(A) No notice or other announcement that a park is closing, or converting to another use, or may close or convert to another use, may be made before the park owner has filed an application for change of use with the city. No signs may be posted on or adjacent to the park property indicating that the park is closed or may be closing or converting to another use until the Director has accepted the application and RIR as complete and the park owner has executed and filed with the Director a written acceptance of the mitigation requirements imposed on the change of use pursuant to this chapter.
(B) Any eligible resident who relocates after an application for a change of use is filed shall be entitled to the relocation assistance imposed as a condition of the change of use even if that resident relocates before the final decision of the City Council determining the required relocation assistance pursuant to this chapter.
(C) A copy of this chapter shall be given to each existing and new resident of the park. Signed acknowledgment of receipt of such copy by each existing resident shall be filed with the Director within 25 days of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter. A signed acknowledgment of such copy by each new resident shall be filed with the Director within 15 days of the date the new resident enters a rental agreement with a park or lawfully occupies a mobile home in the park.
(D) No prospective mobile home resident who enters escrow to purchase a mobile home in a park prior to the date an application for change of use is filed and no existing mobile home resident may be required to sign a waiver, or a lease or rental agreement which includes a waiver, of their rights under this chapter. Any waiver of rights under this chapter by such a mobile home resident shall be deemed invalid unless the resident or prospective resident and the park owner obtain the prior approval of the waiver from the Director, who may grant such approval only upon a finding that the waiver is voluntary and was made after being fully informed of the terms of this chapter.
(E) A petition may be filed by 51% of the eligible mobile home resident households in a park for review of any rent increase which exceeds 20% of the existing rent or which is imposed sooner than 12 months after the last rent increase and which, when combined with the last rent increase, totals an increase of more than 20% of the rent prior to the last rent increase. The petition must be filed with the Director within 15 days after notice of the rent increase is given by the park owner and must contain sufficient information to allow the Director to determine whether the rent increase which is the subject of the petition meets the criteria of this division and shall include the following information:
(1) The number of eligible resident households in the park;
(2) The space number and members of each eligible resident household signing the petition;
(3) The signature of one adult member of each eligible resident household signing the petition;
(4) The date of notice and amount of the rent increase that is the subject of the petition;
(5) The amount of the existing rent, the date(s) of any increase imposed during the immediately preceding 12 months and the amount of the rent before those increases were imposed;
(6) The Director shall give notice of the petition by certified mail or personal delivery to the park owner and the eligible resident of the park within 15 days of the date it is received. The notice shall state the Director's preliminary determination whether the petition meets the criteria of this subsection. If the Director's preliminary determination is that it does meet the criteria, the notice shall include notice of the hearing date before the Planning Commission not sooner than 50 and no later than 80 days after the date the petition was received, notice that the park owner has 30 days in which to provide justification for the rent increase pursuant to division (E)(7) of this section and notice that the noticed increase cannot be charged, demanded, collected or retained unless and until approved by the Commission. If the Director's preliminary determination is that the petition does not meet the criteria of division (E)(7) of this section, or is incomplete, the notice shall state that the petition is being rejected and the reasons for the rejection. In such case, the petitioners may submit a revised petition, which cures the reason for rejection, within ten days of receipt of the rejection notice. The revised petition shall be processed in the same manner as the original.
(7) In reviewing a rent increase petition, the Commission shall approve such increases as are required to provide a “just and reasonable” or “fair” return on investment to the park owner and shall consider all relevant factors, including but not limited to the following:
(a) Changes in the CPI since the last rent increase;
(b) The rent charged for comparable mobile home spaces in the city and surrounding areas;
(c) The completion of any capital improvements in the park since the last rent increases, the costs of which is not reimbursable by insurance;
(d) Changes in operating and maintenance expenses;
(e) The need for unusual repairs or rehabilitation, the cost of which is not reimbursable by insurance;
(f) Changes in the housing services and amenities provided in the park since the last increase;
(g) The need for an increase to provide a fair return on investment as shown by the return being earned by comparable parks, with investment defined as purchase price adjusted by the increase in the CPI since the purchase date, plus the cost of any capital improvements to the park since the purchase date.
(8) The Commission shall render its findings and decision by resolution within 100 days of the date the petition was received by the Director. The decision of the Commission shall be final.
(9) The provision of this division (E) shall not apply to spaces subject to a lease exempt from local rent regulations pursuant to the Mobile Home Residency Law, Cal. Civil Code §§ 798 et seq., shall not apply to spaces first held out for rent after January 1, 1990, or the rent first charged to a purchaser of a mobile home in the park or for a vacant space, provided that the rent thereafter charged to these new residents shall be subject to this division (E), and provided further that a space shall not be deemed vacant when an existing mobile home resident removes his or her mobile home to replace it with a new mobile home.
(10) An eligible resident may refuse to pay any rent in excess of the maximum rent permitted by division (D) of this section. The fact that such unpaid rent is in excess of the maximum rent permitted by division (D) shall be a defense in any action brought to recover possession of a mobile home space and for nonpayment of rent or to collect the illegal rent.
(11) The statute of limitations applicable to a judicial challenge of any decision made pursuant to this section shall be 90 days as set forth in § 15.40.070(E)(3) and notice of the Commission's decision to the park owner and affected residents shall state that the 90-day statute of limitations in Cal. Code of Civil Procedure § 1094.6 is applicable.
(`83 Code, § 15.40.080) (Ord. 92-13 § 1 (part), 1992; Ord. 92-13U § 1 (part), 1992)