A multi-year saga pitting Marina mobile home residents against their property managers may finally be approaching resolution, as the City Council prepares for a September vote to finalize an ordinance keeping rents flat at all five of Marina’s mobile home parks.


But while the political winds are finally favoring rent stabilization, property managers are crying foul.


“I’m dismayed that [Marina Mayor Bruce] Delgado’s still got this pet project,” says Ruben Garcia, vice president of Waterhouse Management Corporation, which owns the Lazy Wheel mobile home park on Carmel Avenue. 


After the city’s last unsuccessful attempt at a uniform agreement in 2009, the Lazy Wheel presented a memorandum of understanding to its residents that keeps rents flat through 2013. Over two-thirds of the Lazy Wheel’s 300 renters signed on to the long-term lease. Those who didn’t saw annual increases of 3 percent in 2010 and 1.5 percent in 2011.


“That’s a successful result,” Garcia says. “[Residents] could rescind the MOU up to 72 hours after signage. They didn’t.” 


Rent control would prevent property managers from jacking up rates on new leases, or when property changes owners. 


“It’s what happens after that MOU expires that’s the problem,” says Sharon Attebury, president of the Cypress Square Mobile Homeowners Association. “Mobile home owners are at the mercy of a park owner” – particularly seniors, many of whom are on a fixed income and can’t afford even small rent hikes.


In contrast to past councils, this time the majority’s in favor of rent control, with Delgado leading the charge.


“The leases at the different parks are a mixed bag,” says Delgado, who’s on the city’s Mobile Home Task Force. The ordinance creates a safety net if a mobile home park sells and the new owner raises rent – precisely what happened when Marina Del Mar on Crescent Avenue changed hands in 2005.


“I don’t know what their justification was, other than more money,” says Patty Cramer, president of the Marina Del Mar Homeowners Association. “They’re certainly not doing it to maintain the park.” 


While pipes have burst and trailers remain run-down, Cramer says, her rent has risen from $306 to $415 per month since 2000, while her pension has declined $120 in that same time period.

There’s also the ever-present threat of litigation. Waterhouse threatened to sue the city over the last rent control go-round in 2009. Earlier this month, the city of Capitola repealed its three-decade-old rent control ordinance after spending over $1.5 million in the past 10 years defending itself against legal challenges from property managers. 


Marina City Councilman Frank O'Connell says the city's working hard to make its law litigation-proof. “We want to make sure the constitutionality of the ordinance can’t be challenged,” he says.