MOORPARK : Council OKs Mobile Home Rent Control

Bowing to the concerns of mobile home owners, the Moorpark City Council has voted unanimously to reinstate rent control for trailer park lots.

The council took the action Wednesday after the city attorney said that a recent U. S. Supreme Court decision would help protect Moorpark from lawsuits by trailer park owners.

About 70 residents of the Villa del Arroyo Mobile Home Park on Los Angeles Avenue, many of them senior citizens, crowded the meeting.

“You can’t allow these rents to keep going up on us,” resident Frank Hilton told the council.

Moorpark abolished rent control in trailer parks 2 1/2 years ago, after a federal court ruled that such laws are unconstitutional. But in a case several months ago, the Supreme Court upheld such rent-control ordinances.

Hilton and other mobile home owners said rents at Villa del Arroyo have increased dramatically since the city abolished rent control.

Two and a half years ago, Hilton said, he paid $302 per month for his trailer lot, including utilities. Now he pays $361 plus another $25 to $30 for water and other utilities. When a mobile home changes hands, the park ownership increases lot rents to $450 or more, Hilton said.

As a result, park residents have difficulty finding buyers for their trailers.

The rent-control ordinance will limit annual increases to 5%. It is expected to go into effect by mid-November.