Mobile Home Rent Stabilization

Background

There are twenty privately-owned mobile home parks in Oxnard, housing nearly 3000 families.  Mobile home park residents account for 5% to 6% of all Oxnard residents.  Almost all of these 3,000 families own their mobile home and pay space rent to the park owners.

Since 1982, the City of Oxnard has regulated the space rents that can be charged by the park owners, through the Mobile Home Park Rent Stabilization System (commonly known as “rent control”).  The MHRS system, which is set forth in Chapter 24 of the City Code, is the product of a 1998 City-mediated negotiated settlement between elected representatives of homeowners in all parks, and elected representatives of the owners of 22 mobile home parks.

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About the Program

Under the Mobile Home Park Rent Stabilization (MHRS) system, the amount and frequency of increases in space rent are regulated by the City.  In most cases, the annual space rent increase is limited to an amount no greater than the inflation rate for Southern California for the previous year.  Park owners must submit an application to the City in order to increase rents.  The City’s Rent Stabilization officer reviews the application for accuracy, and sends notices to each homeowner advising them of their rights under the City’s MHRS system.

The MHRS system also administers applications for pass-through of utility costs in those cases where mobile homeowners are separately billed for utilities such as water, sewer, gas, electricity, and refuse service.

Disputes under the MHRS are heard by an independent Hearing Officer, who conducts an evidentiary hearing that is open to the public.  Any appeals of Hearing Officer decisions are heard by the Mobile Home Park Rent Review Board, which is composed of people who have no financial interest in any mobile home or any mobile home park.

The cost to the City for the administration of the MHRS rent stabilization system is almost entirely paid for by the owners of the twenty privately-owned mobile home parks in the City and the individual mobile homeowners whose rents are regulated by the MHRS, Together, the mobile home owners and the park owners pay a monthly administrative fee, each paying $1.17 per space per month. The half of the fee paid by the individual homeowners is paid by the homeowners to the park as part of the monthly space rental invoice, and the park in turn remits those monies, plus the park owner’s share, to the City for a total administrative fee of $2.34 per space per month. Park owners also pay filing fees when submitting applications for space rent increases. The revenue collected is used to defray the City’s costs to administer the program, primarily staff, legal, and hearing officer costs.

Permissible C.P.I. Increase for Calendar Year 2025:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has published the Consumer Price Index (C.P.I.) data for the month of August 2024 for the Los Angeles-Anaheim-Riverside region. The C.P.I. for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was 333.359.

In accordance with the Oxnard City Code, the permissible C.P.I. rent increase for calendar year is calculated as follows:

                August 2024 C.P.I.:                                                                 333.359
                Minus August 2023 C.P.I.:                                                  – 324.050
                Equals Net Change in C.P.I.                                                       9.309
                Divided by August 2023 C.P.I.:                                           /324.050
                Equals decimal change in C.P.I.:                                                 .0287

Pursuant to Section 24-9(A)(1)(a) of the City Code, if the percentage change in the C.P.I. is 4 percent or less, the permissible C.P.I. formula adjustment shall be equal to 100 percent of the change in C.P.I.

Thus, the maximum permissible C.P.I. rent adjustment for calendar year 2025 shall be 2.87%.

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Rental Hearings

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Resources