Oakland ramps up crackdown on RV dwellers on city streets

By CBS Bay Area

Oakland is implementing a new encampment policy that allows inhabited vehicles to be cited and towed more quickly, drawing the ire of RV dwellers who say the city is reneging on its promises.

Jose Agyure, a car mechanic who has fallen on hard times, said he has been living in a friend’s RV for about a year.

“They come in and they sweep you out of there,” Agyure said. “They take all of your stuff and tow the RV.”

Agyure said he has faced repeated warnings to move or risk having the RV impounded over the past six months.

“It’s just difficult when you are trying to take care of your kids and feed ’em every day without a place to stay,” he said. “It’s kinda hard.”

Agyure is far from alone. In 2024, 58% of Oakland’s unsheltered homeless population was living in vehicles, according to the city’s point-in-time count.

The issue comes as Oakland implements a new encampment policy that allows inhabited vehicles to be cited and towed under state and local vehicle codes. Living inside an RV does not, by itself, prevent the vehicle from being subject to parking and vehicle enforcement.

New notices have now been posted along Kirkham Street near the West Oakland BART station, warning people of an upcoming RV encampment closure.

The City of Oakland told us its standard process requires legal notices to be posted at least seven days before an encampment closure. In many cases, the city said notices are posted 10 to 14 days before an operation.

The city also said outreach typically takes place over a period of two to six weeks before enforcement, with the goal of providing advance notice, engaging with residents and connecting them with available services. People whose RVs are towed or impounded can request to enter available shelter programs, according to the city.

However, some people living in the RV say their experiences have felt much more sudden.

A couple we met near the Kirkham Street encampment said they had recently moved their RVs onto Fifth Street, just steps from their previous location.

“They told us we have an hour’s notice to leave or we’d get towed,” Dana, an Oakland resident, said. “So I had to spend half my money that day.”

Now, the couple worries about how long they will be able to remain in their new location before being told to move again.

“They’ve come and told us they are going to find a new place for us and then, nothing,” Dave, another Oakland resident, said.

For Agyure, the long-term answer is housing. He said he is on a waiting list but expects he could wait at least another year before getting into housing.

In the meantime, Agyure continues to work, wait and hope for something more permanent than another place to park.

“They make it feel like we are committing a crime, when all we’re trying to do is live,” Agyure said. “They need to come up with a program or something.”