A copy of a letter to members of the California legislature about Manufactured Home Community Rent Increases. Unfortunately I don't expect much of a response, given that there is more hot-air dedicated to the Affordable Housing Crisis than actual effort to do something that would have a positive effect.

The Honorable Sharon Quirk-Silva
State Assembly
State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814

AB-2895 (Quirk-Silva/Chiu) Mobilehome parks: rent caps. – OPPOSE

I am the president of the Home Owners Association at the Mobil Country Club manufactured home community in Rancho Cordova, CA.

Mobil Country Club Resident Survey

Starting in the fall of 2018, the HOA initiated an annual survey to see how residents of our community were affected by the annual December rent increases. The responses were received from about 25% of the residents. Based on the answers we received, here is how our senior (55+) community, with over 450 households, stands based on the HUD standards related to the percentage of their income that is spent on housing costs.

HUD: Severity of Rent Burden on Low Income Families

Of the 38% who are moderately burdened, half were in the 40% to 49% range. One more rent increase will put them into the severely burdened category. Of the 41% who are severely burdened, one-third are at 80% to 100% of their income! If this pattern continues, what will happen to them?

The unique situation of MH Space renters

Because we rent the site or lot that our home occupies, manufacturing home community residents are in a unique situation. We are trapped! Due to their age, many of the homes simply cannot be moved. If they were strong enough to move, and if you could find an open space somewhere, it would cost over $20,000 to move it to a new location. Since there hasn’t been a new manufactured home community built in California for over thirty years, no known parks are open to new arrivals.

A Senior Community

The community we live in is age restricted. You must be over 55 to own a home here. Therefore, we are talking about seniors and veterans, many of whom are dealing with disabilities, who are being priced right out of the homes that they own. They are being forced into what is called an “economic eviction”.

This scenario is also unfolding in other parts of the USA. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’s viral video, underscored similar challenges in other parts of the US.

The Problem with AB-2895

Unfortunately, because it ignores the unique nature of Manufactured Home Communities, AB-2895 will simply make things worse. By setting the standard rent increases over 5%, it validates the high rent increases that we are already experiencing and ensures they will continue.

2017 rent increase $664 to $699, a 6.64% increase — Social Security 0.03%
2018 rent increase $699 to $749, a 7% increase — Social Security 2.0%
2019 rent increase $749 to $795, a 6.14% increase — Social Security 2.8%

Every year, after the rent increases, people are forced out of our community because they can no longer pay the rent on the dirt their home sits upon. In the process, they lose their only major asset, the home that they own.

If you look into the HUD standard, only 10% of the costs are attributed to the land. The largest cost of living increase, attributed in that manner, would have been 0.28%. If we doubled that, to cover the shared facilities, you are now talking about a 0.5% increase.

There are many things that could be done to help those of us who live in Manufactured Homes, but helping the park owners steal our homes, using unjustifiable increases to our rent, is NOT one of them.

Sincerely;
Robert E. Van Cleef

Reference: The Impact of Manufactured Home Community Rent Increases

CC:

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon
Assembly Member Ken Cooley – District 8
Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins
Senator Jim Nielsen – District 4