Rent Increases Making Life Difficult For Seniors Living In Manufactured Home Community

RANCHO CORDOVA (CBS13) — Rent increases are making life difficult for seniors living in a Rancho Cordova manufactured home community.

The president of the Homeowners Association is fighting a developer with deep pockets and requesting the city to create a special ordinance to keep residents in their homes.

Bob and Mary Van Cleef moved from San Jose to the Mobil Country Club in Rancho Cordova after their 401K was wiped out in 2009. They paid $90,000 for their home and $805 a month for rent, but there's a catch.

"A manufactured home community is we own the house, we rent the dirt," Bob Van Cleef said.

Under the former property owners, rent would only increase $10 a year. Van Cleef said over the past three years, rent has gone up 18%, at about 6% a year. The increases are creating hardship.

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"Some people only have $46 to live on, some of them have to get help from the outside," Mary Van Cleef said.

The park is now owned by Stores Investment Group, who could not be reached for comment Sunday.

"So it's sad some of the people we just met might have to leave next year," Mary Van Cleef said.

The seniors living in the community are not protected by the new rent control laws which do not apply to manufactured homes.

"We're looking for what we call a site rent control ordinance because it's not like an apartment, it's not like a house, so we're looking for a rent control ordinance to stabilize things a little bit," Bob Van Cleef said.

While the idea is being reviewed by city leaders, the Van Cleefs say they will continue to fight for their neighbors.