A group of Vallejo mobile home park residents and supporters picketed in front of City Hall and the Vallejo Housing Authority back in August in response to the accidental repeal, and intentional delay in reinstating mobile home park rent control.
The subject of reinstating Vallejo’s accidentally repealed mobile home rent control ordinance is expected to come up for discussion at the upcoming City Council meeting on Tuesday, and it can’t come soon enough for many park residents.
In an effort to illustrate the seriousness of the issue, members of the Vallejo Mobile Home Coalition are calling for as many people as possible to show up to the meeting, set for 7 p.m. at City Hall, 555 Santa Clara St., and a rally there and across the street at the Vallejo Housing Authority, starting at noon that day.
“It has been brought to our attention that mobile home rents are continually going up,” said a letter from the Coalition to the Vallejo Mayor and council. Two local mobile home parks have reportedly raised rents, and one, “sent out a letter on Sept. 30, raising their rents a third time this year alone,” it says.
This is precisely what many Vallejo mobile home park residents feared when they learned earlier this year that the rent stabilization ordinance had evidently inadvertently been eliminated along with an outdated committee. Discussion during a council meeting ended with council members delaying replacing the ordinance until conversations could be had with other stakeholders — namely the park owners. Mayor Bob Sampayan appealed at that time to park owners not to take advantage of the situation and start raising rents indiscriminately.
“Asking park owners to not raise rents didn’t work,” the coalition’s letter says, adding that the imposition of a temporary moratorium on rent increases could have solved the problem.
At least one park owner sees things quite differently.
In an open letter to the mayor and council, Reed Robertson, co-owner of one of Vallejo’s mobile home parks, said it’s in the city’s best interest to allow park owners to raise rents to match the market rate.
“While we understand the city’s concern about the possibility of rent increases for certain vulnerable residents, consider the real life example unfolding in our city…” the letter says. “A local mobile home park was sold within the last couple years for roughly $ 7.5 million. With years of rent increases hinged to nationwide inflation, this was sold with rents far below market with limited future upside. Fully occupied at market rents, this property would sell for close to $20 million.”
That $12.5 million discount reflects more than $150,000 in lost tax revenue annually to the city, it says, adding that this is just one park, and there are 10 in the city.
“The mobile home park owners in the city pay thousands of dollars annually in property tax,” it says. “We are honest hard-working citizens and do not abuse our power.”
Park owners are also eagerly awaiting Tuesday’s meeting, the letter says.
Coalition officials say the city’s mobile home parks in large part, represent one of a limited number of affordable housing options for low-income seniors, veterans, disabled and others.
“It’s now going to cause (these people) to choose between a $200 rent increase and eating or becoming homeless,” Coalition officials said. “This is abuse, intimidation, discrimination and bullying. Please stop this nonsense immediately. Do the right thing.”