A group of senior citizens and the city of Novato are locked in a heated battle over the purchase price of a mobile home park. But some are questioning how the city became the sole owner of the property in the first place.

The seniors living in the Marin Valley Mobile Country Club mobile home park were forward-thinking. In 1997, they hatched a plan to purchase the property, to give themselves more housing security, and they've been paying on the loan ever since.  

But now that it's almost all paid off, rather than becoming the owners, they said the city is telling them that they have to pay for it all over again.

The land was originally planned to be a golf course, hence the name. Instead, it became a 319-unit complex, housing 400 elderly residents, with more than 90 percent being low-income.

"It's an incredible community," said 13-year resident Serena Fisher.  "And housing security, financial security, and a community is key to aging well."

So, 28 years ago, the residents entered into an agreement to pay $17 million to buy the property. They didn't have collateral, so the city stepped up to guarantee the 30-year bank loan.

"The original intent was that we would own the park when it was paid off," said John Hansen, who serves as president of the residents' nonprofit purchase group. "The city has changed that tune quite a bit over the years."

"The city has paid nothing for this piece of property. The residents have paid for everything," said resident Janine Bradley. "Initially, our name was supposed to be on the title. Somewhere in the paperwork, it got lost and the city took title. Never with our permission. Never in writing. Just simply, the record shows that the city took title, period."

Currently, with only two years and a little more than a million dollars left to pay on the loan, the city of Novato is the legal owner of the park and considers itself to be the residents' landlord. So, when the homeowners once again offered to buy the property, this time for $20 million, the city refused, demanding $26 million instead. Resident and board member Brad Witherspoon said the city came to that figure by ignoring the status of the park as low-income, seniors-only housing.

"They removed that restriction for their evaluation, which brings up the valuation. That's how they got to the $26 million," he said. "They basically told the appraiser, you don't have to take that into consideration when you're doing the evaluation of the park. Because it may not necessarily, it doesn't have to continue with the sale of the park."

That kind of talk has a lot of the residents on edge.

"We're fighting for our lives here," said Jill Boland.  "A lot of people will not be able to afford to move if the status changes. I'm vulnerable. I think most of the people here are vulnerable."

And while the city holds out for an extra $6 million for land that residents say the city hasn't paid a dime for, some are wondering why they should have to pay anything more at all.

"The city's had a lot of financial issues, fiscal issues," said Fisher. "And I think, for them to try to solve it on the backs of low-income, senior housing is just unconscionable. They need to look elsewhere for funds rather than try to double-dip here and make us pay twice."

"In all the years that I was here, and things seemed to be going along fine, I would say, OK," said Julie Manson. "But in the back of my head I'm saying, we're owned by politicians, what could not go wrong?"

The city declined CBS News Bay Area's request for a response, saying they couldn't comment because the negotiations are "on-going and confidential."  

Meanwhile, the residents plan to appear at next week's council meeting. They are in the unusual position of having a landlord that may one day be asking for their vote.