Morro Bay rent control ordinance protects some tenants, but not others. Here’s how it works

Christy Nair waves to neighbors as she strolls to her house perched on the edge of Silver City West, a 55-and-up mobile home and recreational vehicle park in Morro Bay.

As she opens the front door, her 13-year-old pug, Duke, skips from a sunny spot on the sofa to the door — wagging his tail in anticipation of treats or head scratches.

Nair, a retiree, has called Silver City West home for the past 11 years — but she worries about difficulties others may face when they choose to rent there or at other mobile home parks in the city.

About three years ago, Nair discovered black mold in the home she originally purchased at Silver City West, which required her to move to a new unit in the same park.

Her original mobile home at the park was eligible for rent control under a longstanding city ordinance. However, because her mobile home is owned by the park’s landlord and on a 10-year lease, she no longer has that protection.

Nair’s father was aware of what Nair was losing when he signed the new lease for her, but Nair is worried others may not realize they could be giving up rent control protection simply by buying a new home.

“I want people to be aware of how unfair it is,” Nair said in a recent interview with The Tribune. “They’re taking away the rent control.”

Meanwhile, the park’s landlord, Angus Keith, says he is doing what he can to keep the park’s rents reasonable.

“We don’t get a lot of complaints on the rents there,” Keith told The Tribune, “and it’s probably because of the rent control.”

How does rent control work in Morro Bay?

Morro Bay’s rent control ordinance — which was passed in 1986 and updated more recently in 2003 — limits rent increases for mobile home parks, a key source of affordable housing in the city.

Mobile home parks can only increase rent once per year, based on a formula outlined in the city’s Mobile Home and Recreational Vehicle Park Rent Stabilization ordinance.

Mobile home park tenants have two options: to rent a parking spot for a mobile home that they own, or to rent both a parking spot and a mobile home owned by the landlord.

The Morro Bay ordinance caps how much rent can go up during those annual increases. Increases for permanent residents of parks are capped at 75% of that year’s percent change in the Los Angeles Area Consumer Price Index.

In 2023, that meant the allowable rent increase was 5.7%, according to Morro Bay Community Development Director Scot Graham.

This protects tenants from “unfettered” rent increases, which is especially important for folks living on a fixed income, Graham said.

The ordinance permits larger annual rent increases for non-permanent residents, however, with a cap of 125% of the year’s percent change in consumer price index, according to the ordinance.

After living at Silver City West for more than 25 years, one resident — who spoke to The Tribune on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation from her landlord — said the ordinance has made it possible for her to afford to live in the park.

The resident owns her home, but pays about $300 per month for her parking spot, she said.

Other residents who have not been at the park as long pay more, she said.

“There’s no way I could pay the rent that (the landlord is) charging for some of these places,” the resident said, noting that folks like her who rely on Social Security payments and retirement savings wouldn’t be able to afford the new units at the park.

According to the resident, most who have lived in the park for more than a decade qualify for rent control, but newer tenants often don’t qualify for it.

Some mobile home park tenants exempt from rent control

While the ordinance protects some Silver City West tenants, others don’t qualify for rent control.

Morro Bay’s ordinance doesn’t apply to certain mobile home park tenants, including those with leases that last longer than a year, those with short-term leases for less than 30 days and those who live in a mobile home owned by a park’s landlord.

Park owners aren’t required to tell prospective tenants about the rent control ordinance when they offer a lease, Graham said.

“A lot of the parks in town offer you a long-term lease because then they’re not hamstrung by the city’s (Consumer Price Index) limitations,” Graham said. “They’re probably not going to tell you that there’s a rent control ordinance.”

Longtime Silver City West resident Linda Winters said landlords can exploit these gaps of protection in the law — pushing people out of the park so they can flip the mobile homes into more expensive units.

“The more people that move out, the more property he has control of,” Winters said of her landlord, Keith.

Winters and Keith were involved in long-term litigation relating to eviction proceedings. Winters fought the eviction notices, which prevented the two from going to court, she said.

When approached about about the rent control ordinance, some Silver City West residents said they weren’t aware of it. However, Keith said his leases mention rent control rules.

According to Keith, most tenants without rent control are part-time residents who use their units as second homes. He acknowledged that folks in units owned by the park or on leases longer than one year could also be exempt from rent control.

Keith said a lease he offers to tenants that don’t qualify for rent control stipulates that the park can raise rent up to 5% once per year.

Keith, who has operated the Morro Bay mobile home park for about nine years, said he raises rent to compensate for increased property taxes and maintenance costs.

“I do try to keep the park maintained at a high level,” Keith said, noting that he lives there with his family half of the year. “The better the residents are doing, the better the park does, and the better the business does.”

How do Silver City West residents feel about rent control?

Four residents at the park told The Tribune they signed leases for units at Silver City West without being informed of the rent control ordinance.

One resident signed a 10-year lease that doesn’t qualify for rent control but said he’s comfortable paying the price Keith decided for rent. He asked to remain anonymous to avoid conflict with his landlord or neighbors.

“Everybody’s talking around here, but I’m happy with what I got,” he said.

Darrell Sizemore has lived in his RV at the park for two months. He signed an eight-month lease for the parking spot, which means it is exempt from rent control because his lease is shorter than one year.

The park didn’t mention the rent control ordinance to Sizemore when he signed the lease, he said, but with a rent of $800 per month, he doesn’t mind. The rent is lower than what he’s used to, he said.

Another woman living in a mobile home at Silver City West — who asked to remain anonymous to keep her financial situation private — said she didn’t know about the rent control ordinance when she moved in.

She pays $979 per month for her parking space, which is lower than the rents at nearby mobile home parks, she said.

She bought the mobile home and a 10-year lease for the parking spot from the unit’s previous owner, she said. There are eight years left on the lease, she said.

Living without rent control

Some residents are working to make sure their current and potential neighbors know what the ordinance is.

When Keith took ownership of the park, Winters met with each of her neighbors to ensure that they signed a lease that allowed them to maintain rent control protections, she said.

“That has always been my mission, to educate people about their rights living in a mobile home park,” Winters said.

Nair said she hopes to “make people more aware before they sign away their rent control.”

After forfeiting her rent control protections three years ago, Nair said she has been concerned about the long-term affordability of the park.

Nair lives on a fixed income of her pension and disability payments, so this year’s 5.5% rent increase, coupled with higher water, gas and grocery bills mean “things will have to get a lot tighter,” she said.

Nair said she’s worried that she and her neighbors will eventually get priced out of the park.

“I never thought I’d live in a mobile home park, but now I’d never want to leave,” Nair said. “It’s kind of like a dysfunctional family. There’s a closeness — we help each other.”

Tribune reporter John Lynch contributed to this story.