Lawyers for the city of Vista say that eviction notices served on residents of the RV park at Green Oak Ranch constitute “unlawful termination” because they failed to follow the requirements of a new state law that took effect on April 1.
The long-term residents occupying 32 spaces at the park received 60-day notices of lease termination on Sept. 30, notifying them that they had until Dec. 1 to find other lodging. Today, park residents estimate that nine families remain, having found no suitable place to live that is both affordable and what they consider safe.
Green Oak announced earlier this year that it will lease the park to Solutions for Change, a local nonprofit that serves homeless families. The park’s owner ordered the property cleared of subtenants, including park residents, to make way for Solutions, which plans to move the bulk of its operations there in 2025.
On Nov. 28, the city sent a letter to Dorinda de Jong, president of Green Oak Ranch, and to the property’s current and future tenants, stating that “each notice is void and provides no basis for an action against any tenant for unlawful detainer,” the legal name used when a tenant refuses to vacate a property, causing its owner to pursue eviction.
De Jong did not respond Thursday to a request for comment on the situation. However, park residents reported that Hannah Gailey, director of Green Oak Ministries, a legally separate organization that currently leases the property from Green Oak Ranch, recently told residents that eviction notices are still in effect.
“She is still saying that, you know, ‘I would hate for you to have an eviction on your record or something like that,’” said Colleta Chidowe, who lives at the park with her husband and three children.
Asked why eviction is still being pursued if the city has found that notices were invalid, Gailey said Thursday that “we also have an attorney, and he has confirmed that the evictions are valid.”
Asked if the unnamed lawyer could share their rationale, Gailey said, “we will respond, but probably not directly to the press.”
Five of the families remaining at the park — residents estimated Thursday that there are a total of nine who have not yet found other accommodations — are represented by tenants rights attorney Daniel Lickel.
He said that those who have remained should be able to stay at Green Oak at least through the end of the year as the eviction hearing process, even if it were to start immediately, would likely take that long. But he declined to say anything more about his legal strategy and did not respond Thursday to a request for more information on how the city’s letter, and its claims that previous eviction notices are invalid, affects those who have already left.
“It does seem like this could have been handled a lot better, and I think there’s been a lot of suffering on the part of folks who were being asked to leave,” Lickel said. “I’ve met with a lot of these folks, and there was a wonderful community of people in this RV park. It just seems really sad that they had to be uprooted in this way.”
Any attempt to commence eviction proceedings, he added, will be addressed.
“I intend to put up a full defense in the event that they want to pursue any unlawful detainer proceedings based on their current notices,” Lickel said.
In its letter, the city cites the Tenant Protection Act, a new law that took effect on April 1 that, according to an analysis by the firm Brancard & Brancart, requires property owners to either waive rent for the final month of tenancy or provide “relocation assistance” for any tenant whose lease was terminated without just cause.
The city’s letter includes a “mitigation plan” that requires Green Oak to rescind eviction notices and pay relocation benefits equal to “three times the last month’s rental amount” to the families who have already vacated the property. Park residents have said that they pay $1,000 per month, so the total would be $3,000 each.
How do those who have already left feel about the idea that their eviction notices may have been invalid?
Karin Allison, whose family recently moved to an apartment, said that she is not inclined to move back, especially after the removal of amenities such as a shared laundry and shower facility that many in the park relied on.
“My family regrets not having gotten an attorney sooner,” Allison said.
Several residents said that Green Oak Ministries and the city have worked to provide storage of displaced trailers and RVs when families have been unable to find affordable spaces to rent in other parks.
