LAKE FOREST : Park Residents to Prepare Aid Report

A group of mobile home park residents seeking assistance to purchase their park will give a detailed report of their needs to the city within 30 days.

Council members expressed skepticism last week about guaranteeing a $6-million loan on behalf of residents at the Kimberly Gardens mobile home park.

However, representatives of the tenants in the 159-space park maintained that they aren’t looking for a handout.

“This isn’t going to cost the city a red cent,” said Jim Froelich, speaking for the Kimberly Gardens Mobile Home Owners Assn. “All we want is to get your support in acquiring the property.”

Froelich said the tenants want the city to guarantee a private loan for the park and “act kind of like a father in co-signing the loan.”

However, council members expressed reluctance to be responsible for a multimillion-dollar loan. “Let’s be real,” said Councilman Richard T. Dixon. “If you guys could qualify for a loan, you wouldn’t be here. If you forfeit on the loan, the city would be forced to fork out the money” to pay it off.

Froelich admitted that “there is potential exposure” for the city in co-signing the loan.

The tenants have also expressed an interest in purchasing the park, which city officials estimated would cost about $14 million.

Kimberly Gardens is one of four mobile home parks in the city that are pushing for rent control, claiming that landlords have overcharged for rents in recent years.

A rent moratorium failed on a 3-2 vote last month. Council members turned it down, saying that most of the approximately 1,200 mobile home dwellers in the city are currently on one- to five-year leases and wouldn’t be affected by a rent moratorium.

The council asked tenants and landlords to continue their 18-month negotiations over space fees and rent rollbacks.