Rent Decontrol Legislation: Your Help is Needed

I received this URGENT email regarding AB1309, a bill about rent decontrol and is effective when a home is sold. This is SERIOUS. If AB1309 were to pass, a mobilehome owner could potentially lose tens of thousands of dollars in equity, because the space rent that the new buyer would be charged could easily jump several hundred dollars. Please take a moment to voice your concerns about this dangerous legislation. Santee is located in the 77th District, Assemblyman Joel Anderson. A draft of a sample letter is below. The directory of the entire California State Assembly can be located at www.assembly.ca.gov.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Assemblyman Joel Anderson
California State Capitol
Room 2111
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Assemblyman Anderson,

I am a mobile home park resident who is urging you NOT to pass AB 1309. This bill, which favors park owners by allowing vacancy decontrol, would have a negative impact on senior citizens. It would diminish the stock of affordable housing in California and create great hardship for individual park residents.

Many residents own their manufactured homes, but pay rent for the land on which the home sits. The residents include many senior citizens on fixed incomes. When they purchased their homes, the price they paid reflected both the intrinsic value of the coach and the security of ongoing rent control.

If AB 1309 were to pass, park owners could set a new rent, at any level they wished, when a coach is sold. Thus current home owners – if they choose to or needed to sell – could no longer determine a selling price that factors in the benefit of rent control. As a result, their equity would severely diminish. For many, this represents their life's savings.

In a press release dated May 9, 2007 and posted on PR Newswire by the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association (WMA) – an organization devoted to promoting the interests of owners, operators and developers of manufactured home communities in California – the WMA claims that AB 1309 “would permit what is known as vacancy decontrol by allowing a one-time rent adjustment for a new mobile home park resident, while not impacting any current residents.”

The WMA, which sponsors AB 1309, is disingenuous in claiming that the bill would not impact current residents. While rent control would remain in effect for existing residents, the equity they count on would be greatly diminished – as would their peace of mind. In addition, with vacancy decontrol:
• Park becomes an unequal, mixed community (residents paying a variety of rents).
• Current residents' lifetime savings vanish, as equity is decreased for owner and heirs. This can prove devastating for those who must move, often due to illness or family concerns.
• As older residents depart, park gradually converts from affordable to expensive housing – eroding the community's stock of affordable housing.

I strongly urge you to consider the needs of your constituents in reviewing this bill. AB 1309 is an insidious assault on our well-being. We count on you to make sure it does not pass.

Sincerely,