Rent Control going the way of the dodo
I got the following letter in the mail this week from Steve Bennett, our County Supervisor. If you are interested in preserving the possibility of home ownership for seniors and lower income individuals and families in our area, please take a look and maybe take an action. I apologize for any typos - they are mine not Mr. Bennetts.
Dear Mobilehome Owner,
Last week residents in the Ojai Oaks Village Mobilehome Park were notified that their park owner intended to make application to sub-divide the park. Later the park owner will offer to sell the space to the coach owner. This is the first such application in Ventura County following the new court rulings regulating this action.
While on the surfae this may seem attractive to some, it comes with very serious consequences for all the park residents. Once the first lot is sold, our local rent control law becomes null and void for all the residents in that park. This would be true for the County rent control law or the rent control law of the City of Ventura should this happen in a city park.
Residents who are not considered low income and who do not purchase their space will have their rents increased to "market" rate over four years. Residents who are low income will have their rents controlled by state law not by the local rent control law.
All residents who do not purchase their spaces at the park owner's asking price, including low income residents, will lose all protections of local rent control laws. This includes "vacancy decontrol" protections. Renters could only sell their coaches to a buyer who pays the asking price and purchases the space.
This situation is the result of some vaguely written state legislation and a recent court interpretation of that law. If all of the other park owners in Ventura County take advantage of this provision, local rent control protection would be eliminated in Ventura County.
Your state GSMOL [Golden State Mobilehome Owners League] organization has made fixing this situation its top legislative priority. The Ventura County Board of Supervisors will be considering a resolution to take a position in support of the GSMOL effort and to offer the support of our county counsel and state lobbyist.
The hearing on this item will be at 9:30 on Tuesday, February 6, 2007 in the Board of Supervisors hearing room should you care to attend and become informed or comment on this item.
You can also contact your state Assemblymember and Senator to encourage them to suppport proper adjustments to the state legislation so that park owners could not so easily get around local rent control laws.
My reply, if you'd like to use it:
Dear Mr. Bennett and colleagues,
I am writing to ask you to support the CA GSMOL in any way you can to prevent the break-down of local rent control as pertains to residents of mobile home parks. I am unable to attend your hearing Tuesday morning, or I would be saying this in person.
I purchased my mobile home two and a half years ago. It is the only way that I can afford to own a home in this area. I am lucky to live in a park filled with families and senior citizens. I know that, for most of us, even the “normal” annual increases in our rent present a budgeting squeeze. If my space rent were to increase even more, or if I were forced to purchase the land under my home, I would lose my ability to own my home.
Home ownership is a part of the American dream. Please take action to support the residents of Ventura county, not the interests of the park owners who are based in other parts of the state or the country or even the world. Help us preserve our home ownership.
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Comments (2)
Great article in today's LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-homes7feb07,1,2750572.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california&ctrack=1&cset=true
Excerpt:
Urged on by 250 supporters, Ventura County supervisors Tuesday agreed to push for revision of a state law they say is being used by mobile home park owners to eliminate rent controls.
...
"We are teachers, nurses, firefighters, hospital personnel," said Sunshine Appleby, an Ojai resident. "What happens when your service personnel can no longer live in your community?"
Comment #1 Posted by: Lisa Snider | February 7, 2007 07:51 AM
My concern with rent control is the perceived NIMBY stigma. No ghetto blight, Ross Apartments in Meiners Oaks
uses a denser vertical configuration,is more
functional and desirable than horizontal sprawl, and
compliments the European model of a centralized
downtown plaza which provides a pedestrian friendly
district, simular to Ojai's arcade design. Another
positive model to look at is Ojai's Fulton Street
seperate residence project- where homes were sold on
condition not to turnover for profit. Or any number of
educational or spiritual foundations here providing
housing on site to attract and keep talented people. Also
Maybe some residents remember not too long ago
the mixture of residents coexisted here not only
peacefully, but founded and contibuted to the
benefit of all regardless of income, various civic
projects responsible for the
contributions and programs that are alive
and well today. The mixing of residents has always been positive,
fruitful, and contributes to friendly small town charm
and volunteerism. That quickly changes as new affluent
residents display little loyalty or respect for these
traditions, and their lifestyles crowd the valley's
natural attributes. Ojai has always coexisted with many income levels- folks intermingled into a larger whole in this special place. Some are richer, some are poorer. Some have disposable incomes but no place they can really call home. Some own their a home but have
little disposable income.
Cultural and socio-economic
diversity has a long standing tradition here.
Comment #2 Posted by: pete lafollette | February 7, 2007 11:53 AM