Mobile home park owners suffering under unfair and extreme rent control have been, in increasing numbers, seeking an exit strategy which will allow them to recover the underlying value of their land. One such exit strategy is converting rental mobile home parks to subdivisions, allowing the individual lots to be sold at fair market value, unburdened by rent control. State law is generally very supportive of this strategy, allowing park owners to subdivide without the typical impact fees and improvements demanded by local governments in conjunction with a subdivision. This strategy has become highly controversial and political, as tenants who believe they have a permanent entitlement to rent control, influence local governments, who ignore the limitations of state law. But that may be coming to an end with the decision of the First District Court of Appeal in Sonoma County Park Associates v. County of Sonoma. The County of Sonoma had adopted its own “conversion ordinance” designed to stop conversions except with the approval of residents and included numerous onerous conditions designed to make the process as difficult and expensive as process. The notably left of center court, in an exhaustive and well thought out analysis, found the County’s conversion ordinance was preempted by the state law. This reported decision is a major victory for many park owners, including several I represent. The Court of Appeal, however, showed its true feelings in essentially telling the state legislature that it should change the law to give local jurisdictions more authority to hinder conversions.
Filed under: Current Decisions, Rent Control
