Broken homes: Mobile home owners in closing park must go, can’t meet codes

Wednesday, June 12, 2002 | 11:04 a.m.

Ramona Pulido, sitting beneath a shade tree on a recent afternoon, allowed that the broken-down 1966 Lamplighter mobile home behind her may be ugly.

"But at least it's mine," the diminutive 51-year-old said.

However, Pulido won't be able to call the place home for long.

Pulido, who crossed the Rio Grande in search of a better life 15 years ago, is one of about 250 mostly Hispanic immigrant residents of a North Las Vegas mobile home park facing eviction at the end of the month -- after nine months of battling the park's owner, who wants to close the park.

The issue centers on a unique reality for most mobile home owners: They own their homes but rent the land on which the homes sit.

That can put poor mobile home owners, whose piece of the American dream may not meet city or state codes, in a difficult position when the land is pulled out from under them.

But the plight of the residents of Sun City Mobile Home Park also illustrates a cultural divide between an insular, non-English-speaking community and the mainstream society that it perceives is discriminatory, those who have worked on the case said.

Both factors together, said state officials and a homeowner group, have made the case one of a kind.

"It's the first time I've ever seen where so many residents did not move their homes or reach some other agreement so close to the eviction date," Karl Braun, until recently president of the Nevada Association of Manufactured Home Owners, said.

Despite losing a court fight in May, many of those who live in the 57 mobile homes that remain are up in the air about where they'll go as the June 30 deadline approaches.

Ana Maria Hernandez spoke for most of her neighbors when she said last week that, although she knew she must leave the park, her future was uncertain.

"We'll see what happens, I don't know," the 36-year-old single mother of four said of her plans. She, like others at the park, is prepared to leave her mobile home behind -- at which point it would be demolished after June 30.

What's clear is that they must go. "I don't see the possibility of them still being in their homes come June 30," said John McDonald, manager of McDonald Wood LLC, which owns the park. When asked what he would do if residents didn't leave, he said, "I'm not even going to consider that because I don't think it will be a problem."

The scenario began in October 2001, when McDonald Wood LLC sent residents a six-month notice of its intention to close the park. The company also offered to pay for moving the park's 141 homes. Both are required by law.

Twenty-six homeowners accepted the park owner's offer.

But state law also says that mobile homes must meet certain standards in their plumbing, electric and heating and cooling systems, or they can't be inhabited at the new site. So even if a property owner offers to pay for moving homes, if they are in disrepair, they can't be moved. In fact, the companies that move mobile homes work closely with the state agency that monitors them, so they know the law and won't touch a home that isn't up to code.

And if the residents are low income -- as is the case at Sun City -- then repairing the home may be beyond their budgets.

"Many of the people in this park would have to pay more to fix their homes than they did to buy them in the first place," Manuel Sesma, a Sun City resident since 2000, said. "This just doesn't seem right."

McDonald Wood LLC offered those who could not fix their homes $1,000 to leave. Three accepted.

A core group didn't leave the park by the six-month deadline and the owner took them to court, where a North Las Vegas judge ruled in the owner's favor and gave the residents until the end of June to vacate. The offer of $1,000 to move no longer stands, according to the court order. After June 30, the land will probably be put up for sale, McDonald said.

Allan Scott, landlord-tenant investigator for the Nevada Division of Manufactured Housing, said the issue of mobile homes in disrepair at parks that are being closed has to be addressed -- and the Sun City case only underlines its importance.

"I've talked to several legislators about this, and their response has been, 'You're kidding! There's nothing in the law to protect these people? We have to do something about this,' " he said.

"After this case, I think you'll see something happen in the next legislative session."

One way to help those whose homes are in disrepair would be to mandate an appraisal of the home and have the park owner pay the homeowner the higher of the two sums -- either the worth of the home or the cost of the move, Scott said.

McDonald said he would support such a change.

"I think the law could be amended to make the situation clearer for homeowners in this position, and leave a lot less room for conflict," he said.

But the situation at Sun City was further complicated by language and cultural barriers that kept many of the residents from understanding or accepting the situation they were facing.

Over the months groups like Clark County Legal Services and the Association of Manufactured Home Owners tried to explain to the residents that the eviction couldn't be stopped and what help was available.

Braun, of the mobile home owners group, said he asked residents at one point to fill out simple surveys that described the conditions of their homes, hoping to direct help.

He never got cooperation, but the homeowners themselves did a version in Spanish, which they never shared with Braun. Some of the replies include comments that express their distrust of outside groups.

Ancira Gutierres wrote about her husband's job woes and low wages. "But they don't care if we have money to move with, and it's very hard with four children. It's an injustice what they do with us Latinos."

"We want justice, so that these people understand that Hispanics in this country are not a disturbance," wrote Sesma, who has acted as an informal leader in the community. "We are not garbage. We can struggle for the rights we've earned."

The distrust has kept the residents from taking advantage of the help that was offered, Renee Diamond, administrator for the Division of Manufactured Housing, said.

"If people are scared, how can you make them trust that you are telling the truth?" Diamond said.

"The frustration of people who are not connected to the mainstream of society is so huge as to not permit them to hear the reality of the law," she said. "We can try to explain it, but sometimes we fail."

As of last week some of the remaining residents were still hoping to get a parcel of land available for sale in Pahrump. But several admitted they didn't know how the purchase could be financed, or if their homes would have to be repaired before being moved.

A nonprofit group in Los Angeles offered to help, but when asked about details such as financing and zoning, director Maria Ahumada, said only, "Faith can move mountains."

The need for repairs won't be avoided in Pahrump, Diamond said. "They would still have to meet state standards," she said.

Diamond also called the situation frustrating, and said her department had never made so much effort to help residents faced with the closing of a mobile home park.

"This was a vulnerable group," she said. "We all did the best we could, and they still wound up on on the short end of the stick."

Meanwhile, Pulido and her daughter, Isela Hernandez, continue to work at their jobs cleaning houses. Together they pull in about $1,600 a month. She said she's prepared to leave her Lamplighter behind and is looking for an apartment for her daughter and three grandchildren.

"But everything is so expensive," she said.

"I just thought everything was going to work out better than it did."