The Santa Clarita, California City Council is expected to approve a second hearing on rent increases for residents of manufactured homes following a Feb. meeting that saw dozens of MH residents oppose the minimum increases. Erin Lay, housing program administrator for the city, said one change from the first hearing is to reduce the standard increase minimum from three percent to 2.6 percent. It would also decrease the maximum standard increase from six percent to five percent.

Thee are two types of rent increases, standard, which is not subject to appeal, and non-standard, which can be appealed. Non-standard rent increases are invariably appealed, costly for the city and the community owners, as hometownstationkhts informs MHProNews. One MH resident claimed the new ordinance would make it more difficult for residents to appeal, and also provide a better return for the owners. The appeal process involves a manufactured home rental adjustment panel, which is composed of two MH residents, two community owners and a fifth person chosen by the other four.

Lay said the new ordinance seeks to clarify what is allowable and what is not, adding the previous ordinance was confusing, causing city staff to spend hundreds of hours dealing with public records requests and issues involving jurisdictions and appeals. He said the last four appeals cost the city $164,000.

He added, the new ordinance is “protecting the owners and residents of manufactured homes from unreasonable rent adjustments while at the same time recognizing the need of park owners to receive a fair return on their investment.” ##

(Photo credit: hometownstationkhts–Santa Clarita MH community)

  Article submitted by Matthew J. Silver to Daily Business News-MHProNews.