Reading about the problems homeowners in manufactured home parks have in Santa Maria (“A long haul,” March 31) reminds me of the issues with these associations all over the state. Some county district attorneys have even gotten involved. San Mateo County attorneys tried to step in when a water park of houseboats lost their berths due to the park owners selling the marina.
The fundamental problem with outside owners is that by raising the rents of manufactured home spaces, every time there is a sale, the park essentially takes any equity homeowners may have accrued during the time they owned the units.
The most affordable parks are the ones owned collectively by the manufactured-home owners. If Santa Maria wanted to help the Rancho Buena Vista Mobile Home Park, they would negotiate between the park owners and the homeowners to sell interest in the park to the mobile-home owners.
Lee Engdahl
Grover Beach
This article appears in Apr 14-21, 2022.