LAKE FOREST : Mobile Home Park Rent Freeze Rejected

Reversing its previous support of a rent freeze on mobile home park spaces, the City Council on Tuesday expressed hope that tenants and landlords of the city’s four parks will head back to the negotiating table--despite a year of fruitless talks.

Mayor Ann Van Haun was the swing vote last week when she voted in favor of a moratorium on rent increases. But on Tuesday, she changed her mind. She said the rent freeze wouldn’t be needed because two-thirds of the approximately 1,200 people living in Lake Forest mobile homes have long-term leases.

“In reviewing everything, I’m not sure we would be doing the right thing because (the moratorium) would affect so few members of the parks,” Van Haun said. “I’ve spent many sleepless nights on this.”

But Van Haun and other council members also said they wanted to settle the major issues--rent increases and rent rollbacks--independently of the landlords and tenant group. Over the next two months, council members will work with City Atty. Thomas C. Wood to develop a standard lease for mobile home parks that would limit rent increases to rises in the cost of living.

“I don’t want (tenants) to feel that I’m abandoning them,” Van Haun said. “I want to be done with (the standard lease) no longer than two months from now.”

The council voted 3 to 2 against the moratorium on Tuesday.

Ernie Rettino, a leader of the tenant group, said he and other tenants were shocked and surprised when Van Haun changed her mind.

“I didn’t expect it, and I still don’t get her comment about agonizing for a week,” Rettino said. “But I wouldn’t say it was a setback because we know it will be difficult to get what we want with this City Council.”

Rettino said the standard lease sounds good conceptually, but he expressed doubts that the contract will be enforceable unless backed by a rent control ordinance.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Wood said he questioned whether a standard lease could be legally imposed on both tenants and landlords. The council directed him to research the legal issues surrounding standard leases.