Mobile home park speaks out about living in ‘deplorable’ conditions
Residents living at the Rancho Del Sol Mobile Home and RV Park in Mecca are speaking out against the property owner for not maintaining the land and forcing tenants to live in what they call ‘deplorable’ conditions.
“I let him know about the problem. He didn’t do anything about it,” said Audriana Morales.
She’s talking about her landlord. The owner of the mobile home and RV park. Morales moved in with her two young children about three years ago.
“I’ve been living almost those three years without electricity.”
Morales says she had been complaining to the owner since she moved in, but was told she’d have to make due. In January Morales says she qualified for free legal assistance from Riverside County. That’s when she got a lawyer.
“Because of his help I got electricity now. But now I don’t have an air conditioner,” Morales said.
New meters installed blew out circuits to major appliances in Morales’ home and her neighbors’ homes too. Morales says she can’t afford to replace the appliances.
“I’m still fighting to see if I can get money back to get new appliances,” Morale said.
The mobile home park sits right behind an abandoned watermelon field. Some of the tenants claim the field attracts flies and ticks, which have been infesting the community for months. Other neighbors blame it on stray cats.
“We have a lot of ticks because of the cats. We have a lot of cats. I believe there’s forty cats in here,” said one neighbor.
“I would like to see if this will help, if the owner sees this, to take care of the people. The people who live here, not just myself,” Morales said.
Other tenants tell KESQ & CBS Local 2 human waste has been accumulating in parts of the park because of failed plumbing, which tenants say, the landlord has no plans of fixing. KESQ & CBS Local 2 spoke to a manager on the property. She says the mobile home park was undergoing a major electricity upgrade and says everyone has electricity. She did not want to go on camera and told us an owner was not available to speak.
