De Anza tenants await next court report
The legal struggle between De Anza Mobile Home Park residents and the city is moving through the courts slowly and unsurely.
The latest court order in May by Judge Charles R. Hayes said the city must come back with a relocation impact report to “determine mitigation of economic hardship” for residents as soon as possible.
Until then, residents will stay at the park for the foreseeable future, said Vincent Bartollota, an attorney representing the De Anza tenants.
The city will pay for the report to be handed over to two “special masters” who will review it and the relocation plan and make recommendations to the court.
“In the meantime, these people will be leaving with a cloud over their head with regard to what’s going to happen to them,” Bartollota said.
Bartolotta said he’s been contacted by the city to help select the special masters.
De Anza residents have wanted the city to pay anywhere from $48 million to $84 million for the cost of moving, which would include the city paying “in place” fair-market value of the homes and possibly the differences in rent for residents for 48 months.
The court found the city doesn’t have to pay for the “in place” value of the homes but may have to help the tenants pay rent for the 48 months following the move, according to court documents.
The fight over the property, designated for public use, has lasted through decades of litigation.
The residents’ 50-year lease technically ended in November 2003, according to court documents.
Representatives of the De Anza residents and the city have been tied up in court ever since over how much the city should have to pay the residents to move.