Top Plaintiffs' Verdicts by Dollar: Andrade et al. v. MHC Operating Limited Partnership et al.

A Santa Clara County jury in April found the owner of a San Jose mobile home park on the hook for $111 million for failing to maintain the park's condition. It was briefly the largest award against a mobile home park in California - before the verdict was tossed out after trial.

The case was brought by 61 residents who claimed California Hawaiian Mobile Estates was a beautiful park before Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc., the largest mobile home park owner in the country, took ownership of it.

Since then, the residents said they've experienced water outages that lasted up to 20 hours at a time without notice, sewage backups, inadequate street lighting and geese feces in the swimming pool.

Plaintiffs sued the mobile home park owner for violating state law governing such residences as well as rental agreements.

Equity LifeStyle countered that it kept the park in good working order, the proof of which included winning a Community of the Year award in 2012.

One of the obstacles in the trial was getting jurors to overcome negative stereotypes associated with trailer parks and instead focus on residents in their own community, said James C. Allen of Allen Semelsberger & Kaelin LLP, the residents' lead attorney.

He added that the plaintiffs' legal team spent weeks interviewing third party witnesses such as former managers who have no monetary stake in the case about the poor conditions before putting a single plaintiff on the stand.

"By then, it was no longer a question of whether the conditions existed," Allen said. "[The witnesses] pretty much proved that."

After a week of deliberations, the jury found the mobile home park owner liable. It levied $15.3 million in economic and noneconomic damages and more than $95.7 million in punitive damages. Andrade et al. v. MHC Operating Limited Partnership, aka Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc., CV09-14075 (Santa Clara Super. Ct., filed April 23, 2009).

In post-trial motions, however, Superior Court Judge Maureen A. Folan tossed out the verdict and ordered a new trial on damages, while upholding the jury's findings of liability. Both sides have appealed the order.

Defense attorney Clarke B. Holland could not be reached for comment.

- Kylie Reynolds