She puts the Lord in 'vanlord.' Palo Alto wants to ban her business

Summary

Kate Bridget Li is not a typical landlord. Instead of apartments or homes, she rents out half a dozen RVs that are parked on the street in the East Meadow neighborhood of Palo Alto. She also says she isn’t in it to make money — at least, not for herself. “When Lord God called me into this business, He said, ‘I will lead you into something that you have never thought of, but don’t be afraid. I’ll go with you.’ So based on that command, I just (went) all in,” she said. Li charges her tenants anywhere from $800 to $1,200 per month, which is a fraction of the price of an average studio or one-bedroom in Palo Alto. But her take-home is next to nothing because on top of parking tickets, repairs and other maintenance on her vehicles, she also donates at least $800 each month to her ministry, Spread the Name of Lord Jesus, she said. Sometimes, Li said tenants come to her for help or advice, during which she may direct them to her religion and ministry. “When they need it, they seek for it, I will give it to them. I will provide that information,” Li said. “But I wouldn’t push my belief onto anyone.” On a recent afternoon, Pedro Lee was moving out of the RV he rented from Li into his own RV with his uncle. The two were tenants of Li for several months and paid $900 for their unit, Lee said. In between hauling boxes, the pair described Li as a laid-back and flexible landlord. They said they knew that their landlord was involved in a ministry, but little else about her religion or beliefs. She said she wouldn’t be in the RV rental business at all if the Lord did not call her to do it. But that means that, like her tenants, she lives in an RV, unable to afford an apartment. As Palo Alto continues to debate the specifics of a policy to address oversized vehicle parking, one aspect of the issue appears to have broad consensus among homeowners and city officials alike: banning the practice of “vanlording.” The term refers to people like Li who rent parked RVs to tenants on public ...