Mobilehome Cases Of Interest
Filed By Endeman, Lincoln, Turek & Heater LLP

We represented 70 residents against the park owner who tried to illegally remove the residents from the park so that he could develop the property as a commercial shopping center. The owner tried to force the residents out by failing to maintain the park and closing the common area facilities at the park. When the residents tried to sell their homes, the park owner refused to allow the homes to remain in the park. A jury awarded $11,700,000 to the residents. The verdict was reduced by the trial judge and a judgment was entered against the defendants in the amount of $9,917,717.

San Diego Gas & Electric condemned a permanent power line easement over the Stonebridge community in Scripps Ranch which was to replace a temporary easement set to expire. SDG&E initially offered the Stonebridge developers $759,000 for the easement. We were then retained and demonstrated the substantial value of the property interests being condemned and the damages that resulted to the remaining property. We obtained a $10,650,000 in settlement before trial on behalf of the property owner developers.

We represented a group of industrial property and business owners who alleged that the County of Riverside had fraudulently induced them to enter into a contract to support the formation of a Mello-Roos district, and then breached that contract by not providing all the promised infrastructure improvements. After a six week trial, obtained a $3.9 million jury verdict based on the jury's finding of fraud and breach of contract.

We represented a City and Water Company in a complex water/power case involving not only Indian water rights but also the first contested Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hydroelectric project re-licensing case. See also Public Law 100-675,102 Stat. 4000 (1988) and amendments. (Firm members also participated in the drafting of federal legislation designed to settle thirty-year dispute over rights to the San Luis Rey River.)

On January 13, 2011, 17 residents of Capistrano Terrace Mobilehome Park, a mobilehome Park in San Juan Capistrano, were awarded $1,141,584 by an Orange County jury for the Park owner's failure to maintain the Park. 145 plaintiffs filed an action on October 31, 2007 for defendant's failure to maintain the Park under Civil Code §798.87, which constitutes a public nuisance. Before trial began on November 1, 2010, a different group of 7 plaintiffs accepted 998 offers and 128 plaintiffs proceeded to trial. During trial, the Court severed the 17 plaintiffs from the other 111 plaintiffs. These 17 plaintiffs had their claims decided by the jury. Plaintiffs testified to sewage backups and spills inside and outside their homes, bad water, low water pressure, electricity outages, low electrical power, landslides, and dilapidated park buildings and structures. The plaintiffs contended the defendant failed to maintain the utilities and park grounds in violation of the Mobilehome Residency Law and landlord-tenant requirements.

In December 1, 2006, the residents of Blue Pacific Mobilehome Park in Aptos, California, filed a lawsuit against the Park owner for failure to maintain their Park. As part of the 2009 settlement of the lawsuit, the residents were given the opportunity to purchase the Park at a reduced price. On August 30, 2011, after a long loan process, the residents closed escrow on the Park purchase. The residents contacted Endeman Lincoln Turek & Heater, LLP in 2006 because of problems with their electrical, water and sewer systems, as well as the clubhouse, pool and streets. After the lawsuit was filed, the park owner made improvements to the clubhouse and streets.