City Agrees to Help Firm in Mobile-Park Purchase

The city has agreed to help the nonprofit Caritas Corp. purchase the Rancho Brea Mobile Home Park, a deal lauded by residents who were concerned about inadequate maintenance, escalating rents and other problems at the site.

The council this week approved a $390,000 loan to Caritas for improvements to the 100-space park and agreed to issue about $4.6 million in tax-exempt bonds on behalf of the Costa Mesa-based housing organization for the purchase.

Caritas will repay the money through rents collected at the park, and no city funds will be used to repay the debt, officials said. As part of the agreement, 50 of the mobile-home spaces will be priced to meet affordable-housing standards for low, very low and moderate income households.

Park residents, who had voiced complaints about maintenance problems and large rent increases at the site in the 1400 block of Central Avenue, said they were pleased with the deal.

“We think it’s a delightful thing, and we can’t believe that it’s actually been accomplished,” said resident Genevieve Hooper, 76, who has lived at the park since 1959. “It’s a very innovative solution.”

Residents first alerted city officials to the problems in 1995, when more than 25 spaces became vacant.

“People were leaving in droves,” Hooper said. “The rent was astronomical. People could go out an buy a house for the same rent as they were paying here.”

In addition, she said, the absentee owners did not repair deteriorated streets, trim trees or clean the community pool.

Under the agreement approved Tuesday, Caritas will stabilize rents, provide much-needed maintenance and establish tenant committees to give residents a stronger voice in park operations.

“I hope this will be the start of more of these types of arrangements,” Councilwoman Bev Perry said.