Hundreds of RV park residents face power shutoff after owner refuses to pay SoCal Edison

MORENO VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- Hundreds of residents at a mobile home park near Moreno Valley face the threat of losing all power and water service by mid-June after allegations that the owner of the park hasn't paid its bills in more than a year.

Fisherman's Retreat is home to between 100 and 200 full-time residents as well as weekend campers and vacationers. According to a notice delivered to people on the property by Southern California Edison, everyone could lose power on June 18.

"Southern California Edison has been working with Halo Resorts, the owners of Oak Glen Retreat and Fisherman's Retreat, to obtain payment on past due and current electricity charges," the notice reads.

"These efforts have been unsuccessful. As a result, power to the entire resort will be disconnected on Tuesday, June 18th, 2024."

Eyewitness News has followed the situation at the park since late 2023, when the power was shut off for three days for similar reasons, until SoCal Edison made the decision to temporarily restore power to the property while continuing to work with the owner.

Several months later, residents are starting to lose hope.

"Most of us up here are just going to be homeless is what it's going to boil down to," said Peter Ridder, a longtime resident of Fisherman's Retreat. "Most of the people here are here because they can't afford to be anywhere else, and it's a decent place to live."

Ridder said one of his neighbors spoke with a customer service representative at SoCal Edison, who said the past due balance is over half a million dollars.

"They told us the active debt that's past due right now is $687,000 that they haven't paid Edison."

Part of the problem residents face is that they aren't billed individually because the meters are set up to work that way.

Instead, the property management team pays a single bill, and then bills each of the residents individually.

Because of those logistics, SoCal Edison says it is unable to bill individual tenants. One of the options they recommended in its notice is for one of the residents to take over that role.

"One permanent RV resident may assume the responsibility of the main meter in its entirety. That individual would then be responsible for paying SCE for the entire main meter bill each month," the notice read.

"The individual would also be responsible for collecting the amount each resident owes for electricity as recorded by their sub-meter."

Unless a solution is reached, many residents will be left in an untenable situation.

"I'm currently unemployed, and I have some health issues I'm dealing with," said one resident who moved in a week ago, paying approximately $3,800 in up-front costs. "It's scary, because we don't have the means to move again."

Eyewitness News tried contacting the operators of the property, Halo Resorts. The owner did not respond to our requests for comment.

But someone claiming to be the son of the owner told us that the financial hardship is because of the residents, who allegedly haven't been paying rent since the pandemic.

"That's totally untrue. I know most of the residents up here, everyone's paying their bills," said Ridder, who blames the situation entirely on management. "It's selfish people who don't know how to run a business."

SoCal Edison spokesperson Reggie Kumar tells Eyewitness News they're still working with the owner.

"We understand this situation may be difficult," said Kumar. "We've kept the power on as we have worked to find a solution with Halo Resorts.

"Our efforts so far have not been successful. We continue to work with them to resolve this matter as quickly as possible."