A MOBILE-HOME resident has shared her dismay after learning the new owners of her rent-controlled community have found a way to double the rent.

“I’m ready to have a heart attack over it,” said Judy Espinosa who has lived in Avalon Mobile Home Park in Castro Valley, California, for more than seven years.

“I bought this house with my husband with our retirement savings,” Espinoza said.

“This is all we had, and we’ve made it our home.  Hooked it to the ground. We can’t move it,” Espinoza said.

Residents of the mobile home community that sits southeast of Oakland assumed their homes would be protected by the county’s rent control laws.

Alameda County has a mobile home rent control ordinance limiting increases to 5 percent per year.

Yet all the residents of the community received letters earlier this year, when the property was purchased by Three Pillars Communities saying their rent would be increasing.

Three Pillars Communities has found a way to get around the local rent control laws by claiming that some of the homes on their property are not protected because they are recreational vehicles, rather than permanent residences.

Yet Espinoza’s home looks nothing like stereotypical “recreational vehicles.”

The one-bedroom, one-bath home features a staircase, gabled roof and wood exterior. It is also anchored to the ground for protection from earthquakes.

“The park owner raised rent to less than the fair market value and voluntarily offered rental assistance to anyone who is unable to afford the new rent amount,” Three Pillar co-founder Daniel Weisfield said in a statement.

Many mobile homes nowadays are anchored, compound structures like Espinoza’s, so residents who do not own the land their home is on can find themselves in a hopeless situation if their rent increases.

Weisfeld said that it’s what makes mobile home parks more profitable for investors.

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Mobile home parks provide some of the best risk-adjusted returns that you can find in real estate,” he said. “We have a very stable cash-flow profile because our residents are homeowners, right? They own their home; they’ve got skin in the game.

“Our typical tenancy is close to ten years in our portfolio. So, I just love the fact that we’re providing high-quality affordable housing that I feel really good about and also that stability of income.”

However, by doubling the rent, housing has now become unaffordable for most of the residents at Avalon.

Three Pillar also owns a seniors-only park in Petaluma called Youngstown that is rent-controlled.

The company is suing the city, claiming that its ordinances violate a Constitutional guarantee to a fair and reasonable return on their investment.

“I believe that was their goal before they bought,” said Jodi Johnson, a Youngstown resident.

“And I believe that will be their goal to entice investors across the United States to them, under the premise that they’ll be able to get rid of rent stabilization ordinances, senior-park overlays, and anything that stands in their way at making extraordinary profits.”

Now, those living in Avalon are preparing for their own fight.

“These people that are standing right here are very feisty. They’re good to go. Know what I mean?” said David Violante.

“We’re going to put on our boxing gloves and we’re going to fight like we’ve never fought before.”

But Judy is worried about what will happen if they come up short.

“I’m just, it’s affecting all of our health — Our wellbeing,” she said.  “It’s our whole livelihood, and they’re taking it away.”