Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Hello,
My sister and I have a problem with a mobile home my mother left us when she died in 2007. The mobile home is in a mobile home park east of Sacramento. The problem is that she left legal language in her documents to give a "Gift of Right of Occupancy" to a male friend of hers who had lived with her as a friend. They were never married, so there is no legal relationship that my sister and I have with him. The man's blood relations have not taken care of him, but his son stole items from our mother's mobile home when he was visiting his father once. However, my sister and her husband, myself and the rest of my family have treated him (the father) like a family member. He is in his mid-80s and fell recently, shattering his hip. After surgery in the hospital and a short recovery period, the attending doctor determined that he could not be without full-time care and so he was discharged to a skilled nursing facility. Here is our problem: he has not met the terms of the "Right of Occupancy" for quite some time, has been addicted to Vicadin for over 2 years and has not kept up the maintenance of the property to the point that we have had to pay thousands of dollars in repairs that could have been avoided. Additionally, his blood daughter has Power of Attorney, and his checkbook, so we do not know what to do. We need to remove his things from the mobile home, do whatever we can to clean up the mess he has left behind and repair whatever other damage has occurred from what was not maintained and try our best to sell the mobile home as soon as possible because of the great loss we have already incurred. We cannot rent the property, for it is against the mobile park regulations. I have looked online at the CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE DIVISION 2, PART 2, CHAPTER 2.5, MOBILEHOME RESIDENCY LAW AND CHAPTER 2.6 RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARK OCCUPANCY LAW and cannot figure out how our situation relates to the code since he is not a "renter" or "tenant", as far as I understand it. However, I also see the 3-day eviction notice conditions and realize he has broken the conditions of his "Right of Occupancy" over and over, so again, we don't know what to do.
Do you have any ideas to help or can you direct us to the correct code sections that might cover this type of thing?
Many thanks for your kindness,
Joy

Asked on 1/24/10, 10:02 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

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Without knowing the exact terms of the "right of occupancy" and what his "violations" are, it is not really possible to advise you regarding your options. In any case, however, the mobile home law is probably not where your remedies will be found. Those code provisions govern the relationship between the mobile home owner and the park, as to the lease of the space the mobile home sits on, not between the mobile home owner and a renter of the mobile home, or other occupant.

Answered on 1/29/10, 10:45 am

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