Legislation aimed at protecting mobile home park residents from displacement in the wake of natural disasters cleared a key hurdle Tuesday, passing out of the California Senate Housing Committee with broad support.
Senate Bill 749, authored by Senator Ben Allen (D-Pacific Palisades), seeks to expand affordable housing protections by making it more difficult for landowners to convert mobile home parks to market-rate uses following disasters like wildfires, floods or earthquakes. The bill is a direct response to the devastating January wildfires that tore through Pacific Palisades, Altadena and parts of Malibu, displacing thousands and leaving entire communities in legal and logistical limbo.
“The Palisades Fire that ripped through my district in January exposed tragic vulnerabilities that threaten the ability for mobile home residents to return to their community after a natural disaster,” Allen said. “The residents of the Palisades Bowl and Tahitian Terrace mobile home parks lost everything and we need to do everything we can to help them.”
Mobile homes represent the nation’s largest source of unsubsidized affordable housing and are often one of the few remaining entry points into homeownership for lower- and middle-income Californians. But in the wake of disasters, residents face a unique set of challenges: they own their homes but not the land beneath them. Without stronger legal protections, they risk permanent displacement when landlords seek to redevelop damaged lots.
SB 749 would strengthen state law by requiring park owners who plan to close or convert their properties to first offer the land for sale, at fair market value, to resident organizations or qualified nonprofit housing entities certified by the Department of Housing and Community Development. These entities must have a mission of preserving affordable housing.
Officially introduced in the California State Senate on February 21, Allen spoke of the bill last week during a press conference held at Will Rogers State Beach, where local, state and federal officials gathered to mark 100 days since the fire. Standing near the charred remnants of the Palisades Bowl, Allen emphasized the urgent need for legislative change. “There’s been enormous progress, but also enormous gaps,” he said, adding, “And we have to close them, fast.”
Community members echoed that urgency. John Brown, co-chair of the Palisades Bowl Community Partnership, described a post-fire reality filled with uncertainty and frustration. “We were homeowners, but not landowners,” he said. “Now, we can’t even sift through the ashes of our lives without asking permission.”
Brown said residents have faced locked gates, stalled cleanup and what he called a “deafening silence” from ownership, who have floated the idea of turning the area into temporary worker housing for the rebuild. “We’re not temporary,” he said. “This is our home, or it was.”
SB 749 is part of a broader package of bills introduced by Allen and his colleagues, including SB 610 to cap rent hikes in mobile home parks after disasters and SB 658, which gives public agencies first right of refusal to purchase fire-damaged land to prevent speculative takeovers.
The bill now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee for further consideration in the coming weeks.
Allen represents California’s 24th Senate District, which includes the Westside of Los Angeles, the coastal South Bay, Hollywood and the Santa Monica Mountains.
Little remained of the Palisades Bowl mobile home park after the Palisades fire ripped through it
CREDIT: Scott Snowden
