EYE ON SJC
Hundreds Attend Two-Day Mobile Home Rent Hearing Hearing officer says decision on legality of rent hike may be reached by first week of September BY ALLISON JARRELL, THE CAPISTRANO DISPATCH
C
ity Hall filled to the brim with residents from the area—many from mobile home parks—during the city of San Juan Capistrano’s two-day hearing Aug. 17 and 18. Those in attendance heard arguments for and against a mobile home rent increase that will double rent for some residents living in San Juan’s El Nido Mobile Estates beginning Sept. 1. After filing a petition to the city opposing the rent increase, a group of residents living in El Nido Mobile Estates were given the opportunity to take the issue up with their landlord, who is raising rent by $641 across the board despite the city’s rent control ordinance for mobile homes. Located off of Ortega Highway, El Nido consists of 156 units for seniors, with rent ranging from $550 to $1,150. According to the city’s municipal code, “mobile home park rent increases imposed by the mobile home park property owners cannot exceed the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the preceding calendar year.” El Nido residents received a letter April 24 stating the park previously “intended to implement a rent increase based on a 1.3 percent CPI adjustment,” but the letter continued that the park owner would not be implementing that increase. On May 13, residents received notice that rent would be increased by $641 effective in September. Attorney Robert Coldren, representing El Nido owner Richard Worley, said in a May interview with The Dispatch that the notice of rent increase is not in conflict with city code. Coldren added that residents are not going to be evicted if they can’t pay the rent, so long as the city and residents do not sue, harass, or otherwise treat Worley unfairly. He reiterated that statement at last week’s hearing. “So long as the park owner is treated fairly by the city, the park owner has committed that no existing long-term residents of the community will be forced from the mobile home park due to an inability to pay all or any portion of the rent increase,” he said. Coldren said in May that Worley’s goal is to help the long-term residents who truly need the help. He listed potential solutions including adjusting the rent increase to an amount that would not be a “hardship,” helping residents find roommates, or deferring the rent increase “so that it’s not collected during their lifetime.” At last week’s hearing, attorney Michael Roush, the City Council-appointed hearing officer, announced that Coldren had the burden of proving the rent hike is admissible. Coldren claims that even with the $641 rent increase, Worley isn’t receiving a fair market return on his property.
Above: Local residents filled City Council chambers last Monday and Tuesday for the city’s El Nido Mobile Home Estates rent increase hearing. Right: Attorney Robert Coldren, representing El Nido owner Richard Worley, listens to the residents’ attorney Bruce Stanton during last week’s hearing. Photos: Allison Jarrell
Expert witnesses were cross-examined by both Coldren and the residents’ attorney Bruce Stanton last Monday and most of Tuesday, going back and forth over whether Worley is receiving a “fair and reasonable return” on his investment with or without the increase. After hearing both sides, Roush is now tasked with determining whether the rent hike exceeds the maximum allowable increase, and then making a recommendation to the city’s three-person Housing Advisory Committee and to the City Council. Roush said his intent is to have a decision “written by no later than the first week in September.” Both the advisory committee and the City Council will consider Roush’s decision and recommendation before a final decision is made concerning the rent increase. The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 1—the same day the rent hike takes effect. “We are sort of in limbo at the moment, waiting for some type of an advisement that the hearing officer has submitted his report to the city of San Juan Capistrano
The Capistrano Dispatch August 28-September 10, 2015
Housing Advisory Committee,” El Nido resident Tom Perrin wrote in an email Wednesday. Perrin said the committee may take days or possibly weeks to study Roush’s report, but with the Sept. 1 rent increase quickly approaching, the residents may pursue a legal injunction of some kind. “We have been working with our attorney with regards to this matter, but we are just not sure what options may be open to us,” Perrin wrote. “Obviously, some type of measure that might put this matter into
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abeyance until a decision is made by the City Council would seem to be the most practical solution.” “We do have many senior citizens living in the park on fixed incomes, and this pending increase far exceeds their financial wherewithal,” Perrin continued. “We are now looking outside the park, trying to find some type of emergency funding in the event that the additional rent will have to be (paid) on Sept. 1. So far the funds are limited, but we will do whatever we can to try to help our neighbors.” CD www.thecapistranodispatch.com