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Federal Programs and Local Organizations:
Meeting the Housing Needs of Rural Seniors

© Housing Assistance Council, 2001

Permission is granted ONLY to nonprofit community-based organizations to reproduce and/or adapt this document, and only for their own use.

LAKE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

Introduction

Lake County is located in northern California, approximately 75 miles north of San Francisco. It is characterized largely by its distinct geographic attributes. The most significant of these is the county's namesake, Clear Lake. With 100 miles of shoreline, it is the largest freshwater lake in California, and is situated in the center of the county. Most of the county's 50,631 people live in small towns and hamlets interspersed along the lake's shores. The lake and its many small population centers are encircled by a series of mountains. Geographically, the area has been compared to a miniature version of the Swiss Alps. Despite their beauty, the mountains act as a natural barrier to industry and commerce. Subsequently, Lake County has not shared in the economic prosperity enjoyed by its neighbors in the San Francisco Bay area and Napa Valley. Lake County's economy largely revolves around recreation and tourism created by the lake. Some small scale agricultural production, including pear orchards and vineyards, is also present.

Lake County's unique physical and economic attributes have provided a conducive atmosphere for a prominent and growing retirement industry. Lake County has one of the highest elderly in-migration rates in California. In 1990, 23 percent of its population was over the age of 65, which is nearly twice the national average. Clean air, scenic landscapes, and a relaxed pace of life make the area a highly desirable retirement destination. The cost of housing may be an equally important factor influencing the influx of retirees. Just as Lake County has not prospered economically like many other counties in its region, it has also not experienced the high housing prices common in northern California. The median value of an owner-occupied unit in Lake County is $93,300, which is significantly lower than the $195,500 median value for California. Several county officials and housing providers noted that generally lower- to middle-income seniors were migrating to Lake County from the San Francisco Bay area. As one housing provider stated, "They can sell their home in Oakland or San Francisco for an unbelievable $300,000 and move to Lake County, then buy a mobile [home] or tract house for $50,000 and live comfortably off of the profit."

Housing characteristics in Lake County are influenced by its significant elderly population. The homeownership rate is high, with 71 percent of the county's housing units owner-occupied. Single-family homes are the predominant type of housing, making up 58 percent of occupied units. Mobile homes and converted vacation homes are also prevalent. They comprise much of Lake County's affordable housing stock. In 1990, mobile homes accounted for 33 percent of the county's occupied units, which is nearly five times the national average. County housing officials note however, that the number of mobile homes has decreased slightly due to the recent implementation of a stricter housing code. The housing stock in Lake County is relatively young, as the median year homes were constructed was 1973. The county's high mobile home concentration may account for this factor, as the area experienced an inundation of mobile home placements in the 1970s and 1980s. Lake County also has a high housing vacancy rate with over 8,000 vacant housing units in the county. A staggering 95 percent of these vacancies are not available for sale or rent. Many vacancies are created by the county's recreation and tourism industry, as 5,648 of the vacant units are listed for seasonal, recreational or occasional use.

Owner-Occupied Housing and Assistance for Elderly Homeowners

Seniors head households in 42 percent of Lake County's owner-occupied units, and 85 percent of those over the age of 65 own their homes. Mobile homes are a popular housing option for many Lake County seniors. Most of the mobile homes occupied by seniors are located in small parks. These parks dominant the county's lake front communities and vary significantly in their quality and attractiveness. While mobile homes are common housing for Lake County seniors they also tend to be very controversial. Most county officials and housing providers cite the predominance of older mobile homes as the most significant housing problem in the county. For many years, Lake was one of the few counties in California which had no restrictions or zoning laws concerning the construction or placement of residential dwellings. This policy was viewed as a way to attract seniors and retirees by expanding their housing choices. Subsequently, it also led to an influx of mobile home placements within the county. Local housing officials note that many of the county's older mobile homes have fallen into serious disrepair. For example, the Housing Element⁵⁷ for Clear Lake, the county's second largest city, reported that 50 percent of its mobile homes had obvious code violations. In addition to the prevalence of mobile homes, vacation homes in Lake County are increasingly being converted to permanent housing for seniors. In many cases, seniors have owned these vacation homes for years, and upon retirement are moving into them permanently. Most of these dwellings were not intended for year-round use, and often experience high rates of physical deficiencies.

The housing problems experienced by many Lake County seniors are not easily remedied. Several factors inherent to mobile homes act as impediments to their rehabilitation or modification. A significant number are not placed on permanent foundations, and therefore do not qualify for conventional bank financing for rehabilitations. As a result, mobile home owners often resort to sub-prime lending agencies for rehabilitation loans. In many cases these sub-prime lending agencies charge interest rates as high as 22 percent. Furthermore, many housing service providers note that even if financing for repairs is obtained, older mobile homes are often difficult to repair because of their poor quality and inconsistencies in building technology.

