Dozens of empty trailers that attracted squatters and sparked legal battles in Los Angeles County are now creating a major headache for Riverside County neighbors and officials.
About 70 trailers stored in a vacant lot in Wildemar city were removed from another vacant lot in the Industrial District earlier this year. The trailer attracted squatters who turned lots into makeshift homeless camps.
The Black Series trailer is no longer an issue for industrial cities or Los Angeles County authorities, but Wildmer officials say the trailer is now an annoying thing. Wildemar authorities say the trailer owners have not received city approval necessary to place them in empty lots near several homes.
The city of Wildemar is in the process of obtaining a warrant to remove the trailer after attempting to work with the owner, Mayor Wildemar Ashley Deprippo said in a statement. The trailer violates the city’s zoning and fire codes, she said, adding that the issue is an ongoing code enforcement case.
Wildomar officials will inform trailer owners on Tuesday that the trailer must be moved within 48 hours. Otherwise, the city would do so and inform the owner that it would be charged the costs. Dephillippo said the trailer may not be removed by the end of the week while the city notified the owner of the trailer and sought a warrant.
“I want to be clear, the issuance of warrants may not be in line with the 48-hour notice, and we have to wait for the proper warrants to be in place before we can enter the property,” she said.
Two letters were posted on the chain link fence surrounding the trailer in the 20,700 block of Palomar Street on Tuesday, according to a neighbor.
A notice from the city of Wildomar dated April 15, 2025 gives owners of dozens of Black Series RVs to remove them.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The letter was addressed to Hongwei Qiu and Zihan Feng, according to a copy of the letter shared online. QIU, which owns the highlands-based Black Series RVS, did not respond to requests for comment on the trailer after the city issued an order to remove it.
Trailers parked at Riserepair on Wildomar Properties are listed on the Black Series website from $44,000 to $50,000, respectively.
In an interview with CBS News, Qiu apologized to residents and the city.
He says he didn’t know that the trailer was violating the city’s code, and residents understand that they are worried that the empty trailer might attract squatters.
“Sorry… because they read the news. Of course they’re worried that the same safety issues may arise in their neighborhood,” he said.
Jessica Hume, a Wildmar resident, began to notice that Black Series trailers were being brought to real estate at the end of 2024. The Industrial District trailer may have begun arriving at Wildemar near the beginning of 2025.
Hume confronted the man who was dropping him out of the trailer. She says he handed him his phone and Qiu tries to explain that he doesn’t know the city’s zoning code. His recent apology to the community feels blank, she said.
Residents pass dozens of black RVs.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“He apologised and then brought in more trailers,” she said. “That’s an operation.”
On Thursday, Hume saw someone trying to rip off the chain link fence and access the trailer.
She told me not to do so because it was illegal.
“I feel like I’m a bit of an Irish woman and I’m starting to crack down on my property,” Hume said.
Wild Marcode Enforcement Manager Raul Berroteran updated the city council on April 9, with property owners with trailers trying to kick Qiu out.
Just two days before the meeting, Veloteran said he had said there was another trailer at the Black Series Employee Park. He notified the company’s representative of the zoning violation, and the company then asked for an extension of the timeline to track it down and remove the trailer.
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