San Juan Capistrano : Mobile Home Rent Law Again on Council Agenda

San Juan Capistrano’s mobile-home rent-control ordinance will again come before the City Council tonight. The council will vote on additional changes intended to clarify the 3-year-old law.

Under the ordinance’s provisions, city hearing officers must review rent increases and determine that they are reasonable, before submitting them to the council for approval. An amendment adopted last month permits park tenants to petition for a public hearing within 30 days of the start of any rent increase. The language changes to be considered tonight would state that mobile home owners who lease spaces are not entitled to use the petition and hearing process.

City Atty. John R. Shaw has advised the city manager in a letter that “lease is not generally meant to refer to month-to-month tenancies.”

The ordinance was amended last month to permit park tenants to veto certain capital improvements, such as spas, swimming pools and tennis courts, if they would result in higher rent. A proposed wording change would make it clear that in such balloting, only one vote would be allowed for each space.