These housing characteristics specifically related to mobile homes and converted vacation units are becoming increasingly problematic for elderly homeowners in Lake County. To further exacerbate the problem, there appears to be no extensive housing rehabilitation program within the county. The local RHS office notes the completion of approximately 12 rehabilitations a year using Section 504 grant funds. A majority of these projects involved the rehabilitation of mobile homes. The Lake County Housing Department has leveraged a small amount of CDBG funds with the 504 program. However, both entities maintain current rehab efforts are far from adequate for meeting the county's rehabilitation needs. Other than these governmental agencies, there are no private nonprofit organizations providing housing rehabilitation services in Lake County.

Current federal and state housing policy may also be hampering rehabilitation efforts for elderly residents in Lake County. County officials and housing providers maintain that funds for new construction are presently very popular, but rehabilitation programs are not a high priority. Yet, seniors typically do not desire or need new homes. Instead they are in greater need of funds for repair and rehabilitation. Furthermore, Lake County does not fare well in competitive funding rounds that do provide resources for rehabilitation. A prime example may be found in the preference criteria for the allocation of CDBG funds administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development. Priority is given to counties with an older housing stock and a high incidence of overcrowded units. With its high concentration of mobile homes placed in the 1970s and 1980s, Lake County has a relatively young housing stock. However, while the age of the housing units may be younger, the criteria does not take into account the high incidence of deficiencies found in many mobile homes. Secondly, overcrowding is not a problem associated with seniors as they typically live in one- or two-person households. Thus, current housing policy is not very conducive to Lake County's primary housing need of rehabilitation service for elderly households.

Rental Housing Options For Seniors.

While most Lake County seniors live in homes they own, there is a significant need for affordable rental options. In 1990, 69 percent of renters over the age of 65 were cost-burdened. Conventional homes, and converted vacation homes make up a majority of the rental units for seniors. Similar to Lake county's owner-occupied housing demographics, mobile homes are a significant rental housing option for elders as well. Overall, 26 percent of the renter occupied units in Lake County are mobile homes. Local housing officials anecdotally note the percentage of seniors renting mobile homes is somewhat consistent with this figure. Most of the elderly occupied rental mobile homes are located in parks. Furthermore, several parks located within the county are solely dedicated to housing persons over the age of 62. The median gross rent in Lake county is $460. While rent differences between structure type could not be ascertained, local housing officials maintained that the general rental price difference between mobile homes and conventional units was not extreme. However, they also noted that mobile homes rented by seniors tended to be in much worse physical condition than conventional units. County officials also note that an alarmingly high number of seniors are living in motels.

There are a substantial number of subsidized rental options for Lake County seniors. Rural Community Housing Development Corporation (RCHDC) is an experienced nonprofit housing organization serving the low-and moderate-income housing needs of three northern California counties. Incorporated in 1975, most of their efforts have concentrated on self-help homeownership programs and rental housing, particularly for the elderly. RCHDC has developed 550 units of multifamily low-income housing for both families and the elderly. They currently manage 741 units of low-income rental housing, and have built over 225 units of self-help housing under their homeownership programs.

In Lake County, RCHDC has developed 137 units of rental housing for the elderly using Section 202 funding. These units are located within four complexes, dispersed throughout three of the county's communities. In response to Lake County's growing elderly population, the projects were built between 1980 and 1993. RCHDC also manages the properties.

The characteristics of the four projects and their tenants are very similar. Two of the projects consist of detached garden style apartments and the other two are attached low-rise complexes. The four projects range in size from 30 to 40 units. The average age of tenants is 76, and 78 percent of the households are headed by a single women. Resident incomes are rather low, with an average of only $7,944. All four of RCHDC's projects subsidize rents with project-based Section 8 rental assistance. With residents paying 30 percent of their income, the average rent paid by tenants is $153.

RCHDC has no formal service provision associated with its Lake County projects. However, the coordination of services is often accomplished informally by the property manager. Approximately 50 percent of the RCHDC tenants receive some type of support service involving medical attention, transportation, nutrition, or household maintenance. All four projects are fully occupied; however, managers indicated that waiting lists have recently become lower than their ususal level. County officials and service providers noted that many seniors are reluctant to move into projects like these even though they are among the highest quality and most affordable rental options in the county. Local housing providers maintain this reluctance most often stems from a preference for the autonomy of homeownership. RCHDC estimates that approximately 50 percent of their tenants are not long-time residents of Lake County. This suggests that a portion of elderly in-migrants are utilizing some form of subsidized housing assistance.

