However, park residents and those representing them said the department\u2019s outreach has consisted of providing one-sided information with no opportunity for true dialogue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very frustrating that they are trying to push this through again without proper debate,\u201d San Jose Housing Commissioner<\/a> Daniel Finn, who represents mobile home residents, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n The city has more than 10,000 mobile home spaces across 58 mobile home parks that fall under the rent policy, according to city data<\/a>. At San Jose Verde Mobile Home Park, space rent varies from $800 to $1,650<\/a> a month.<\/p>\n So far, San Jose has hosted three virtual meetings about the policy in English. It\u2019s also hosted two Spanish-language and two Vietnamese-language online meetings. Finn said there was no opportunity for people to speak during the meetings. Staff members have also hosted one in-person meeting that Finn knows of at Silver Crest mobile home park, but he was told that park owners only want residents who reside at the mobile home sites to participate.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a mobile home park representative, and they\u2019re excluding me from these meetings,\u201d Finn said. \u201cWe requested that they tell us which owners and which managers made these requests. Because we could come up with thousands of homeowners and residents that want a different perspective other than what the housing department is giving them.\u201d<\/p>\n The next in-person community meeting open to the public will happen in September.<\/p>\n Martha O\u2019Connell, regional manager of Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League, which also represents mobile home residents, said during the July 13 presentation housing staff repeatedly lowered her and other people\u2019s hands on Zoom when they raised them to speak or ask questions.<\/p>\n Sarah Fields, spokesperson for the housing department, said taking questions through the written form online is meant to \u201cmitigate disruptions associated with \u2018Zoom bombing.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe housing department and all city departments are interested in hearing from residents,\u201d Fields told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cDuring the online sessions, participants are able to submit written questions through the Zoom Q&A function, and staff make every effort to address all relevant questions during the meeting. This approach is a standard practice among many municipalities and organizations to facilitate effective meeting management.\u201d<\/p>\n Councilmember Bien Doan, whose District 7 has the most mobile home parks in the city at 3,067 spaces, declined to comment. Councilmember Pamela Campos, whose District 2 has the second highest number of mobile home spaces at 2,711, did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Under the existing rent policy, property owners are allowed a 3% to 7% rent increase on each parcel every year. Anything more than that will require city approval, and they can\u2019t increase rent<\/a> to market rate prices except when the property is abandoned, the resident is evicted or when a sale falls through.<\/p>\n Mobile home park owners may request to have a \u201cfair return hearing\u201d to raise rents above the 7% cap when they feel they are not getting a fair return on the costs to maintain the park.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s website states the changes are needed to make up for the rising utility and management costs for park owners, while protecting affordability for current residents.<\/p>\n \u201cSan Jose\u2019s proposal is designed to balance the long-term health of the parks with stability and affordability for renters,\u201d Alina Harway, housing department policy manager, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Housing Commissioner Ryan Jasinsky, who represents mobile home park owners, did not respond to a request for comment. Doug Johnson, executive director of Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association, which represents park owners, also did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n At a previous Housing Commission meeting, Jasinksy said raising rent at the time of sale will protect existing mobile home residents. He said it will allow owners to sustain the mobile home parks while reducing fair return hearings.<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot properly prepare for that if you\u2019re on a fixed income,\u201d Jasinsky said at the meeting. \u201cIf everyone wants these communities to be around for 20, 30, 40 more years, something has to change or the system will break. We will see fair return hearings, we will see park sales. We will see park closures.\u201d During presentations, housing officials have brought up a recent example where residents at Casa Alondra mobile home park experienced a 10% to 15% space rent increase last year due to a fair return hearing as a reason to support the proposed policy.<\/p>\n However, O\u2019Connell said fair return hearings are rare. In the past 20 years, the city has only had eight fair return hearings<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the example of Case Alondra, she said it\u2019s an outlier because the property is not owned by the operators, who were forced to raise rents to cover the large increase on their land lease. She added the housing department uses the example at Casa Alondra to convince residents to accept the proposed policy.<\/p>\n \u201cHousing well knows the 10% to 15% increase they cite to residents is a one-off due to a land lease issue, but they are hell bent on pushing these park owner desired changes,\u201d O\u2019Connell told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n![\"In-line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/interactive-321838904008.png\")
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