Fresno Mobilehome Community Preserves Homeownership and Affordable Housing
Every day, people across California stay housed thanks to legal services from CRLA.
We are a nonprofit. When you donate to CRLA, you enable us to keep our services free for people priced out of legal representation.
What sets us apart is our systemic advocacy—working with clients whose legal goals can create benefit for many more people. Last Friday, we celebrated a big systemic advocacy victory in Fresno.
Watch: New Videos Highlight Mobilehome Community's Legal Victory
When residents of La Hacienda Mobile Estates (then known as Trails End) in Fresno retained CRLA for legal services in 2021, their goal was to save their homes and their community.
Protecting mobilehome parks is extremely important to preserve affordable housing in California.
Mobilehomes are also one of the few accessible home ownership options for people who are underserved by mortgages or other traditional forms of credit required to buy other kinds of housing.
Unfortunately, investors look at mobilehomes and mobilehome parks as places to extract profits, turning communities that once offered opportunity into drivers of poverty.
Hear more about the case and why this victory matters from CRLA Senior Litigator Mariah Thompson and La Hacienda resident Linda Martinez. Be sure to check out Parts 2 and 3 below!
From Deadly Trails End Fire to La Hacienda Homeownership Victory
La Hacienda (then Trails End) residents had repeatedly contacted the state agency responsible for mobilehome code enforcement about their park’s dangerous conditions and negligent owner. When a fire broke out in the park and killed a resident in 2021, state and city officials finally started to act.
But residents quickly realized that if they wanted to preserve the community they had built, they needed to insist on being a part of the decision-making process. They formed a community group and retained CRLA for legal representation.
We’ve fought alongside them to uphold their housing rights, first through a receivership, then a sale to an exploitative landlord with a history of unlawful evictions and other shady practices, and now, finally, a sale to a nonprofit affordable housing developer chosen by residents.
In line with our community lawyering approach, this victory is shared with key allies, including our community partners at Self Help Enterprises and the incredible bankruptcy team at Orrick who worked with us pro bono for over a year.
Residents Preserve Homeownership and Affordable Housing in Fresno
After four years of fighting, La Hacienda residents accomplished their goal and created positive change for the wider City of Fresno too.
Because of La Hacienda residents’ advocacy for their homes, all mobilehome owners in the city now have access to local code enforcement and local utilities, just like any other city resident.
And by securing the purchase of their park by a nonprofit, residents have preserved affordable housing in a city with some of the steepest rent increases in the nation.
They’ve also set an example other communities and advocates can follow as they insist on their role in municipal decision making and stand up to exploitative landlords.
CRLA continues to lead the nation in mobilehome law and we are committed to putting our expertise in service of Californians priced out of private legal representation.
You Can Get Us to Our $150,000 Year-end Goal
Because our clients are challenging entrenched systems that keep them in poverty, winning can take time. Your support as a CRLA donor powers our tenacity.
Can you pitch in to get us to our $150,000 goal by December 31, 2025?
To be clear, $150,000 is just a fraction of the state and federal funding cuts we’re facing in 2026.
But with $150,000 in hand by December 31, we’ll be able to make time-sensitive changes that can keep us responsive and effective for California communities as we restructure for a tighter budget.
