1 Elisa Moreno
From: Jill Maland
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2026 12:12 PM
To: Jill Maland
Subject: Springdale Rent Review Hearing - Ex Parte Communications Attachments: FW: Rent Review concerns
From: Jill Maland
Sent: Monday, May 4, 2026 8:17 PM
To: TIM SHEAHAN <[email protected]>; George Gregory <[email protected]> Cc: Bruce Kleege <[email protected]>; Michael Valadez <[email protected]>; Weston Doyle <[email protected]>; 'Phil Scollick' <[email protected]>; Sylvia Daniels <[email protected]>; Helen Peak <[email protected]>
Subject: Springdale Rent Review Hearing - Ex Parte Communications
George and Tim,
We have just learned of an ex parte communication by Tim to the members of the City Council/Rent Review Commission. A copy of the communication is attached to this email. This has compelled us to remind you that any such ex parte and/or other direct approaches to the Commission which relate to the upcoming hearing and decisions relating thereto are inappropriate during the rent review proceedings.
Your negotiations and dialogue should be ongoing and with each other; they should not involve the Commission.
JILL D.S. MALAND, SENIOR COUNSEL
LOUNSBERY FERGUSON ALTONA & PEAK
T: 760-743-1226 EXT. 109
The information contained in this electronic mail transmission is confidential and intended to be sent only to the stated recipient of the transmission. It may therefore be protected from unauthorized use or dissemination by the attorney-client and/or attorney work-product privileges. If you are not the intended recipient or the intended recipient's agent, you are hereby notified that any review, use, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited.
You are also asked to notify us immediately by telephone and to delete this transmission with any attachments and destroy all copies in any form. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
IRS CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that, to the extent this communication (or any attachment) addresses any tax matter, it was not written to be (and may not be) relied upon to (i) avoid tax-related penalties under the Internal Revenue Code, or (ii) promote, market or recommend to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein (or in any such attachment).
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1 Elisa Moreno
From: Jill Maland
Sent: Monday, May 4, 2026 7:40 PM
To: Jill Maland
Subject: FW: Rent Review concerns
Attachments: SMMRA letter 92.docx
From: TIM SHEAHAN <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, May 4, 2026 4:48 PM
To: Rebecca Jones <[email protected]>; Mike Sannella <[email protected]>; Ed Musgrove <[email protected]>; Maria Nuñez <[email protected]>; Danielle LeBlang <dleblang@san- marcos.net>; Michelle Bender <[email protected]>
Subject: Rent Review concerns
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Mayor Jones, Council members and City Manager Bender, I am writing you in my capacity as president of the San Marcos Mobilehome Residents Association (SMMRA) in regard to the Springdale Estates rent review and potential collateral impact on residents of other MH parks in San Marcos, especially those who are already experiencing a widening rent disparity due to past long-term leases that have “artificially” inflated rents to levels far in excess of the inflation rate. As you are likely aware, wide rent disparity can have a significant impact on MH value and can create hard feelings among homeowners, especially when some new residents pay less than half the rent as many long time residents, as is the case at Springdale. Holding park owners to their full burden of proof for why they need and deserve requested rent increases has encouraged them to be reasonable in the past and an important policy to continue. Also, requiring disclosure of rent disparity to potential purchasers of MHs is a necessary policy that should be adopted so that purchasers can make fully informed decisions and know the potential consequences of buying a MH with a high space rent.
I am in receipt of the “Baar report” to the Rent Review Commission regarding the Springdale Estates rent review and did contact the park owner to see if he was open to taking another stab at resolution of the rent dispute but nothing has materialized yet. While the report was a step in the right direction for some residents and would stop further widening of the rent disparity, I was hoping the Commission would also seek a report from an MAI appraiser to compare rents, amenities, conditions and quality at Springdale with that of several MH parks in San Marcos, as was performed by James Brabant in previous rent reviews. One potential value of rent ordinances is that they are a means of maintaining equity/parity both within MH parks and among MH parks. As rents unfairly increase, especially compared to parks of higher quality and with more amenities, the imbalance can greatly impact home values. I hope the Rent Commission will instruct staff to calculate MH park rent averages for those MH parks citied in previous Brabant reports so that current numbers can be “plugged into” a past report to establish a valid present-day comparison. Rancho San Marcos, is now an outlier because of its leases and large vacancy rent increases. I do know that average space rents at nearby Vista Meadows are roughly $200/month less than Springdale Estates, which is remarkable considering the rents were similar when the two parks were annexed into San Marcos around 35 years ago and considering Vista Meadows has more amenities. The distinction is that Villa Vista (now Springdale) went several years with all but two spaces being exempt from the rent ordinance and many spaces receiving annual rent increases of as high as 12%, regardless of SM 000405
2 inflation, and vacancy rent increases upon sale of homes that more than doubled the space rent in some cases. I have attached a letter from the SMMRA president in 1992, notifying City officials about the scheme to evade the rent ordinance. Unfortunately, the City took no action until several years later to force the park owner to offer month-to-month rental agreements in good faith but did not succeed in voiding the onerous leases, which continued for years.
Moving forward, I think we are all concerned with the time, hassle and expense of the rent review process and want to note that SMMRA representatives have suggested possible solutions including:
revisiting the ACCORD lease with modifications to make it acceptable to MH park residents, a “short- form” rent increase application to enable a permissive annual rent increase (similar to Escondido), and a per-space fee to help support costs of administrating the rent and other MH park related ordinances. I participated in previous ACCORD discussions/negotiations and in doing so have been unfairly attacked by some Springdale residents, alleging I had colluded with the City to abolish the rent ordinance...I still feel it remains a potential solution if done correctly and hope we can explore possibilities in the future.
Thank you for your service!
Sincerely,
Tim Sheahan
President, San Marcos Mobilehome Residents Association (SMMRA) 760.521.2490
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