San Jose, some, is hitting in the “Vanlords”, whom city officials say are “bad actors” accusing the homeless of living in destroyed and non -work vans.
“This is a problem that flies under the radar, but my office has been heard directly by residents about the exploitative vanlords taking advantage of desperate tenants seeking affordable shelter,” says councilor David Cohen. Tenants without having to pursue tenants’ protection for rental properties that protect the safety and financial well -being of people with lower income. “
Cohen’s office sent realtor.com photos of market lists on Facebook showing RV illegally rented.
One had a monthly rent of $ 1,300 and another for $ 800.
The listings were active, and only a few such lists. Some vanlords can load even more.
“By creating an ordinance to promote these rentals, we set up a reception of appropriate behavior,” Cohen says. “Our goal is to prevent this crisis from deteriorating, illuminating the light of the situation before it becomes non -manable.”
Said the Council Council fall in a March 12 meeting that addresses the case: “We know that there are bad actors there who place the trailers of destroyed van, at noon or RV, and then manipulate our unpaid residents to rent these places in unsafe or even dangerous waste.”
What is ‘vanlining’ and how widespread is it?
According to San Jose’s attention, there are “two well -known individuals” who are renting at least 20 motor houses for homeless people.
In 2023, police officers discovered that one of these Vanlords had bought four to six RV from an attractive yard, placed them in the Drive and Las Plujas Avenue Education Park and was loading people to live on them. According to the city, this activity is illegal.
A Memorandum of September 2024â by the Police Chief – Anthony Mataâ sent to the City Council said most of the RVs parked on the streets of San Jose did not belong to any of the houses nearby but were
Police said they had received hundreds of complaints about vehicles, but that in general, it was not the city policy to withdraw vehicles if they were used as housing by individuals.
Police mentioned “concerns for individuals who illegally place RV on public roads and rented those RV for unwanted individuals”.
He noted that the city of Los Angeles is taking action to curb the “extinction activity” by designing an ordinance that would stop to run and rent RV if they were parked on public roads.
Memo stressed that the police department was concerned about Vanlords, not the tenants.
“The focus of the issue is not the unwanted individuals living in the RV, but rather the rented persons and illegally place them in the public space to generate personal income,” he himself said.
“The city has an interest in undertaking individuals who preach to the unwanted population of the city and capitalize their disasters by renting RVs that have not passed security inspections and do not have the fundamental removal of lead and sewage.”
However, police say the Vanlord issue does not appear to be widespread, and most people living in RVS were not paying rent.
“It does not appear to be a considerable number of private individuals who lead or subjugate RV to many people,” he himself said.
San Francisco, Long Beach, San Diego and Fresno have noticed issues similar to RV parked illegally on the road. However, according to the same police officer, they are not taking action to prevent it at this time.
“Staff research shows that ‘vanlining’ is not currently a widespread problem in San Jose,” she said.
This has not stopped Doan and council members Michael Mulcahy and David Cohen want to prevent the issue.
The Rules Committee recommended the problem study and reporting again to the municipal council in two weeks.
‘VanLord’s tenants
At least one resident of RV, Rudy Orthogonal, said he believes the blow is about Mayor Matt Mahan wanting to wipe the streets of homeless people in front of an important event.
“He wants to clear the streets of the homeless [before] Super Bowl, – he told the outlet. “I think it would be clean.
Super Bowl LX is planned to be kept short. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, which is a 15-minute car from San Jose city center.
Ortega, who lives in an RV parked near Columbus Park and apparently not renting, submit a restrictive order against the city in 2022. However, a trial trial had to leave the area anyway.
The city has kept a series of “cleansing” intended to clear the streets of homeless and illegally parked RV camps, but most homeless are simply returning – to involvement are after a certain time.
Ortega had a camper parked on roads reportedly full of rodents.
It is unclear where he is just living an orthogonal, but he told San Jose in the spotlight that he only knows about an individual who is renting an RV. He points out that the real issue is not RV, but the inability of the housing.
Meanwhile, â Juanita Maciasâ told ABC7â that she once rented an RV for “$ 500 every month” and did not include electricity or water.
Many of her “neighbors are still rented RV,” she said with owners of owners accusing “a thousand, $ 800 sometimes”.
The average home listing in San Jose is an eye of $ 1.4 million, much higher than the national average of $ 400,500 from February, according to Realtor.comâ®. Renting is not better. The average rent is $ 3,180.
“By limiting the sale, renting, or even transfer of RVs, you will aim for one of the latest options for the housing that unwanted individuals can afford,” Ortega said at the last meeting of the City Council.
“Instead of punishing those who seek refuge in RV, the city should focus on providing true solutions to human refuge.
But Cohen insisted that the issue is not homeless but Vanlords.
“Our concerts are for people who are bringing old, non -functioning vehicles and then rented them to people to live, compared to the people who own their RV”, which is not at all the target of this possible regulation, “he said.
Realtor.com arrived at Doan, Mahan and local homefirst non -profit organizations for comment.
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