The unsuspecting residents of Wildomar watched in horror as battered luxury RVs, some covered in graffiti, began to show up.
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From January to April, roughly 70 moved into a storage lot in the small city with a rural feel in Riverside County, California. Many in the quiet community were furious.
"It’s heartbreaking to see our quiet little rural town turn into a dumping ground," said Debbi Renfrow, Wildomar resident, to CBS News Los Angeles.
The fleet has since been towed away. The city took out a warrant since the owner of the RVs did not have a permit to store them there, reported ABC7. City officials said the vehicles violated local zoning regulations and fire codes, according to LA Post.
"I have not slept properly in months, and it was like Christmas arrived this morning. My husband and I literally opened the curtains to see code enforcement here, and we were like, ‘It’s like Santa’s arrived,’" said Wildomar resident Jessica Hume to ABC7. Hume had complained about the smell of human feces coming from the parked vehicles in an interview with KCAL News.
The owner of the RVs, Jack Hong Wei Qiu, told ABC7 he moved some of them to a property in San Bernardino County over the weekend, and he’s waiting to see what the cost will be to recover the ones the city towed.
Qiu isn’t a stranger to complaints. In fact, the Black Series trailers were also recently removed from the city of Industry by authorities after they attracted squatters. Several of the vehicles even caught fire at one point.
According to NBC4, several homeless people living in the vehicles in Industry claimed they paid rent to Qiu, which he denied.
Wildomar homeowners heartbroken by arrival of RVs
The saga of these Black Series RVs doesn’t start in Wildomar. Instead, they first popped onto the public’s radar back in 2024. At that point, they were parked in the city of Industry, where they attracted squatters.
The squatters reportedly wreaked havoc on the RVs and the surrounding neighborhood. Wildomar residents didn’t want their neighborhood to experience the same issues.
“I don’t want to see this turn into the city of Industry. I don’t want to see people in there and I don’t particularly want a fire, that’s the biggest scare because we are very dry out here,” Lynne Mayes, a Wildomar resident for over 40 years, said in an interview with NBC4. “We have one fire truck here, this is a small town.”
Mayes continued, “Just because we are wide open and rural, it’s not a welcome sign.”
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Homeowners bear the hidden costs
Although the residents of Wildomar didn’t witness squatters moving into the vacant RVs, the threat of a city of Industry situation repeating itself is unnerving.
When RV encampments show up in any neighborhood, the homeowners face indirect financial consequences.
First off, an ongoing presence of RV squatters in a neighborhood will likely pull property values down. After all, potential homebuyers likely don’t want to purchase a house near a volatile situation like a homeless encampment.
Beyond falling property values, homeowners may feel the need to spend more money on security. For example, they might opt to install an alarm system or build a sturdy fence to protect their property.
Additionally, homeless encampments may also lead to increased insurance premiums. After all, insurance companies price policies based on risk. Insurers might raise premiums for nearby homeowners if there is a higher risk of fire or crime in a particular area due to an encampment. Los Angeles property owners were dropped by insurance companies or saw their rates skyrocket for this reason, according to a 2019 report from NBC4.
For many homeowners, an RV squatting community showing up on their doorstep could lead to serious financial consequences. Although it’s difficult for individuals to protect their property from this risk, actively involving your local government could protect your entire community. If the local government has the right rules on the books and makes the effort to enforce those rules, squatters in RVs won’t be allowed to wreak havoc on your neighborhood’s property values.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
