Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Mobile Home Park Tenants Win Round on Rent Control

In a political victory for mobile home park residents, the City Council has given preliminary approval to a measure that would prevent park owners from raising space rents whenever residents move or sell their mobile homes.

The “vacancy control” measure was passed Thursday night by a 3-1-1 vote, with Councilman Joe Davies dissenting and Councilman Jim Root abstaining. The measure, which comes up for a final vote next month, basically would return the city’s law to its pre-1990 status.

After a 1989 federal court ruling held that cities with such laws could be sued for damages by park owners, Palmdale and many other cities abandoned that form of mobile home park rent control. But recent court rulings have leaned toward upholding such measures.