June 5, 2022
The Honorable Buffy Wicks
Chair, Assembly Housing Committee
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: SB 940 (Laird): Mobilehome parks: local ordinances - SUPPORT, as amended Dear Assembly Member Wicks:
We write in strong support of Senate Bill 940, which ensures mobilehomes remain affordable by eliminating an outdated, state- imposed loophole created over thirty years ago that denies the ability of local jurisdictions to protect mobilehome homeowners from excessive rent increases.
Currently, any new space created in a mobilehome park after January 1, 1990 is exempt from local rent protections. This applies not only to new parks, but also to older parks where spaces were created after 1990. This has led to an inequitable situation in those parks, where one mobilehome resident has rent protections, while their neighbor may not.
Under the bill, any new mobilehome spaces added to existing parks after 1990 will be entitled to the same protection from excessive rents as the other spaces within the park, thus correcting this inequity.
In addition, the Legislature has created new incentives to build new mobilehome parks (SB 35, Chaptered 2017) and statewide voters have approved funds for the purchase of new mobilehomes (Proposition 1, passed 2018). Those incentives are preserved under the bill. The bill provides that any newly constructed mobilehome park will enjoy a 10-year exemption so that investors can recoup their initial capital investment.
SB 940 ensures that affordability issues remain at the local government level so that regional factors such as cost of living, vacancy control, and fair return hearing standards and procedures can be appropriately considered. And, nothing in the proposed legislation would dictate the terms by which local governments make decisions.
For these reasons, among others, we strongly support SB 940.
Respectily, Marian Koglin
Marian Koglin
Resident Sierra Mobile Home Park, 492 West Sierra Ave. Cotati