Huntington Beach Mobile Home Park Conversion
The City of Huntington Beach adopted a mobile home park conversion ordinance which is being challenged by a lawsuit. Bill Dahlin, a property rights attorney in my office exhorts the City to avoid wasting its resources on this misguided ordinance, responding to recent editorial comments in the Orange County register:
"On September 14, 2006, Mr. Steve Gullage wrote a column for the ‘More Viewpoints“ column in The Wave Section of the Orange County Register. Mr. Gullage urged the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach to expend precious taxpayer resources defending a mobilehome park “conversion” ordinance adopted by the City Council in 2004. With all due respect, the position of Mr. Gullage is “hog wash.”
Steve Gullage is a Huntington Beach resident who lives in a mobilehome park. Mr. Gullage is a past president of the Golden State Manufactured Home Owners League (“GSMOL”). The sole purpose of GSMOL is to lobby for rent control and other legislation to further regulate mobilehome parks and provide new statutory “rights” and obligations that Mr. Gullage believes will benefit mobilehome park residents. In reality, Mr. Gullage is advocating that Huntington Beach defend the right of park tenants to take the value of real estate from the investor and transfer it to residents because they need it more than the “greedy property owners.”
The basic assumptions and assertions set forth by Mr. Gullage are just not true. But why let a viewpoint be spoiled by facts.
1. Mobilehomes do not appreciate. Land appreciates. A gorgeous 3 bedroom, 2 bath home is downtown Riverside that would sell for, on average $500 - $600,000 would sell for a markedly different sum if located in a coastal area of Huntington Beach, California. The reason is simple: land value. Mobilehomes can be bought new from a factory for $100,000. Their value does not change because they sit in a good neighborhood. It is personal property, like a car. A 1973 Ford Pinto is still a Ford Pinto whether it is parked in a driveway in Beverly Hills or El Cajon. Mobilehome park residents do not own the land where their mobilehome is located. Each and every mobilehome park owner in Huntington Beach fully understands that he or she does not own the land on which the mobilehome sits. The land is rented. The legislation adopted by the City of Huntington is nothing more than a veiled attempt to demand a mobilehome park owner buy his or her own land back from a tenant who never owned it if the park owner wanted to go out of the mobilehome park business.
2. The state mandated “reasonable costs of relocation” means the cost to have a truck physically move a mobilehome from one location to another location. It does not mean and never has been construed by any court to mean that a mobilehome park owner must pay the mobilehome park resident the “value” of the park resident’s personal property (the mobilehome).
3. The voters in the City of Huntington Beach adopted, by initiative, Chapter 803 of the City’s Municipal Code. That initiative measure told the City Council, in no uncertain terms, that no form of price setting, price fixing, or rent control was authorized or permitted in the City of Huntington Beach. Mr. Gullage is well aware of that local initiative measure. He simply chose not to acknowledge its existence or impact on the lawfulness of the 2004 conversion ordinance.
4. The City Council of the City of Huntington Beach should repeal the conversion ordinance. Wasting taxpayer money to defend an ordinance that is in conflict with state law, and ignores a very strong voter mandate given just a few short years earlier, is inappropriate. The City of Huntington Beach would be further served using the resources Mr. Gullage wants spent on attorney fees being allocated to the City’s wonderful library system, continuing repair and redevelopment of the downtown area or simply fixing the City’s infrastructure and streets. Spending tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees to “defend” an ordinance that has dubious justification is fiscally irresponsible. The City Council should emulate the Huntington Beach Police Department’s Dare Program and “just say no.”"
Why hasn't anyone commented on the fact that the mobile home park owner is in factor attempting to steal homes and property of the home owner? Are they doing the exact same thing they are fighting against?
I think so.
Additionally, when home owners came into the park they have never been told that the park owners would or could have the right to steal their property. If the home owner's had do you really think mobile home parks would be in existance today? I think not.
We have supported these people for years, and now they want to steal our property, and you think it is the right thing to do? What's wrong with you people?
I live in a beautiful mobile home park two blocks from P.C.H on Beach Blvd. To say your going to move me to a park to be named later is wrong for moving costs ouch!! We bought in this park for the location and to say we don't have any rights is absurd. We love Huntington Beach and if a mobile home is what you can afford we shouldn't be discriminated against.I served my country as millions of others have and to say we don't have a right is bull. I am for the Conversion law which I feels protects our investment and make know mistake a molie home is an investment.Thank You Tim