What's at stake?
A Fresno Superior Court judge upheld a previous ruling granting the tenants of a local mobile home park protections against their park owner
Calling it a “huge win,” residents of an embattled mobile home park in northeast Fresno are celebrating a court ruling this week they say protects them from swift evictions and blocks the corporate owners from shutting the park down without city approval.
Fresno County Superior Court Judge D. Tyler Tharpe upheld a previous ruling that grants the tenants of La Hacienda Mobile Estates protections against a park closure and swift evictions, according to Mariah Thompson — senior litigator for California Rural Legal Assistance and attorney for many of the remaining park tenants.
Thompson first reacted to the decision on social media Thursday night.
“Today a Fresno judge issued a final order prohibiting the owners of La Hacienda/Trails End Mobilehome Park from shutting down without City approval, and halting existing evictions! A huge win for residents!” Thompson reads her tweet.
The protections were first granted to park tenants after an initial temporary order was granted by Tharpe in January.
The protections granted by the injunction will stand until a trial can occur between the La Hacienda residents and park owner Harmony Communities. The trial will ultimately decide whether the injunction.
Attorneys for Harmony Communities did not immediately respond for comment on the ruling.
Since the Fresno City Council rejected the park owner’s initial proposal to close the park in November, Harmony attorneys have argued the city and court have no power to stop them from going out of business.
“City approval is only necessary when local government permits are required. The owner still intends to close the Park in August 2024 unless they can obtain a fair rent,” said Jason Dilday, an attorney representing Harmony, after the November hearing.
During the injunction hearing, Harmony’s attorneys also argued that the city cannot force a company to remain open.
La Hacienda was initially acquired by Harmony in May. 2022 for $1.7 million. The city had hoped the park would stay open as affordable housing stock, but evictions — many of which park residents criticized as frivolous— began soon after.
Harmony Communities has been planning on closing down the park to then sell the land off for profit as commercial space. The area is currently listed for about $4 million — a price more in line with a vacant commercial space in north Fresno — with no mention that the space is still being used as affordable housing stock in a city in desperate need of more low-cost home units.
La Hacienda residents have hoped that Harmony would sell the land off to a party interested in keeping the park running as a space for affordable housing instead of as a business. The hopes have grown after the council made comments critical of Harmony’s management of the park during the hearing over a proposed park closure.
An interested party has made a bid on a recent city funding program in the hopes of acquiring the park for this purpose, but it is unknown when the city will announce recipients of the available funding.
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