There are also a multitude of Section 515 units in the county managed by private for profit firms. Lake County has no public housing units, but the County Housing Services Department administers 212 Section 8 housing vouchers. It is estimated that approximately 20 percent of these vouchers are used by seniors. County housing officials note that one of the most significant problems with the voucher system is that a significant number of Lake County's mobile homes and parks do not meet the Housing Quality Standards (HQS) set forth by HUD.

Other housing options for elderly residents in Lake County include several long-term care facilities and board and care homes. However, there are no assisted living, or continuing care complexes within the county. Housing providers observed that a majority of Lake County seniors had moderate to lower incomes. Therefore the local market might not support a non-subsidized assisted living complex, which is generally an expensive housing option.

Services For Elderly Residents

Due to the high elderly population in Lake County, an active service network for senior needs has evolved. The county's Area Agency on Aging acts as a catalyst to coordinate service needs and referrals for senior citizens It oversees most elderly services in the county which come under the rubric of the Older Americans Act. These services entail the coordination of transportation, healthcare, nutrition and companionship for Lake County seniors. The primary mission of the Lake County Area Agency on Aging is to allow seniors to remain in their homes for as long possible.

Transportation is cited as one of the primary challenges to elderly service provision in Lake County. There are approximately nine separate communities in Lake County. Providing a transportation network between them for various services is often not cost effective. Furthermore, providing transportation out of the county presents even greater challenges for seniors and service providers. Although there are several hospitals in Lake County, none performs advanced or special medical procedures. For many Lake County seniors, medical attention often requires a long commute to adjoining counties.

A valuable service for elders in Lake County is the Senior Law Project. This nonprofit organization has been providing legal aid to Lake County Seniors for the past 20 years. Its primary activities involve legal representation and assistance for seniors dealing with issues such as public assistance, medical care, and housing. The Senior Law Project receives about 150 requests for service each month and many are directly related to housing. Law Project staff highlight that a significant amount of the housing problems experienced by seniors are in direct relation to county's poor quality housing stock. Conflicts between tenants and landlords or mobile home park operators frequently involve housing inadequacies or code violations. Elders needing of housing repairs are also sometimes taken in by home repair scams, or caught up in excessive debt from a finance company. Despite the severity of infractions against seniors, Law Project officials note that older persons are very reluctant to protest in cases where they have experienced discrimination. Many seniors fear losing their homes or being displaced. Unlike younger persons, it is often more difficult for an older person to physically pack up and move. Therefore, they frequently capitulate and avoid confrontation over a housing violation.

Elderly service providers in Lake County were optimistic after the state of California dramatically increased funding for elderly services. Service providers maintained that these changes were made after policy makers realized that it was fiscally beneficial to provide preventative services which kept seniors out of long-term and expensive medical institutions.

Collaborative Efforts

To some extent the collaborative network is very active, as many of the entities have good relations and communicate regularly. However, these networks primarily act as a referral system in which each organization works independently of one another. While very important, this type of networking falls short of an actual collaboration. In fact, there are very few, if any, formal collaborations working directly to provide housing in conjunction with services for seniors in Lake County.

Collaborations between housing groups are somewhat more prevalent as the Lake County Housing Services Department has leveraged CDBG funds with RHS Section 504 loans and grants to provide rehabilitations. One primary constraint to the collaborative network is a shortage of nonprofit housing organizations in the county who provide rehabilitation services for the elderly.

Overview and Local Recommendations

Lake County's unique housing characteristics are a factor in, and product of, its high elderly in-migration rate. The low cost of housing contributes to the area's appeal to outside seniors, many of whom tend to be of low and moderate socioeconomic status. A significant number of these retirees reside in mobile homes and converted vacation homes. These inexpensive units facilitate independent living, which is preferred by seniors. However, many older units, especially mobile homes, are plagued with physical and structural inadequacies that are not easily alleviated. The substandard housing problems experienced by Lake County seniors are exacerbated by a lack of both rehabilitation funds and nonprofit housing organizations to utilize them. There are a large number of high quality and affordable rental options dedicated exclusively for seniors in Lake County, and active nonprofit developers to build an manage them. These units meet the significant rental needs of the county's elderly residents and are among the best rental housing options in the county.

Lake County seniors benefit from an active service network providing transportation, medical care, legal, and nutrition services. However, these services generally are not provided in a formal collaboration with housing assistance. The provision of housing for Lake County seniors would be greatly bolstered by the presence of an active non-profit housing organization which concentrates on providing home rehabilitation services for seniors. Furthermore, the expansion of more extensive collaborative networks between housing and elderly service providers would greatly accentuate not only the quality of housing, but the quality of life for many Lake County seniors.

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