City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: FEBRUARY 4, 2025
FROM: HOUSING AND HUMAN SERVICES WARDS: ALL
SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION OF AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND RIVERSIDE MUNICIPAL CHAPTER 5.75 - MOBILE HOME PARKS RENT STABILIZATION PROCEDURES
ISSUE:
Introduce and subsequently adopt an ordinance to amend Riverside Municipal Code Chapter 5.75 - Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Ordinance as recommended by the Housing and Homelessness Committee.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council introduce and subsequently adopt an ordinance to amend Riverside Municipal Code Chapter 5.75 - Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Ordinance that include the recommendations made by Housing and Homelessness Committee.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
The Housing and Homelessness Committee (Committee) met on September 23, 2024, with Chair Cervantes, Vice Chair Mill, and Member Robillard present, to consider the proposed amendments to the Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Following discussion, the Committee moved to receive and file the proposed amendments to the Riverside Municipal Code (RMC) Chapter 5.75, the Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Procedures, and direct staff to forward the proposed ordinance to the City Council for consideration amending RMC as referenced in the staff report including: that staff present the proposed ordinance to City Council (CC) to consider amending the Riverside Municipal Code as referenced in the staff report including: (1) Adding new definitions and changing existing definitions; (2) Tenant Notification Requirements; (3) Annual Registration; (4) Retaliation Prohibited; (5) Rent Cap - establish a minimum and maximum rent increase of 2% and cap of 5%; (6) Rent following the Expiration of an Exempt Lease; (7) Rent Increases Upon In-Place Transfer - eliminate section from proposed ordinance; (8) Frequency of Rental Increases; and (9) Utilities and Related Services - eliminate section from proposed ordinance. The motion carried unanimously with Vice Chair Mill and member Robillard voting Aye, with the exception of Chair Cervantes voting no on recommendations 5, 7, and 9 as listed above.
BACKGROUND:
A significant portion of mobile homeowners or tenants in the City are senior citizens, who live on limited or fixed incomes. City Council wanted to provide a mechanism to prevent excessive, Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Ordinance Proposed Amendments ● Page 2 unreasonable and frequent rent increases while at the same time recognizing the need of mobile home park owners to receive a just and reasonable return on their investment.
On August 25, 1992, City Council amended Section 5 of the RMC to add Chapter 5.75, establishing a rent stabilization procedure for mobile home park that allowed annual rent increases for the following.
Up to 80% of the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the year ending in August Changes in property taxes or government mandated costs in excess of 2% per year Capital improvements to existing facilities
Increases in state fees
Rent increases associated with sale of a space
On September 15, 2020, the City Council adopted an amendment to the RMC Section 5.75.040 to change the Consumer Price Index region data from Los Angeles-Anaheim-Riverside to Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario and change the CPI year ending from August to July since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not produce data in July for the Riverside-San Bernadino- Ontario region.
The following table shows prior annual rental increases based on 80% of the CPI.
Mobile Home Parks Annual Rent Increase
Year CPI Index Maximum Rent Increase CPI Source
2011 2.40% 1.92%
Los Angeles–Anaheim-Riverside
2012 2.40% 1.92%
2013 2.30% 1.84%
2014 0.80% 0.64%
2015 1.80% 1.44%
2016 1.10% 0.88%
2017 1.40% 1.12%
2018 2.80% 2.24%
2019 3.90% 3.12%
2020 2.60% 2.08%
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario
2021 1.70% 1.36%
2022 6.50% 5.20%
2023 9.20% 7.36%
2024 3.40% 2.72%
From 2011 to 2024, the average rent increase is 2.42%. The lowest mobile home parks rent increase was 0.64% and the highest rent increase was 7.36%.
In 2019, staff was directed to conduct a review of the entire Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Ordinance (Ordinance) that was adopted in 1992. Staff worked with the City Attorney's Office to review the current Ordinance and 91 cities and 10 counties mobile home park rent stabilization procedures. Staff identified sections within the Ordinance that could be improved and met with the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Associations (WMA) to discuss the current ordinance and sections that required further clarification. Staff was in the process of scheduling a series of meetings with the WMA, local mobile home park owners, and park residents to review the Ordinance, but these meetings were placed on hold due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Ordinance Proposed Amendments ● Page 3 During the 2022 Ordinance annual public hearing, when the maximum rent increase for 2023 was announced at 7.36%, the highest rent increase experienced under the Ordinance, City Council directed staff to research capping rent increases and to work with mobile home park owners and residents through community outreach and present recommended amendments to the Ordinance to the Housing and Homelessness Committee for discussion.
Staff rereviewed the proposed amendments to the Ordinance with the City Attorney’s Office. The proposed amendments to the Ordinance were then shared with the park residents in June 2024 and with the WMA and local mobile home park owners in July 2024 to solicit feedback.
DISCUSSION:
Based on the research conducted and feedback received from the WMA, local mobile home park owners and residents, the following changes to the Ordinance were proposed by staff and the following recommendations were made by the Housing and Homelessness Committee on September 23, 2024.
Action
Item
No.
