Mobilehome Park Conversions
GSMOL regional officers can help manufactured-home owners work with their city or county governments to adopt ordinances that protect homeowners from excessive rent raises and the loss of the value of their homes if their park should be closed.
In the lists below, ordinances marked with an asterisk (*) were adopted with assistance from GSMOL.
Mobilehome Park Closure Conversion Ordinances
There are currently 40+ jurisdictions in the state of California which have closure conversion ordinances. Mobilehome Park Closure Ordinances outline procedures to be followed in the event a park owner applies for a permit to close or convert his/her park to another use. These became necessary a few years ago when real estate prices skyrocketed and developers became very interested in purchasing parks to convert them to commercial and other uses. State code only loosely protects mobilehome residents in case of a park closure so it became critical for California jurisdictions to design special ordinances to protect the rights of mobilehome owners who are frequently lower income seniors and families on fixed incomes. Listed below are local coastal conversion ordinances and several original model conversion ordinances. San Luis Obispo County has components of all the models plus several new features.
Click here for a list of CA Jurisdictions with MHP Closure Conversion Ordinances.
- County of San Luis Obispo*
- City of San Luis Obispo*
- County of Santa Barbara*
- County of Ventura*
Click on “Division 8” under “Code of Ordinances” list on the left. Then click on “Chapter 1 – Zoning” on the right side. Finally, click on “Article 17 MHP Conversion Permit Requirements” on the right side. - City of Ventura*
Click on “Chapter Division 6” from the left column. Then select “Chapter 6.600.000, Mobilehome Park Rent Stabilization Ordinance,” from the list on the right. The MHP Closure Ordinance is Chapter 6.600.100, in the 2nd half of this mobilehome park ordinance.
Model Mobilehome Park Closure Conversion Ordinances
The original models have several key features:
- Statements of purpose reflecting the need for preserving mobilehome parks as affordable housing within the community
- Separate Impact Report Criteria
- Relocation Plans for the homeowner and their possessions
- Requirement that the replacement location be comparable to the original mobilehome and park
- Use of “In Place Fair Market Value” as a standard for re-imbursement of home value to the displaced resident
- City of Seal Beach (One of the model ordinances) 2005, amended 2010
Click “Title 12, MHP Conversion Ordinance” at the bottom of the list of codes. This Ordinance was originally written in 2004-5 and was amended in 2010. It is the newest version of a city closure ordinance along with the San Juan Capistrano Ordinance in California. Both ordinances support In Place Market Value and both are Coastal Communities with limited affordable housing.- p. 8-6 #2
- p. 9-7 #4, 5
- p. 9 c. shall not exceed reasonable costs of relocation
- p. 12 exemptions
- City of Palmdale 1994-1996
Palmdale Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 9. Scroll down to page 25 … Zoning Ordinance, 2/3 of the way down the page is 91.07 Closure of Mobilehome Parks.This Ordinance follows an earlier model which includes a well written purpose related to affordable housing, requirements of the Impact Report, Relocation Counselor, In Place Market Value, full costs of moving the mobilehome and fixtures, full and/or partial Exemption procedures. It also includes detailed modifications and time extensions.
Mobilehome Park Condo-Conversions/Subdivisions
The forced or park owner initiated conversion of a mobilehome park from a rental park to a resident ownership park has created great concern for the past decade. Many residents were unable to pay for the cost of the land in addition to their mobilehomes. If unable to sell, mobilehome owners have been forced to walk away, losing all equity in their homes. With the passage of SB 510, beginning in January 2014, local jurisdictions will consider the results of the Residents Survey in their decision to approve, modify or disapprove a MH Condo/Conversion. Local agencies may also implement Subdivision Map Act requirements for the conversion of rental MH Parks by resolutions or ordinances. Will Constantine, an attorney from Santa Cruz, is currently the leading CA expert on mobilehome park condo-conversions.
