CHAPTER 29
MOBILE HOME PARKS
29.1 Purpose.
There is presently within the City of Fairfield and the surrounding areas, a shortage of spaces for the location of mobile homes. Because of the shortage, there is a low vacancy rate, and rents have been for several years, and are presently, rising rapidly. This shortage has also resulted in continued problems within the parks such as disputes over levels of maintenance, upkeep of mobile home park common areas, and club house uses. Because of the high cost of moving mobile homes, the potential for damage resulting therefrom, the requirements relating to the installation of mobile homes, including permits, landscaping and site preparation, the lack of alternative homesites for mobile home residents and the substantial investment of mobile home owners in such homes, the city council finds and declares it necessary to promote an atmosphere of negotiation between mobile home owners and mobile home park owners, to maintain an acceptable level of service in mobile home parks, to protect the owners and occupiers of mobile homes from unreasonable rent increases, and to allow mobile home park owners a just, fair, and reasonable return on their property.
29.2 Definitions.
(a) "Arbitrator" shall mean a person with experience in arbitrating mobile home rent review disputes appointed by the Director of Planning and Development pursuant to this Chapter. (Ord. 98-30, § 1.)
(b) "Rent." Any consideration demanded or received in connection with the use and occupancy of a mobile home space in a mobile home park, but exclusive of any amounts paid for the use of the mobile home dwelling unit.
(c) "Mobile Home Park Owner" or "Owner" means the owner, lessor, operator or manager of a mobile home park within the purview of this ordinance.
(d) "Mobile Home Owner" or "Tenant" means any person or persons entitled to occupy a mobile home dwelling unit pursuant to ownership thereof or a rental or lease arrangement with the owner thereof.
(e) "Services" shall mean those items set forth in the mobile home park rental agreement pursuant to Civil Code Section 798.15(f).
(f) "Anniversary Date" shall mean the date established by the mobile home park owner to notify mobile home owners of a rental increase as authorized by Section 29.6 of this ordinance. There shall be only one anniversary date for each mobile home park.
(g) "Mediator" shall mean a person with experience in mediating mobile home rent review disputes appointed by the Director of Planning and Development pursuant to this chapter. (Ord. 98-30, § 1.)
29.3 Applicability.
The provisions of this ordinance shall apply to all mobile home parks within the City of Fairfield.
29.4 Nonreviewable Rent Adjustment.
(a) A Nonreviewable Rent Adjustment may be made once each calendar year on or after the Anniversary Date by the Park Owner in accordance with this section.
(b) For the two year period beginning January 1, 1993 and ending December 31, 1994, the Nonreviewable Rent Adjustment shall be four percent (4%) per calendar year.
(c) On October 1, 1993 the Director of Planning and Development shall establish the Nonreviewable Rent Adjustment percentages for calendar years 1995 and 1996. On October 1, 1994, and on each October 1 thereafter, the Director of Planning and Development shall establish the Nonreviewable Rent Adjustment percentages for the third year of the subsequent three year period beginning with the third year of the three year period 1995 through and including 1997. The Director of Planning and Development may not reduce the Nonreviewable Rent Adjustment percentages in the year(s) subsequent to their establishment. (Ord. 98-30, § 1.)
(d) The Director of Planning and Development shall use the following method to establish the Nonreviewable Rent Adjustment percentages as required by §29.4(c) (Ord. 98-30, § 1.):
(i) On October 1, 1993, the percentage increase in the Bay Area Consumer Price Index for Residential Rent ("Rental Index") from July, 1985 to July, 1993 will be computed ("Change in the Rental Index").
(ii) The Increase in the Rental Index will then be divided by the number of years from 1985 to 1993 (8 years) to determine the average annual percentage change in the Rental Index.
(iii) On October 1, 1994 and October 1, 1995, the percentage change from the July 1985 Rental Index to the then current year July Rental Index will be determined and will then be divided by the number of years from 1985 to the then current year to determine the average annual percentage increase in the Rental Index.
(iv) Beginning on October 1, 1996 the Director of Planning and Development shall determine the average annual increase over a ten year period, beginning with the Rental Index from July, 1986 through July, 1996. On October 1, 1997 and in each subsequent year, the formula for determining the average annual increase shall remain the same with the earliest year being dropped and the then current year added. By way of example, in 1996 the average annual percentage change in the Rental Index shall be calculated by determining the percentage change in the Rental Index from July, 1986 to July 1996 and dividing by 10. In 1997, the average annual percentage change in the Rental Index shall be calculated by determining the percentage change in the Rental Index from July, 1987 to July 1997 and dividing by 10. (Ord. 98-30, § 1.)
(v) The nonreviewable rent adjustment percentage may not exceed 6% annually.
