San Jose changing mobile home park rules after RV residents targeted with illegal rent hikes

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Leaders in the South Bay are changing a loophole in a law they say mobile home park landlords were using to illegally raise prices for people in RVs.

Luis Delgadillo showed ABC7 News reporter Lauren Martinez around the trailer park he's lived at with his family for the past 15 years. Rent at Western Trailer Park in San Jose varies around $800, but there are questions and concerns regarding a rent increase starting July 1st. It appears each resident is receiving varying prices.

"A lot of my mom's friends that also lived here messaged her saying, 'Hey does your paper say this? Does your paper say $1,600, too?' And we were like, 'No ours says $800 or our says $900," Delgadillo said.

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Delgadillo lives in a mobile home with his family. He says, fortunately, their increase was a minimum of $50 monthly, but it appears his neighbors who live in RVs were given dramatically higher increases.

"It's not like they had the choice to live in that RV - a lot of them came in, they were like 'Oh, this parking space is for sale with the RV,'" Delgadillo said.

San Jose caps rent increases at mobile home parks. But a city memo says at least one mobile home park owner is raising rates beyond the cap for people in RVs, claiming the Mobile Home Rent Ordinance didn't apply to them.

"And in that ordinance, which is probably drafted 40-50 years ago, there's some vague language about trailers, home cars, which are not defined, that are not allowed to be used as sleeping quarters on city streets, they should be in mobile home parks," City Attorney Johnny Phan said.

This month, the city changed the ordinance to make it explicitly clear - any rent increase would be the same for mobile homes and RVs.

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"I just want to state that the intent is to prosecute the 'vanlord,' that the van-tenant really is the victim here, and so I just want to say it out loud for the record that is the intent," City Councilmember Rosemary Kamei said.

Delgadillo was pleased to know the clarifying change was made.

"It's good to hear honestly, but you still feel for your neighbors, you still feel for them because they've been here for a long time too," Delgadillo said.

ABC7 News reached out to the property management company based in Stockton for comment and is still waiting to hear back.