This story was originally published by San Jose Spotlight and written by Vicente Vera.

Contact Vicente Vera at vicente@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @VicenteJVera on X, formerly known as Twitter.