Rent Control in Mobile Parks

“Justices Back Rent Control for Mobile Home Owners,” April 2:

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling that local rent control laws apply even when mobile home tenants sell their spaces to new buyers will protect California cities from litigation by land owners, but the court’s ruling is no victory for affordable housing. Most residents of mobile homes own the coaches, renting only the concrete pad on which the coach rests. By voiding any possibility of vacancy decontrol, such as is available to owners of rent-controlled apartment buildings, the Supreme Court has permanently reduced the value of the land on which a rent-controlled mobile home sites.

Unfortunately, the loss imposed on the land owner serves no social purpose, because his or her sacrifice does not increase the availability of affordable housing. The combined value of a given coach at a given site is not affected by site rent control. However, site rent control transfers much of the value in the mobile home site to the owner of the coach. The owner of the coach will include this windfall in the sales price of his or her unit.

Further, the economic injury imposed on land owners by mobile home rent control laws is sufficient to prevent new investments in mobile home parks in any of the 87 California cities that have such laws. The court’s ruling provides owners of all mobile home parks, rent controlled or otherwise, with clear economic incentives to shift the use of their land to less regulated uses. Both effects can only reduce the availability of this important low-cost housing option.

JIM MOORE

Assistant Professor of Urban

and Regional Planning, USC