September 24, 2026 – Bell, Calif. – Residents of Bell Mobile Home Park are calling on the City of Bell to halt the proposed closure of the publicly owned property and work with homeowners and nonprofit partners to preserve this critical source of affordable housing. Written comments, submitted this week by the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) and the Public Interest Law Project (PILP) on behalf of the residents association Unidos por Bell Mobile Home Park (Unidos), will be followed by oral testimony from residents and advocates at the October 14 City Council meeting.

Advocates’ comments detail the City’s failure to comply with state requirements governing the destruction of publicly funded affordable housing, its lack of transparency and community engagement throughout the planning process, and its refusal to negotiate with homeowners and nonprofit partners who have repeatedly offered to purchase the park, allowing residents to stay in their homes and preserving more than 150 affordable mobile home spaces.

Park resident Jesús Humberto Pérez said in Spanish, “My wife and I are elderly. We own our home, but we live solely on our retirement. If we’re forced out of the park, in this economy, we won’t have enough to survive somewhere else. Our doctors, our church, our friends and our support network are all here. Our lives are in this community. If the City throws us out, what will become of us?”

Meanwhile, City actions continue to create uncertainty and hardship for park residents. Since appointing a new management company in February, the City has overseen an increase in eviction notices while refusing to accept payments from rental assistance programs. It has also prohibited residents from selling their mobile homes, leaving many with no clear path forward.

“The City’s plan to close the park would displace hundreds of people and eliminate one of the city’s last sources of affordable housing while denying residents a voice in what happens to their community,” said Herbert Martinez, staff attorney at LAFLA. “Many of the people who live here are elderly, disabled, or are raising families, and they cannot simply find similar housing elsewhere. The City should be looking for a way to preserve these homes, not forcing families to leave.”

“Mobile home parks are a crucial source of affordable housing and one of the few homeownership opportunities available to low- and moderate-income households,” said Melissa Morris, staff attorney at PILP. “Despite their name, mobile homes are almost never mobile. When mobile home parks close, residents lose what is often their most valuable asset, in addition to being forced from their homes and communities.”

In its Relocation Impact Report published August 5, 2026, the City acknowledged that nearly all the park’s residents are low-income, including many seniors, people with disabilities, families with children, and monolingual Spanish speakers. Most are long-term residents, having lived in the park for an average of 21 years—and some as long as 61 years. The report concluded that displaced residents would face substantially higher housing costs that many cannot afford, but it did not identify comparable replacement housing—a requirement under state law.

The proposed closure has also drawn concern from Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn and California State Senator Lena Gonzalez, who have expressed support for preserving Bell’s affordable mobile home communities and preventing resident displacement.

Read the written comments here. Residents will present additional comments to City Council on October 14, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at the Bell Community Center (6250 Pine Avenue, Bell, CA 90201). The meeting can also be livestreamed here.