With a federal judge dismissing a bankruptcy case and ordering a trustee to oversee the sale of a controversial mobile home park, the story of the fight between tenants and the park’s ownership appears nearing the end.

After U.S. Judge Jennifer Niemann on Wednesday called La Hacienda Mobile Estates’ bankruptcy filing not in “good faith,” she denied the owner’s plan and ordered a Chapter 11 trustee to oversee the park’s sale.

She said the trustee would guarantee the owner sells the north Fresno mobile home park, protect tenants, and keep the owner from misrepresenting the property to buyers.

This after the attorney for the only bidder on the property — Visalia-based Self-Help Enterprises — called owner Matt Davies “unpredictable.”

During the bankruptcy process, it came out in court that Davies drastically changed the sale price, attempted to change the property line — leaving out a home on the property and attempting to protect himself from possibly misrepresenting the property as Self-Help sought to do due diligence.

Davies did not return a request for comment from GV Wire.

“Mr. Davies is interested in only the equity holder’s interest and not anyone else’s,” Niemann said.

How La Hacienda Got to Bankruptcy

Stockton-based Harmony Communities, of which Davies is CEO, purchased La Hacienda — then called Trails End Mobile Home Park — in October 2022 after the park went into receivership. In 2021, a homeowner died in a fire there, and the city of Fresno claimed the death was due to negligence by the park’s previous owner.

The park is at 104 E. Sierra Ave., east of Blackstone Avenue.

Harmony purchased the park in October 2022, and in a December 2022 email filed in court documents, Davies said that the residents are “terrible.”

“(T)he park sucks, its not fun. The residents are terrible. Give us 6 months and we can hopefully have most of the problems gone by then,” the email to his attorney states.

Soon after purchasing the park, ownership began evicting tenants and attempted to raise rents more than 100% in some cases, according to attorney Mariah Thompson of California Rural Legal Assistance.

Six months Harmony bought the park, it was put up for sale.

Ownership sought to raise rents more than 100% in some cases. The company told the Fresno Mobile Home Park Rent Review Committee it needed a 12% return to remain solvent. Before an injunction from the court, ownership had evicted more than half of the tenants.

The committee denied the rental raise request, approving only a minimal one.

Davies — the 100% stakeholder for La Hacienda — attempted to then close the park. Fresno officials rejected Davies’ plan, which allocated more than $200,000 to buy out tenants from their homes and help with moving fees. In April, Self-Help sent La Hacienda a letter of intent stating it wanted to purchase the park.

By May, La Hacienda declared bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy Case an Attempt to Evict Tenants: Niemann

Linda Martinez, a nine-year resident of Trails End, called Niemann’s decision a relief.

“(We’re) happy, relieved, comfortable now that we’re not going to lose our place because he wanted to take us out of our own place,” Martinez said. “He was just mentioning we’re squatters and this and that and we don’t deserve anything.”

Davies had disputed that Martinez actually owned her home. It took an injunction to give Martinez time to come up with the title documents showing they were indeed owners, Thompson said.

Accusations against Davies didn’t stop with tenants.

Niemann said in the Oct. 30 hearing she felt the bankruptcy filing was simply to evict tenants. Since mobile-home owners own their homes, they are often considered unsecured creditors in bankruptcy cases.

“The debtor hasn’t filed this case to make sure creditors are treated well,” Niemann said. “The debtor is using this simply because the debtor is trying to take all the tenants off of the property.”

Little Confidence in Davies Account: Attorneys, Niemann

In the Oct. 30 hearing, La Hacienda attorney Tinho Mang said bankruptcy was the company’s only way of obtaining a fair hearing after the city of Fresno rejected the park’s closure impact report.

Negotiations with Davies to purchase the property were also difficult, Self-Help attorney Alex Peltzer said in court.

After negotiating with a $4 million offer from Self-Help — $3.5 million of which came from the city of Fresno — Davies in July sent an email to the nonprofit’s vice president asking for $5.6 million, a 40% increase, Niemann said. Negotiations stopped after that.

Harmony originally purchased the park for $1.7 million, including $400,000 for repairs.

Days after Niemann first indicated she was ready to dismiss the case and possibly appoint a trustee, Davies in an October motion to the court said he would resume negotiations with Self-Help. A last-minute change to the property excluded a single-family home valued at $300,000. With no debate, La Hacienda attorney Peter Fear, put the property back in.

A contract change also attempted to make Davies the sole contact for Self-Help’s due diligence in buying the park. The contract said Davies would not be liable for any mistakes, something Niemann called “aggressive.”

Peltzer said his company could rely on a Chapter 11 trustee, because Davies likes to “play games.”

“If there is a hidden landmine, Mr. Davies is not going to reveal it,” Peltzer said.

Trustee Appointment May Resolve Remaining Lawsuits

Thompson said the appointment of a trustee protects tenants from having to fight with ownership after a dismissal.

“This is a better outcome than we even thought we could get, we came in asking the court to dismiss the case, and the court went a step further,” Thompson said. “If they had just dismissed the case, we’d be back fighting this in state court with this company.

Thompson said the trustee can resolve the two lawsuits still outstanding from the park against the city of Fresno.

Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz said the city has urged ownership to sell for months.

“I am pleased with the court’s ruling and this positive outcome for the Park’s resident,” Janz said. “Thank you to my legal team for their hard work on this case.”

Fresno City Councilman Mike Karbassi, who followed the case, said it’s assuring to know the legal system works.

“From the start, this company acted in bad faith with no regard to what happens to the residents whom they made vulnerable to homelessness,” Karbassi said.

An email to Self-Help was not returned, but Thompson said the nonprofit intended to give previously evicted tenants a chance to come back to the park. Her organization has kept in contact with those tenants.

“They’re going to bring in new housing, they’re going to keep the new housing as affordable as possible,” Thompson said. “They want to try to help people become buyers of their homes, and they want to try and find the people that were kicked out unjustly and see if they want to come back.”