Legislation Update

To begin with, much of our work on behalf of CMPA this year has been focused on two threatening bills introduced under the guise of helping mobilehome park residents recover from the loss of their homes in the Palisades Fire.

 

SB 610 (Perez, D-Alhambra) Disaster Assistance for Tenants, Mobilehome Parks,and Mortgage included so many problematic and unconstitutional provisions that it is hard to document all of them here. This included a rent control provision of 3% plus the percentage change in the CPI up to a maximum of 5% any time during a 12-month period after a state, federal, or local state of emergency is declared. In the event that a parkowner chose to rebuild a mobilehome park, the bill further limited increases in rent to 10% more than the previous rental rate charged for the space. It also required parkowners that owned other parks in California to offer vacant spaces to displaced residents on “substantially similar” terms. Finally, the bill discharges a resident’s obligation to pay rent when a park is evacuated.

 

CMPA has been working with WMA to oppose this bill throughout the year. Senate leadership considers SB 610 part of its wildfire response package. As a consequence, despite our opposition, the bill easily passed out of the state Senate. However, we were able to cause significant problems for the bill in the Assembly Housing Committee where a cadre of moderate Democrats, particularly Assemblymember’s Wilson and Avila-Farias, worked with us to limit the bill’s assault on property rights. With their support the bill was narrowed significantly before it passed out of the Committee. All of the rent control provisions and the requirement to offer spaces in other parks were removed from the bill by the Assembly Housing Committee. As such, the only provisions that remain applicable to mobilehome parks is the requirement for owners to forego rent during an evacuation. With these amendments, WMA removed its opposition to the bill. CMPA remains opposed to the bill, which is pending consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

 

We have also put significant work into opposing SB 749 (Allen, D-El Segundo) Mobilehome Park Closures, Cessation, or Change of Use. The Senate Bill requires parkowners seeking to sell their property or change its use to offer to sell it to “qualified entities” designated by the State. The bill establishes an appraisal process that would never guarantee a parkowner fair market value for their property. We worked the bill hard in the Assembly Housing Committee. Unfortunately, it passed out of the Committee, albeit with the minimum number of votes needed. Similarly, the bill passed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee. However the debate in both committees was, in our judgement, better for mobilehome parkowners than the bill’s author. He committed to narrowing the bill to apply only when a park has been destroyed. We have already indicated that CMPA would continue to oppose such a bill. The bill is pending consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and we hope to bottle it up there or kill it on the Assembly Floor.

 

Finally, CMPA remains opposed to AB 806 (Connolly, D-Petaluma) Mobilehome Cooling Systems. The bill eliminates a parkowner’s ability to prohibit residents from installing air conditioners. It also requires parkowners to provide cooling in at least one indoor cooling space upon issuance of an extreme heat warning. The bill includes a caveat that a parkowner’s can limit the installation of air conditioners when the park’s electrical system cannot handle the load. However, the language is poorly drafted and it is unclear how a parkowner would determine which residents should or shouldn’t be able to install an air conditioner or who would determine whether a park’s electrical system was at capacity. WMA has proposed amendments which would exempt master-metered parks. Unfortunately, the author has rejected these amendments. The bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and is pending consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee. We will continue to work to oppose the bill and hope to kill it on the Senate Floor.