Sacramento sidelines bill to cap mobile home rents in California

A bill that would cap mobile home space rents has hit a legislative roadblock in Sacramento.

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, had launched legislation that would cap mobile home space rents to no higher than 5 percent a year, the Orange County Register reported. 

But the bill hit headwinds when a committee decided not to hear the bill because of pending litigation.

Assembly Bill 1035 would have limited mobile home space rents from increasing more than 3 percent plus the percentage of change in cost of living, or 5 percent a year, whichever is lower.

It would not preempt any local ordinance with even stronger protections for renters, Muratsuchi said. It aims to protect lower-income residents and seniors on fixed incomes from losing their mobile homes as rents across the state skyrocket.

The bill, however, was put on hold because of a lawsuit by Anaheim Mobile Estates challenging a new state law that imposed rent restrictions on mobile home parks located within at least two cities. The litigation could impact Muratsuchi’s bill.

“Holding AB 1035 and making it a two-year bill will allow sufficient time for the lawsuit to conclude, providing certainty about what is legal and not legal in this space and preserving our committee’s ability to weigh in on amendments to the bill,” Erin Ivie, a spokesman for Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, the chair of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, said.

Muratsuchi says he’s open to amending the bill to address issues raised by the lawsuit, but had wanted it to move forward this year.

The big picture is that homelessness is a statewide crisis, with mobile homes one of the last remaining affordable housing options, especially for seniors, Muratsuchi said. 

The bill was supported by the Huntington Beach Mobile Home Resident Coalition, the Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League and the California Democratic Party Renters Council, among others.

Huntington Beach City Council members this month voted against a mobile home market space rent study. Those who opposed it said the survey could be used to “promote” rent control.

In a split vote, the conservative-leaning council decided against the Mobile Home Advisory Board’s request for a market study and funding for informational marketing and outreach to the mobile home community.

But Councilmember Dan Kalmick said such a study hadn’t been conducted in about 20 years and gathering that information could be used for purposes other than rent control.

“I think folks moving into a mobile home park want to have an understanding of what rent is around the city, and if they are being treated unfairly, they can advocate for themselves,” said Kalmick.

In November, the City of Torrance backed a rent limit deal by the landlord of a mobile home park while rejecting a proposed rent stabilization ordinance favored by residents.

— Dana Bartholomew