(e) A long term rental agreement shall not be subject to the terms of this section.
29.5 Special Rent Adjustment.
(a) The purpose of this section is to provide a procedure for a Park Owner to request a Special Rent Adjustment in excess of the Nonreviewable Rent Adjustment when the Park Owner believes that the Nonreviewable Rent Adjustment does not provide for a fair and reasonable return on its property and for the Park Residents to file a petition protesting the request. Exceptional circumstances, such as the following, may mean that the Nonreviewable Rent Adjustment does not provide the owner with a reasonable rate of return: improvements required and imposed on an owner by governmental (federal, state, local) regulatory action; uninsured losses incurred by the owner; unanticipated replacement of infrastructure and capital improvements required to maintain basic levels of service and maintenance in the Park.
(b) The following procedures shall govern the processing of an application for Special Rent Adjustment:
(i) A Special Rent Adjustment application shall be submitted to the Director of Planning & Development at least sixty days prior to the anniversary date established pursuant to ’ 29.6 and shall be accompanied by a cash deposit in the sum of six hundred dollars ($600.00). (Ord. 98-30, § 1.)
(ii) The application shall be considered complete if all necessary information requested in the application is provided and documentation sufficient to support the need for the increase in the application is included (hereinafter "required documentation").
(iii) The required documentation shall be certified by the Park Owner and the Park Owner’s certified public accountant as fairly presenting the results of operations.
(iv) The Park Owner shall give each affected resident a copy of the application. A petition signed by at least fifty percent (50%) of the Park’s residents may be filed with the Director of Planning and Development to protest the application. (Ord. 98-30, § 1.)
(v) Within two weeks of the determination that the application is complete, the application shall be scheduled for consideration by the mediator appointed by the Director of Planning and Development who shall hold a meeting no sooner than ten (10) days and no later than twenty (20) days to mediate the dispute over the rental increase. A reasonable continuance may be granted if stipulated to by both parties or at the mediator’s discretion. (Ord. 98-30, § 1.)
(vi) The purpose of the mediation process undertaken pursuant to this section is to attempt to settle the rental dispute in a manner which is acceptable to both the park’s residents and the park’s owner without the need for the hearing provided for in §29.5(c). The cost of the mediator shall be divided equally between the residents and the Park Owner.
(vii) The mediation process undertaken pursuant to this section shall conclude with or without a settlement of the parties within forty five (45) days of the date of the first meeting.
(viii) Any settlement of the parties shall be in writing and shall be signed by the Park Owner, the park residents who have received authorization to mediate, and the mediator.
(c) In the event the mediation process described in §29.5(b) concludes without a settlement of the parties, the Director of
Planning and Development shall appoint an arbitrator to hold a hearing to consider the application for Special Rent Adjustment. The mediator shall make a recommendation to the arbitrator regarding the appropriate rental increase. The following shall apply to a hearing conducted pursuant to this section (Ord. 98-30, § 1.):
(i) All hearings will be open to the public.
(ii) All parties to a hearing may have assistance in presenting evidence or in setting forth by argument their position, from an attorney or such other person as may be designated by said parties.
(iii) In the event that either the petitioner or the respondent should fail to appear at the hearing at the specified time and place, the arbitrator may hear and review such evidence as may be presented and make such decisions just as if both parties had been present.
(iv) The arbitrator shall make a final decision no later than ten (10) days after the conclusion of its hearing on any petition. No adjustment shall be granted unless supported by the preponderance of evidence submitted at the hearing. All parties to a hearing shall be sent a notice of the arbitrator’s decision and a copy of the findings upon which the decision is based.
(v) Pursuant to the findings, the arbitrator shall be required to (1) reduce the rental rate to a rate to be determined by the arbitrator (2) continue the rental rate as it existed under the former lease or rental arrangement, or (3) to increase the rental rate to a rate set by the arbitrator or to the rate requested by the park owner, in order to establish rents which are reasonable under the circumstances and which provide the owners with a just, fair, and reasonable return on their property. In no event shall the arbitrator set a rent which does not provide owners with a just, fair, and reasonable return on their property.
(vi) In evaluating the rent increase or decrease proposed or effected by the park owner, the arbitrator shall consider increased costs to the owner attributable to increases in utility rates and property taxes, insurance, advertising, governmental assessments, increases in variable rate interest payments on a loan for purchase of a mobile home park, cost of living increases attributable to incidental services, normal repair and maintenance, capital improvements, upgrading and addition of amenities or services the amount of any rental increase since the last anniversary date increase, as well as fair rate of return on investment.
