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Understanding State and Local Jurisdication for Mobile Housing

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Three of four members of the Rebuilding Together Peninsula senior project team pose for a photo

Team Members
Eglen Galindo, Chantel Yang, Karen Munyan, Alex Paramo

Faculty Mentor
Ross Shachter


Rebuilding together peninsula logo

The Client: Rebuilding Together Peninsula

Rebuilding Together Peninsula (RTP) is a non-profit that serves approximately 250 homes each year, with the help of over 2000 volunteers. They procure funding for low-income households' needs for critical repairs and by contracting the work necessary for approved repairs.

The Problem to Solve

The team's task was to help Rebuilding Together Peninsula streamline their operations within a larger legal and regulatory framework.

Specifically, RTP wanted the team to investigate the following areas:

  • Research the complex policy and regulations that affect RTP's operation in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
  • Create a guide, or report, easily accessible for RTP employees to reference and to have a clear understanding of regulations that surround their work.
  • Ensure their operations are carried out in accordance with regulations, to protect RTP from fines.

Engineering a Solution

Tools and Methodologies

  • Research and outline permitting regulations, rules and processes.
  • Gather historical data on the cost of these operations from RTP, which include past itemized mobile home improvement, removal, and replacement costs.
  • Investigate the practices completed by other housing improvement organizations (Next Step, I’M HOME, Frontier Housing, etc.) that have faced similar challenges.
  • Conduct site visits to become familiar with the intricacies of the project and gain a deeper appreciation for and understanding of the context of the work.

Recommendation and Outlook

  • The California Dept of Housing and Community Development is interested in making the team's presentation and findings available for organizations that can benefit from it.
  • Information can serve over 5000 registered mobile home parks in California.
  • Policies are very stable and have not undergone any major change in decades so this report/presentation will remain relevant for future years.

All 2019 senior projects