If you own your mobilehome but rent the space it sits on, you live under a different set of rules than almost any other tenant in California. Most renters do not have these protections. A lot of lawyers do not even know they exist. But they can be the difference between keeping your home and losing it.
That is exactly where I come in.
My name is Alex Murad. I am a California-licensed lawyer based in Ojai, and I help mobilehome and manufactured-home owners across Ventura County stand up to parks that bend or break the rules.
You own your home. You are not an ordinary renter, and the law gives you protections most renters never get. If your park is pushing you around, raising your space rent, or threatening to put you out, you are not powerless.
What the Mobilehome Residency Law Is
Mobilehome park tenancies in California are governed by their own body of law, the Mobilehome Residency Law, or MRL. You will find it in the Civil Code starting at section 798. It applies when you own your mobilehome or manufactured home but rent the space it sits on in a park.
Here is why that matters. The MRL gives you far more protection than an ordinary month-to-month renter has. The park cannot simply decide it wants you gone. It can only end your tenancy for a short, specific list of reasons, and it has to follow strict notice rules to do it.
The catch is that the law is technical. The notices have precise requirements, the deadlines are unforgiving, and parks and their management companies count on residents not knowing the rules. That is the gap I close.
When a Park Can Actually End Your Tenancy
Under the MRL, a park can only terminate your tenancy for one of the specific reasons the law lists in Civil Code section 798.56. Those reasons include failing to follow a mobilehome law after written notice, conduct that is a substantial annoyance to other residents, certain criminal convictions for acts committed in the park, failing to follow a reasonable written park rule after a chance to fix it, nonpayment of rent or utility charges, condemnation of the park, and a change of the park’s use.
Two details matter a great deal. If the park claims you broke a rule, it generally has to give you written notice and at least seven days to comply before it can move to end your tenancy. If the claim is nonpayment, the amount has to be unpaid for at least five days past its due date, and then you are owed a three-day notice to pay or quit, plus a sixty-day notice to terminate the tenancy.
Most terminations require a full sixty-day notice. If the park is trying to close or change the use of the property, the required notice is far longer, often six months to a year. So when a park hands you a short notice, or a vague one that does not spell out the specific reason and the facts behind it, that is frequently a defect you can fight.
A word of caution. What you just read is a general summary, not a do-it-yourself script. Whether a particular notice is the right one, and whether the park filled it out correctly, depends on the facts. Never assume a notice is valid just because it looks official.
Your Space Rent and Local Rent Control
One of the hardest parts of mobilehome living is space rent that keeps climbing. Here is something many residents do not know. In Ventura County, mobilehome parks in the unincorporated areas are covered by the County’s Mobile Home Park Rent Control ordinance, which limits how much your space rent can go up each year.
For parks under that ordinance, the standard yearly increase is tied to a cost-of-living formula. For 2026, the automatic increase is capped at 2.8 percent. A park can ask for more in certain situations, but it has to justify the request through a process, and you have the right to be heard in it.
Whether your park is covered depends on exactly where it sits. Parks in the unincorporated county, including parks in the Ojai area, generally fall under the County ordinance. Some cities have their own rules. If your space rent jumped by a number that felt high, it is worth having someone check whether that increase was even allowed.
Your Right to Sell Your Home
You own your mobilehome, and the law protects your right to sell it where it sits. As a general matter, a park cannot force you to move the home out simply because you are selling it, and it cannot unreasonably block the sale or pile unfair conditions on a qualified buyer.
Some parks quietly discourage in-place sales because they would rather clear the space and re-rent it at a higher rate. If your park is interfering with your ability to sell your own home, that is a problem the MRL takes seriously, and one worth acting on.
Where Parks Cross the Line
Some of the situations I see most often: a termination notice that does not state a valid reason or gives you less time than the law requires; a space-rent increase that goes beyond what the local ordinance allows; an old or unwritten rule suddenly enforced against one resident to push them out; interference with your right to sell your home in place; retaliation after you complained or organized with your neighbors; and neglected roads, utilities, or common areas you are paying for.
If your situation is on that list, or it is something I have not named here, it is worth a conversation.
Your Rights as a Mobilehome Owner
A few things you should know you are entitled to. You can only be removed for a legal reason, with the proper notice, and the notice has to state the specific reason and the facts behind it. You have the right to sell your home in place to a qualified buyer. You have the right to be free from retaliation for asserting your rights or organizing with other residents. And you may have the right to challenge a rent increase that exceeds your local limits.
There is also a free state resource worth knowing about. California runs the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program through the Department of Housing and Community Development, and it takes complaints about MRL violations. It is not a substitute for a lawyer, but it exists, and sometimes it helps.
One caution, and it is an important one. Do not stop paying your space rent and do not ignore a notice on the assumption that the law has your back. The protections are real, but they come with rules, and a single misstep can hand the park the exact eviction it was hoping for. Talk to someone before you act.
Why Having an Attorney Changes the Outcome
Parks and their management companies almost always have lawyers who handle these cases every day. A documented response from your own attorney changes the conversation, and sometimes that alone is enough to make the problem go away.
An attorney can catch the defect in a notice that ends the case before it really starts.
An attorney can tell you whether a rent increase was actually legal, instead of leaving you to guess.
An attorney can protect you from retaliation, and push back hard if it happens anyway.
And if the park takes you to court, an attorney can make sure you are heard.
Why Hire Me?
I am a solo practitioner, which means when you hire me, you get me. Not a paralegal. Not a junior associate. Me.
I focus on landlord-tenant and mobilehome law because I believe housing is too important to leave undefended. Mobilehome owners get overlooked more than almost anyone, even though they often have the most at stake, because their home and the ground beneath it are tied together.
I have volunteered at a local legal aid clinic, which means I understand what it looks like when people genuinely need help and cannot find it. That shapes the way I practice.
I bring what I call ranch grit to every case. A work ethic and a level of persistence you will be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.
If you have received a notice from your park, or your space rent just took a jump that does not seem right, do not wait. The clock on these notices is short and the rules for responding are strict. Start now by keeping every notice, letter, and rule the park gives you, and write down the dates.
From my office in Ojai, I serve mobilehome and manufactured-home owners across Ventura County, including Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Port Hueneme, Oak View, and Meiners Oaks.
The initial consultation is always free, and you can see exactly how I charge on my fees and costs page.
Call or text: 805-295-4197. Email: alexmurad@ranchgritlaw.com
Disclaimer: This website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Viewing this site or communicating with the Law Office of Alex Murad through this site does not create an attorney-client relationship. Licensed to practice law in California only.