After six years of delays, the City of Riverside has finally completed its “review” of their mobilehome rent control ordinance. This review began in 2018, but staff deferred meetings until nearly 2020. 
At that time, parkowners were scheduled to meet with the city to discuss the review, but those discussions were postponed again. This time, it was due to the onset of safer-at-home orders. City staff, who recommended the review, did not identify any issues with the existing ordinance that warranted change. 

The purpose of the review was simply to ensure the ordinance’s compliance with state law. However, when inflation surged in 2022, pushing permissible rent increases to over 7%, the city council insisted that the review also address the absence of a rent cap. Two years later, the review process truly began in earnest.

Unfortunately, this review did not consider the possibility that Riverside’s ordinance could serve as a model for other jurisdictions, as opposed to simply adapting rent control language from other cities. 

Riverside data indicated that the ordinance was functioning effectively. There were no applications for fair rate of return or lawsuits during the ordinance’s 30-year duration, homes were selling quickly, homeowner equity was increasing, and evictions were virtually nonexistent citywide. Furthermore, the fact that a new park is currently under construction is compelling evidence of the ordinance’s success.

New parks are rare due to California’s regulatory environment, and Riverside stands as a prime example of the expanding opportunities for manufactured housing.

Throughout this process, a dedicated group of industry professionals worked collaboratively to provide suggestions to the city. While we rejected the staff’s proposed changes regarding vacancy decontrol and capital replacement pass-throughs, we agreed to a rent cap, with the addition of a rent minimum or floor.

Unfortunately, the city-led ordinance review failed to consider the possibility that their current ordinance could serve as a model for other jurisdictions. Instead of leveraging their own ordinance, which may have effectively balanced stakeholders’ competing interests, they resorted to copying language from other cities’ ordinances without any policy analysis. . 

In conclusion, the review process was unnecessarily drawn out and marred by a flawed approach and inexperienced city staff. 
However, the final outcome reflects the collective efforts of Riverside parkowners and their teams of professionals, resulting in a solution that serves the best interests of all stakeholders.

Julie Paule is WMA’s Regional Representative for theSan Diego/Orange/Riverside/Imperial areas. She can be reached at julie@pauleconsulting.com.