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Governor Schwarzenegger: Protect Affordable Mobile Home Housing

By Noreen Evans
Member
California State Assembly

Hundreds of thousands of seniors and working families who rent spaces in mobile home parks across California live in fear they will lose their homes. Fortunately the Governor has the chance to put their fears to rest by signing legislation that I authored, Assembly Bill 1542.

Mobile home parks provide valuable affordable housing. An alternative to conventional home ownership, they are an anomaly because most residents own their mobile home, but rent the space upon which the home is situated. And, although these homes are called “mobile,” in reality they are difficult and costly to move. This helps explain why over 100 communities across the state have adopted rent control ordinances to keep rents affordable.

Recently, however, mobile home park owners have discovered a loophole in state law that allows them to convert one or more of their spaces to condominium ownership and avoid the application of local rent control on the remaining rental spaces. This is a particularly severe problem in communities where land values are high. Conversions maximize profits for park owners, while forcing seniors and working families out of their homes with no other local place to go.

AB 1542 closes the loophole in state law by keeping local rent control in place upon conversion. It also enables local governments in jurisdictions with rent control ordinances to review and approve applications to convert mobile home parks, just as they now do with applications to convert to a non-residential use.

Current law was written to provide mobile home park residents the opportunity to buy the land on which they live. AB 1542 does not change that. In fact, my legislation preserves the current law exempting conversion from local oversight if 2/3 of the park residents sign a petition in favor of the conversion. AB 1542 is written to strike a balance between an outright ban on conversions and no regulation at all. It simply provides that if a park is subdivided and converted to resident ownership, the current residents who do not or cannot buy their space are protected by local rent control until the time that they move out. Upon a change in residency, the park owner would then have the right to raise the rent on the space.

Under current law, condominium conversions divide residents into winners and losers. Winners are the residents who can afford to purchase their spaces. Losers are the lower income residents who can’t afford to buy and are often forced out of their homes because of the conversion. AB 1542 allows residents to buy their spaces without hurting their neighbors.

AB 1542 awaits the Governor’s signature or veto. This is a very real opportunity for him to make a difference for hundreds of thousands of Californians who will lose their homes if park conversions continue. Right now, there are roughly 40 pending mobile home park conversions across California. If the Governor vetoes this bill, many more will surely occur and put our seniors and working families out on the street.

Please join me in urging the Governor to sign AB 1542. You can contact the Governor through his website or call (916) 445-2841. Many people are counting on him to do what is right and just. Make your voice heard to help make sure that he does the right thing.

Noreen Evans was elected to the California State Assembly in November of 2004, representing the people of Napa, Solano, and Sonoma counties. She is Chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus and works directly with the Assembly Speaker and the leadership team to identify and implement the Assembly Democrats legislative agenda. Evans is a member of Assembly committees on the Budget, Government Organization, Judiciary, and Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials; the Budget Subcommittee on Natural Resources; and the Select Committees on Foster Care. As a member of the Law Revision Commission, she studies intricate legal problems to resolve deficits in our laws and identifies major policy questions for legislative attention.

Posted on September 28, 2007

Comments

Thank you for sponsoring this very important bill... in Sonoma County, park owners are seeking to convert over 1000 mobilehome spaces to condo's. Rents will skyrocket for moderate income residents, and many will be forced to move. Lower income families will have a hard time also... while their rents may or may not increase (no agency enforces the law that says the park owner's not supposed to raise their rents in a condo-ized park), they will surely face lots of pressure to move from the park owner. Prices for these mobilehome condo air boxes (that's all you get when you buy one) are over $200,000 in parks in Sonoma County and Ventura County. Let's hope the governor looks out for the seniors and families who live in these mobilehome parks and signs AB1542.

Posted by: David Grabill at September 29, 2007 05:11 PM

Mobile homes should sell for 50 to 70,000 but rent control drives the price up to 200-300,000 making them unaffordable for working class lower income people which was exthat way when folks lay out 300k they will get to buy the land and the homeactly the folks mobilehome parks were built for so I hope this bill get vetoed by the a

Posted by: j.o.Tobin at September 29, 2007 06:59 PM

mobile home park owners NEVER hava a vacancy... what does it take to get a moritorium on condo conversions???

Posted by: Janice julius at October 1, 2007 02:08 PM

I’ve read a story listed in your local newspaper and wanted to share what is currently happening in the Town of Davie, Florida.

There is a national emergency sweeping South Florida which many people refused to cope with. The Town of Davie noticed this problem and quickly began to resolve this issue by passing a moratorium and forming a Mobile Home Task Force to come with a solution that will benefit all parties involved. I am talking about the displacement of tens of thousands of residents in our respective communities (23,000 men, women and child).
The Task Force will be challenged to provide a suitable Exit/Relocation plan not only locally but to update the FL 723 which is a 20 year old law.

As you are well aware from either reading or seeing it on local news about Mobile Home Parks being closed down, residents forced into the streets all in the name of development.
http://www.sharedemergency.com - http://www.affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/2007/03/mobile_homes_ti.html

I am requesting from your respective Council to adopt a similar Moratorium (attached a copy of the Ordinance & Resolution) and help your residents from being displaced from their homes. This issue is not only in the Town of Davie but it is already happening within the State of Florida and now all over the Country.

Posted by: Frank Serra at October 1, 2007 03:29 PM

I strongly support this bill (AB1542) which helps to protect affordable housing options for seniors (and others). I want to thank Noreen Evans for sponsoring it and urge Gov S. to sign it.

Posted by: Jeffrey Riggs at October 3, 2007 12:42 PM

We are on disability through SSA and if this conversion trend continues we have no place to move.. we felt secure at last buying a mobile home with all of our savings we had left in Palm Springs, now the uncertain future for our living a decent quality of life is truely threaten. I hope the govenor realizes the positive effects this reasonable measure (1542) will allow for all of us healthy and ill, wealthy or not.

Posted by: Art Hayward at October 13, 2007 11:50 AM

Hello Art,

I'm in the Palm Springs area. I also live in a rented space mobile home park. I'm aware of Eldorado Mobile Home Park in Palm Springs and Indian Springs Mobile Home Park in Palm Desert have been converted from (and/or is in the process) of being converted from rental mobile home park to a resident-owned park. Do you know of other parks that are in the process?

Thanks,
Frank

Posted by: Frank at October 16, 2007 10:30 PM

Can a mobile home park owner increase the to any amount without notice? The RV lots are being sold at will and people moving but mobilehome owners are at a loss. Our rent is going up more than 45%. Can she do this? None of us have a rental agreement as such.

Posted by: elizabeth grainger at October 27, 2007 11:53 AM

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