"A Guide for the Analysis of Adjustments" is available as a supplement to this ordinance. This "Guide" is advisory. It covers the procedural details in obtaining the financial and other detailed information upon which an analysis for the rent adjustment is made. The arbitrator will analyze the rent adjustment increase in terms of the "Guides" in this supplement.
(vii) The conclusions and findings of the arbitrator shall be final and there shall be no appeal rights to the city council.
(d) Any rental rate increases which have been collected by a mobile home park owner pursuant to an increase which is the subject of a petition for a special rent adjustment which is later determined by the arbitrator to have been excessive, or which is decreased through the mediation process, shall be either returned to the tenants or credited to future rental charges.
29.6 Anniversary date.
On or before January 1, 1990, each owner shall establish an anniversary date. The establishment of an anniversary date may increase or decrease the term of a previously imposed rent adjustment. In this event, the rent shall be prorated to ensure consistency with Section 29.7 of this ordinance.
29.7 Rent increases.
(a) No owner shall request, demand, or receive more than one rent increase in the twelve month period from the anniversary date for any mobile home space except as provided in Sections 29.7 (b), 29.7 (j) and 29.7(k). (Ord. No. 95-31, § 1.)
(b) When a resident tenant vacates a mobile home space through the sale of the resident tenant’s mobile home ("resident tenant"), the following procedure shall apply:
(i) the Park Owner may increase the space rent by a maximum of four percent (4%) if the Park Owner complies with the procedure provided for in subsection (c) of this section;
(ii) the Park Owner may submit an application to the Director of Planning and Development for an increase in the space rent in excess of four percent (4%) when the Park Owner believes that such a space rent increase is necessary to provide the Park Owner with a reasonable rate of return on property.
(iii) the resident tenant may submit a petition to the Director of Planning and Development to protest the increase in the space rent petitioned for in Section 29.7 (b)(ii).
(iv) within thirty (30) days of an increase in space rent pursuant to Section 29.7(b), the park owner shall report the amount of the increase, the percentage change in the space rent, and the address or other identifying information describing the space, to the Director of Planning and Development. (Ord. No. 94-10, § 1.)
(c) Upon receipt of an application submitted pursuant to Section 29.7(b)(ii)("Application for Vacancy Increase"), the Director of Planning and Development shall send a copy of the application to the resident affected by the space rent increase and shall submit the application to a mediator. The following procedures shall govern the processing of a Petition for a Vacancy Increase:
(i) An Application for a Vacancy Increase shall be submitted to the Director of Planning and Development within ten (10) days of the date the Park Owner receives notification that a resident tenant intends to vacate his mobile home space accompanied by a cash deposit in the sum of six hundred dollars ($600.00). This cash deposit shall be applied to the actual cost of the procedure outlined in Section 29.7(c) and Section 29.7(d) including the actual cost of the mediator, the arbitrator and City of Fairfield staff time. In the event these costs total less than $600, the difference shall be returned to the Owner.
In the event a petition is submitted pursuant to Section 29.7(b)(iii), the petition shall be accompanied by a deposit of $300 which deposit shall be rebated by the Director of Planning and Development to the Owner. It is the intent of this section to divide the cost of the procedures described in Sections 29.7(c) and (d) equally between the Owner and the resident tenant if petitions are filed pursuant to Section 29.7(b)(ii) and Section 29.7(b)(iii).
(ii) The application shall be considered complete if all necessary information requested in the application is provided and documentation sufficient to support the need for the increase in the application is included (hereinafter "required documentation").
(iii) The required documentation shall be certified by the Park Owner and the Park Owner’s certified public accountant as fairly presenting the results of operations.
(iv) Within one week of the determination that the application is complete, the application shall be scheduled for consideration by the mediator appointed by the Director of
Community Services who shall hold a meeting no later than ten (10) days to mediate the dispute over the rental increase. A reasonable continuance may be granted if stipulated to by both parties or at the mediator’s discretion.
(v) The purpose of the mediation process undertaken pursuant to this section is to attempt to reach a mutually beneficial rental rate which allows a reasonable rate of return to the Park Owner, the opportunity for the resident tenant to sell his mobile home and maintains the supply of affordable rental (through space rents) and for sale (through the sale of the mobile home) housing. The parties to the mediation shall be the Park Owner and the resident tenant who is vacating his mobile home space.
(vi) The mediation process undertaken pursuant to this section shall conclude with or without a settlement within twenty one (21) days of the first meeting.
(vii) Any settlement of the parties shall be in writing and shall be signed by the Park Owner and the resident tenant.
(d) In the event the mediation process described in §29.7(c) concludes without a settlement of the parties, the Director of Planning and Development shall appoint an arbitrator to hold a hearing to consider and decide the application for Vacancy Increase within twenty one (21) days of receiving the referral from the Department of Planning and Development. The mediator shall make a recommendation to the arbitrator regarding the appropriate rental increase. The following shall apply to a hearing conducted pursuant to this section:
(i) All hearings will be open to the public.
