Date: 1/29/04 7:00 pm
Attendees: Marineland Residents,
HB City Councilman Pete Tucker
George Turk, President of Millennium Housing
Handout: “Millennium Housing of California Non-Profit Program”
Speaker: George Turk, President, Millennium Housing
Q. On your web site there is a lot written about park rehabilitation. What rehabilitation at MHP needs to be done?
A [George Turk (GT)]. Not all parks need rehabilitation. Some need very litter. I’ll know better after we get the engineering report.
Q. Will you enforce homes to be up to code? How strict will that enforcement be? Does Millennium offer incentives to encourage people to be up to code?
A [GT]. Usually safety issues, such as handrails on stairs, are enforced stricter than other standards. Especially if senior citizens. How strict and what incentive will be up the HOA. The incentive should be having a nice place to live and increasing value of home.
Q. Can people get grants to help them bring their homes up to code?
A [GT]. Some people may be able to get grants, but grants are typically based on people’s income not the condition of their home.
Q. I did research on your web site and spoke with you on the phone. It seems pretty legit. What about buying a new home? J & H had a lot of restrictions. What about buying a 2-story home? I spoke with the City of Hermosa Beach and they say OK,
A [GT] . Two Things:
1) Millennium tries not to be involved in home purchases. 2) Regarding 2
story homes, this is a community decision.
This was done in a Newport Beach park.
Let’s talk about it.
Ultimately the buck stops with Millennium, but there is a bias against getting
involved in conflicts like those between J&H and residents. Millennium is
not bound to avoid involvement, but tries.
Q. J & H has been buying all the homes they can get, putting in new units and redrawing the lot lines. What can you do about the redrawing of lot lines?
A [GT] . As of January 1st, 2004 they should NOT be doing this. There is a new law which states that they cannot move a lot line without permission from residents whose lots are affected (??). They may also need permission from City of Hermosa Beach.
Q. Regarding the Three Options for Ownership, can we have the right of first refusal in case Millennium decides to sell the park in the future?
A [GT] . Yes, the trick is that the first refusal would have to be for an “x” period of time. Also, Millennium can only sell the park to the tenants or another non-profit.
Q. Regarding rents, what about single wide vs. double wide? It seems that bigger homes/lots should have the higher rents.
A [GT]. This is something the HOA will have to work out. The rents are all over the map at Marineland, from $500’s to $900’s. Typically, parks have the same rent for every space.
Millennium will have a $500,000/year bond payment. We have to make this payment and cover the park expenses. Whatever you decide, the total rent income needs to get to that number.
Q. Can you give more rent assistance to a single wide?
A [GT]. Assistance is generally based on the resident’s income not on the home.
Q. Do we keep the current leases?
A [GT] I think these are terrible leases, but it’s up to you (the HOA). It’s really a mute point because the leases say that a new buyer can pass through new loan and improvements anyway.
Q. Is this 60 units, then have some area for kids to play?
A [GT] . Owner says 60. If less homes then more whatever ????
Q. Trash pickup fee issues…
A [GT]. There are three reason for cost of the trash pickup: 1) the trash pickup itself ($??/month); 2) $250/month rent on the land; 3) paying off the improvements that where made last year. The pay off is supposed to expire in one year.
Q. Will there be a resident manager?
A [GT] . Yes. There will also be an answering service for after hour emergencies. Also a property supervisor at Millennium
Q. You’ve done 31 ?
A [GT]. Yes, but not all as part of Millennium. Marineland would be our second purchase in LA county. We also have a sister company, Augusta Homes. About 17 purchases through Millennium and 15 through Augusta.
I used to work on the “dark side” (…talk about how he got into this business).
We have a great Board:
KATHY WEAVER, was
active in …??
JON KMETT, active in Big Brothers and
??
GREGORY BARBER, …
JOSEPH MECARO, active in rent control
MARY BUTTERFIELD, a retired investment banker
Q. Do you see any major problems that would cause you not to go forward?
A [GT]. Not yet. If there were over a million dollars in repairs we might pull out. It’s good that SCE handles the electrical directly because that’s often a source of problems. That you have few facilities like a clubhouse reduces maintenance.
Comments [Various Residents]. There has been a lot of work recently. The wires were put underground a few years ago. The water/pumping that used to flood some areas was fixed; Driveways and parking asphalted.
As previously stated, Millennium does not buy parks if the residents don’t want them to. There are upfront costs (e.g. legal fees, engineering). Millennium wants a vote from residents before going any further.
Pat Love called for a show of hands vote:
“Do you want Millennium Housing to go ahead with purchase of Marineland Mobile
Home Park”?
PASSED, one dissenter.
Q. We need a real HOA now, not just the GSMOL thing. When would the sale go through?
A [GT] . We estimate a 6 months escrow, starting from December. So maybe sometime in May if no big surprises or delays. I have to get approval from the Hermosa Beach City Council, but it sounds like that wouldn’t be a problem. There will be also “TEFRA” meetings.
Q [George Turk to dissenter] Why did you not vote for going forward? Can I answer your concerns?
A. There is a lot going on now in the park that I think may affect the deal and the rents. The drives are being widened to 15 feet to meet Fire Department requirements. Walls are being torn up and parking spaces moved.
Comments [Various Residents]. They don’t need to widen all the drives. The park is small enough that they could run fire hoses all the way across the park. The Fire Station is right across the street.
A. [GT] What could kill the deal or make the rents higher than assumed is
§ Over $1 dollars in repairs, in which case Millennium might pull out.
§ Interest Rates go up between now and close. This is perhaps the bigger concern and why we want to move quikly.
Q. What if people want to buy homes for future re-sell or as rental property?
A [GT]. Millennium wants the park to be owner-occupied. The idea of affordable housing doesn’t work if not owner occupied. Most problems that occur in parks are due to absentee owners and sub-letters. There may be some exceptions. For example, a senior citizen who’s had to stay at a nursing homes for a several months may be allowed to sub-let until they moved back home.
Q. What about the ones already rented out?
A [GT]. Probably grandfather those. The rent restrictions, rent assistant might not apply to sub-letters. Owners would be pressured to sell these homes. Sub-letters basically have no rights.