Court Lifts Portion of Rent Law : Housing: The Court of Appeal rules that Los Angeles’ rent control ordinance does not apply to mobile homes installed after Oct. 1, 1978. Tenants fear their costs will increase.

A recent ruling by the state Court of Appeal has lifted portions of the Los Angeles city rent control ordinance on trailer parks, jarring city officials and mobile home tenants who fear that rents will skyrocket.

But an attorney for park owners said he doubted the impact would be great.

The ruling leaves intact rent control restrictions on mobile homes installed before Oct. 1, 1978, but lifts the restrictions on those installed since then.

Deputy City Atty. Gwendolyn Poindexter said Friday that the city is appealing the ruling, involving Los Olivos Mobile Home Park of Sylmar, to the state Supreme Court.

At issue, Poindexter said, is the appellate court’s interpretation of a 1979 rent control ordinance, which applies to all mobile home parks and some apartments.

The ordinance exempted apartments built after Oct. 1, 1978, from rent controls, she said. A three-judge panel ruled Sept. 16 that the ordinance also exempts mobile homes installed after 1978, Poindexter said.

Units installed before that date are still covered by rent control, which limits rent increases based on the consumer price index.

The ruling creates problems probably not foreseen by the judges, Poindexter said. Under the ruling, if a mobile home owner replaces his unit with a new mobile home, that new home would not qualify for rent control, even if it occupies the same space as the old home, she said.

This impact “really discriminates” against mobile home owners, said James A. Fleck, head researcher in the rent stabilization section of the Los Angeles Community Development Department. “They are bound to keep old, dilapidated coaches in place.”

But Robert L. Weiss, an attorney for Los Olivos, said other Los Angeles ordinances ensure that mobile home owners would still be covered by rent control, even if they replace their units with new ones.

There are 67 mobile home parks with 6,800 spaces in the city, most of them in the San Fernando Valley, Fleck said.

City officials said it is unclear how many mobile homes in Los Angeles would lose the protection of rent control because of the ruling.

Weiss said he doubted the ruling would have a wide impact. He said attorneys for the city and Los Olivos have identified only five mobile home parks, with a total of 533 spaces built after 1978, which are unequivocally affected by the court’s ruling.

Farris Robertson, a real estate agent and resident of Los Olivos, said some neighbors recently received letters telling them their rents would be raised because of the court ruling. One neighbor was told her rent would increase from $330 to $385, he said. Robertson predicted that other park owners will follow suit as the ruling becomes better known.

On Friday, Robertson asked the Los Angeles City Council to enact an emergency ordinance that would freeze mobile home rents until the Supreme Court can hear the Olivos case. The council took no action but said it would study the request.