Proposed Amendment Ordinance
Section
Committee
Recommendation
1 Adding and revising definitions 5.75.030
Definitions
Approved and
forward to CC for
consideration
2 Adding requirements for tenant
notifications under the ordinance
a. Forty-eight hours prior to any rental
agreement in excess of 12 months
being executed by a current mobile
home owner or prospective mobile
home owner, the mobile home park
owner must:
i. Offer the option of a 12 month or
less rental agreement to receive the
benefits of the Mobile Home Parks
Rent Stabilization Program
(MHPRSP).
ii. Provide a City Informational Sheet to
residents that give tenants an
overview of the MHPRSP, its
benefits, and contact information of
the Administrator.
iii. Provide in writing that if a rental
agreement with a term of more than
12 months is signed, the rental
agreement is not subject to the
MHPRSP.
iv. At the time the rental agreement is
first offered to the mobile home
owner or prospective mobile home
a. i. – iv in
Section
5.75.040
Ordinance
Notification
Approved and
forward to CC for
consideration
Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Ordinance Proposed Amendments ● Page 4 owner, they should have at least 30
days to inspect the Rental
Agreement, and void the Rental
Agreement by notifying the MH Park
Owner in writing within 72 hours of
the acceptance of a Rental
Agreement.
v. MHPRSP should be posted in the
office of every mobile home park
and in the recreatio5.75n building or
clubhouse of every mobile home
park.
v. Section
5.75.050
Information
Supplied to
Tenants
Action
Item
No.
Proposed Amendment Ordinance
Section
Committee
Recommendation
3 Adding annual registration requirements for
park owners due annually on June 1st.
a. Mobile Home Parks contact
information
b. Identify number of park spaces and
total number participating in the
MHPRSP
c. Provide rent schedule
d. Listing of other charges including
utilities not included in the space rent
e. Notice of sale of park
f. Notice to prospective park purchasers
that include a copy of the Ordinance
and notice that the following would be
a prerequisite to filling a rent increase
application pursuant to the Ordinance:
i. A statement of the base year
income, expenses, and net
operating income of the Park with
a breakdown of income and
expenses by category.
ii. Documents supporting the
amounts reported in the income
and expense statement.
Section 5.75.060
Annual
Registration
Approved and
forward to CC for
consideration
4 Prohibiting retaliation for tenants
participating in the Mobile Home Parks
Rent Stabilization Program.
5.75.080
Retaliation
Prohibited
Approved and
forward to CC for
consideration
Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Ordinance Proposed Amendments ● Page 5 Action
Item
No.
Proposed Amendment Ordinance
Section
Committee
Recommendation
5 Placing a cap on annual rent increases to
the lesser of 80% of the CPI or 3% of the
base rent charged prior to the increase. The
percentage amount of said increase shall
be rounded to the nearest one-quarter of
one percent.
a. This percentage was derived from
using the average rent increase from
2011 to 2024, which was 2.42% and
rounding up to 3%.
NEW RECOMMENDATION: Establish a
minimum of 2% and maximum rent
increase of 5%.
5.75.100
Automatic Annual
Rental Increases
Approved and
forward the new
recommendation to
CC for
consideration
6 Rent following the expiration of an exempt
lease: A mobile home space that was
previously exempt under a lease pursuant
to Civil Code Section 798.17, upon the
expiration of that lease and conversion to a
less than 12-month lease, the Base Space
Rent, for the purposes of calculating the
annual adjustment, shall be the rent in
effect as of the date of expiration of the
lease.
5.75.110 Rent
Following the
Expiration of an
Exempt Lease
Approved and
forward to CC for
consideration
7 Rent increases upon in-place transfer
a. No rent increase may be imposed where
the title to the mobile home passes to one
or more person(s) who at the time of title
transfer were/are parents, siblings,
children, nieces, or nephews of the mobile
homeowner and the mobile home remains
in the same space
b. No increase may be imposed if an
increase was imposed pursuant to the
Ordinance within the 24-month preceding
the most recent transaction that would
justify the increase pursuant to this new
section
Not approved
8 Limiting the frequency of rental increases
a. To not more than once per calendar year
b. Proposed rental increases resulting from
an unseen assessment, special tax or
general tax increase shall be submitted to
the Rent Review
5.75.120
Limitation on
frequency of
rental increase.
Approved and
forward to CC for
consideration
Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Ordinance Proposed Amendments ● Page 6 Action
Item
No.
Proposed Amendment Ordinance
Section
Committee
Recommendation
9 Clarifying procedures for collecting utility
and capital improvement fees and other
increases in rents.
Not approved
Staff is requesting City Council to introduce and subsequently adopt an ordinance to amend Riverside Municipal Code Chapter 5.75 - Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Ordinance (Attachment 1) that include the recommendations made by Housing and Homelessness Committee.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This item contributes to Riverside’s Envision Strategic Priority 2: Community Well-Being and Goal No. 2.2: Collaborate with partner agencies to improve household resiliency and reduce the incident and duration of homelessness.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact related to this report.
Prepared by: Agripina Neubauer, Project Manager
Approved by: Michelle Davis, Housing and Human Services Director Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Jack Liu, Interim City Attorney
Concurs with;
___________________________
Clarissa Cervantes, Chair
Housing and Homelessness Committee
Attachments:
1. Proposed Mobile Home Parks Rent Stabilization Ordinance
2. Presentation