Laserfiche WebLink
October 18, 2021 <br />RE: Public Comment Regarding Santa Ana Rent Control Hearing- Continental <br />Mobilehome Park <br />As I mentioned at the first hearing, I have been managing mobilehome parks and manufactured <br />home communities for almost 4 decades. The apartment association representative and <br />apartment owners have and will again supply the facts and statistics which demonstrate rent <br />control is not needed nor is it fair. Vickie Talley with MHET and Julie Paulie have and will <br />continue to offer factual information as to why rent control is unwarranted. <br />With almost 40 years of experience operating and managing both types of communities, I have <br />found that rent control of mobilehome parks and manufactured home communities is <br />counterproductive and actually hurts those senior citizens and families it proposes to <br />help. Please consider the following: <br />Rent control is a windfall benefit to mobilehome owners in land lease parks. As sought <br />by rent control proponents, initial and ongoing space rents below fair market is the <br />obvious and immediate benefit. Just as impactful is the proven fact that in every locale <br />with rent control the mobilehomes resale prices are higher than before rent control, and <br />those prices accelerate each year, often many times above the true value of the <br />mobilehomes. Eventually, home prices will reach levels that put them out of reach of <br />buyers needing affordable housing. More succinctly stated, there is an inverse <br />relationship between the prices of mobilehomes and the space rent charged. Rent <br />control eventually prices young families and seniors on a budget out of the <br />mobilehome market. <br />o Not surprisingly, the current sales prices of mobilehomes in Santa Ana <br />mobilehome parks is currently higher than their true value as mobilehomes <br />indicating the fact that space rents are already under market. <br />o One unfortunate result of rent control causing artificially inflated home prices on <br />older homes is the fact that the oldest of homes which have 50 year old wiring and <br />plumbing and may be unsafe for habitation remain in the park because the <br />artificially buoyed prices of these homes prohibits their replacement by newer, <br />safer, more energy efficient new homes. New homes would be available at <br />affordable prices as the most obsolete of homes are otherwise replaced. <br />o There is no incentive for park owners and operators to improve the <br />communities. At best, rent control attempts to support the status quo in a rapidly <br />changing world. There is no incentive for park ownership to improve or increase <br />utility services or amenities <br />22880 Savi Ranch Parkway • Yorba Linda, CA 92887-4610 • (714) 974-0397 <br />