Off-Balance Thinking

It appears to me that the actions of the owner of the Oxnard Pacific Mobile Home Park in trying to raise rents 40% to 50% can only create more homeless people if he is allowed to prevail. If he should succeed, it only stands to reason the other park owners will climb on the bandwagon.

The owner of Oxnard Pacific says the “market value” of his rent is now $500 per space, because he was able to coerce new mobile-home owners into signing a five-year lease (which will, hopefully, be proved illegal) and charging them $500 or more. Because of these leases, there are now hundreds of mobile homes in Oxnard for sale that the owners cannot even give away.

How in the world can the “market value” of a piece of land approximately 40 by 70 feet be $500, when you can rent a two- or three-bedroom apartment or condominium for $650 to $800 per month? It seems to me that somebody’s thinking is off balance.

BETSY PERVORSE

Oxnard