(ii) All parties to a hearing may have assistance in presenting evidence or in setting forth by argument their position, from an attorney or such other person as may be designated by said parties.
(iii) In the event that either the petitioner or the respondent should fail to appear at the hearing at the specified time and place, the arbitrator may hear and review such evidence as may be presented and make such decisions just as if both parties had been present.
(iv) The arbitrator shall make a final decision no later than ten (10) days after the conclusion of its hearing on any petition. No adjustment shall be granted unless supported by the preponderance of evidence submitted at the hearing. All parties to a hearing shall be sent a notice of the arbitrator’s decision and a copy of the findings upon which the decision is based.
(v) Pursuant to the findings, the arbitrator shall be required to (1) reduce the rental rate to a rate to be determined by the, arbitrator (2) continue the rental rate as it existed under the former lease or rental arrangement, or (3) to increase the rental rate to a rate set by the arbitrator or to the rate requested by the park owner, in order to establish rents which are reasonable under the circumstances and which provide the owners with a just, fair, and reasonable return on their property. In no event shall the arbitrator set a rent which does not provide owners with a just, fair, and reasonable return on their property.
(vi) In evaluating the rent increase or decrease proposed or effected by the park owner, the arbitrator shall consider increased costs to the owner attributable to increases in utility rates and property taxes, insurance, advertising, governmental assessments, increases in variable rate interest payments on a loan for purchase of a mobile home park, cost of living increases attributable to incidental services, normal repair and maintenance, capital improvements, upgrading and addition of amenities or services the amount of any rental increase since the last anniversary date increase, as well as fair rate of return on investment.
"A Guide for the Analysis of Adjustments" is available as a supplement to this ordinance. This "Guide" is advisory. It covers the procedural details in obtaining the financial and other detailed information upon which an analysis for the rent adjustment is made. The arbitrator will analyze the rent adjustment increase in terms of the "Guides" in this supplement.
(vii) The conclusions and findings of the arbitrator shall be final and there shall be no appeal rights to the city council.
(e) Any rental rate increases which have been collected by a mobile home Park Owner pursuant to an increase which is the subject of a petition for vacancy adjustment which is later determined by the arbitrator to have been excessive, or which is decreased through the mediation process, shall be either returned to the tenants or credited to future rental charges.
(f) Upon receipt of a petition submitted pursuant to Section 29.7 (b)(iii) ("Petition Opposing Vacancy Increase"), accompanied by a petition fee of $300.00, the Director of Planning and Development shall send a copy of the petition to the Park Owner and shall submit the application to a mediator. The procedures described in Section 29.7 (c)(ii) through (vii) shall apply to a Petition Opposing Vacancy Increase.
(g) In the event the mediation process described in §29.7(f) concludes without a settlement of the parties, the Director of Planning and Development shall appoint an arbitrator to hold a hearing to consider the application for Petition Opposing Vacancy Increase. The mediator shall make a recommendation to the arbitrator regarding the appropriate rental increase. The procedures described in § 29.7(d)(i) through (vii) shall apply to a hearing conducted pursuant to this section.
(h) Upon request of the mobile home owner who is considering vacating the space, the Park Owner shall provide that owner written notice of the rent which will be charged to the mobile home owner who will occupy the vacated space ("the proposed adjusted rent").
(i) The purpose of Sections 29.7(b) through 29.7(g) is to insure the maintenance of a supply of affordable rental and for sale housing through affordable space rent and sale prices of mobile homes while respecting and responding to the constitutional rights of the Park Owner.
(j) When a mobile home space is vacated through the sale of a mobile home by an individual or entity other than a resident tenant, the Park Owner may adjust the space rent pursuant to Section 29.7 (b)(i) and (ii).
(k) When a resident who is a tenant under a Section 8 Lease (Mobile Home Owners) either vacates a mobile home space through the sale of the resident tenant’s mobile home or remains in the mobile home space but no longer is eligible to be a tenant under a Section 8 Lease (Mobile Home Owners), the Park Owner may increase the space rent to an amount equal to the highest rent in the category of spaces in which the mobile home space which is being vacated is located. Categories of mobile home spaces within a mobile home park shall be submitted by the Park Owner to the Housing Authority. (Ord. No. 95-31, § 2.)
29.8 Separability.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision, and such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof.
29.9 Effective dates.
This ordinance shall remain in effect until January 1, 2001, and on that date is repealed, unless a later enacted ordinance which is effective before January 1, 2011, deletes or extends that date. (Ord. 98-30, § 1 - correction.)