There is a shortage of vacant and available mobile home spaces in the City of Thousand Oaks resulting in a critically low vacancy factor. Mobile home owners, tenants, and residents have a substantial investment in their residences and appurtenances for which space is rented or leased in a mobile home park. Additionally, the cost of moving a mobile home may be substantial, and the risk of damage is significant. Thus, moving a mobile home is often not a feasible option if rent becomes expensive. Many mobile home owners, tenants, and residents are on fixed incomes and, if displaced as a result of their inability to pay increased rents, must relocate at a substantial loss or expense, and, in addition, as a result of such housing shortage they may be unable to find decent, safe and sanitary new housing at affordable rent levels. Aware of the difficulty in finding alternative decent housing, some mobile home owners, tenants, or residents attempt to pay requested and uncontrolled rent increases, but as a consequence, must expend less on other necessities of life. This situation has had a detrimental effect on substantial numbers of renters in the City, especially creating hardships on senior citizens on fixed incomes, and low- and moderate-income households.
The City causes data to be collected through the annual registration statements submitted by mobile home landlords, which confirms a mobile home space and housing shortage continues to exist in the City, the vacancy rate in mobile home parks remain critically low and the deregulation of rents could lead to exorbitant rent increases and aggravation of the crisis, problems and hardships which existed prior to the adoption of the program. This housing shortage necessitates the continuation of the mobile home rent stabilization program. Therefore, it is necessary and reasonable to continue to regulate rents to safeguard mobile home owners, residents, and tenants from excessive rent increases and at the same time provide landlords with a just and reasonable return on their rental spaces.
(§ 2, Ord. 1254-NS, eff. January 23, 1996 as amended by Ord. 1686-NS, eff. August 19, 2021)