Fresno commission denies mobile‑home park owner’s request to pass repaving cost to residents

FRESNO — The Fresno Mobile Home Park Rent Review and Stabilization Commission voted to deny Country West Community LP’s nonautomatic rent increase request for Country Living Mobile Home Park, rejecting an owner proposal to pass the cost of recent roadway work to residents.

The commission approved only the automatic Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment of $7.82 per space and found that the $37.07-per-space amount the owner sought for repaving did not meet the Fresno Municipal Code standards for a capital improvement.

Staff liaison Sarah Papazian, who presented the city’s analysis, told commissioners the ordinance allows two automatic increases (the CPI amount) and a separate nonautomatic amount that owners may seek for specified factors. Papazian said the owner’s application identified repaving as the single relevant factor but that staff found three primary discrepancies: title fees overstated in the owner’s packet, an incorrect count of park spaces, and a loan repayment term that differed from the amortization period owners proposed to residents. “That is what the owner will be repaying,” Papazian said of the lender’s 10-year maturity date, which she contrasted with the 15-year repayment the owner offered residents. She recommended commissioners consider whether the work qualified as a capital improvement or was ordinary repair or maintenance, which the ordinance excludes from pass-through.

Owner Brenda Aguilar spoke in favor of the increase and described the work as necessary to maintain safe access and preserve property values. Aguilar said utility work and deferred maintenance left the roads in poor condition and that the park’s loan documents and contractor invoices supported the project scope and cost.

The resident committee, represented by chair Leanda Johnson, opposed the request and urged the commission to deny the $37.07 nonautomatic increase. Johnson said the committee conducted a resident vote — 91 of 93 returned ballots rejected the owner’s proposed increase — and submitted a memo with 128 resident signatures attesting that the roadways only required spot maintenance rather than full replacement. “We ask that the non automatic rent increase request of $37.00 7 per affected space be denied but in full by the commission,” Johnson said.

Multiple residents spoke during the public comment period, describing financial stress, difficulties obtaining lease documents from management, and fear of retaliation for speaking publicly. One resident, C. Lee, told the commission: “These actions that the park owner is taking, they've caused severe stress and financial hardship and fear among the residents who simply wish to just live peacefully and exercise their rights under California's Mobile Home Residency Law.”

Key factual details from the record included: the owner’s loan paperwork showed a $940,000 loan of which $680,000 was attributed to repaving; the owner’s application used 173 park spaces in its per‑space calculation while staff found 195 spaces in the park; and staff determined the bank maturity date (May 2035) implied a 10‑year repayment to the lender even though residents were offered a 15‑year payback. Staff recalculations that corrected the title‑fee proportion, used 195 spaces, and applied the 10‑year loan term reduced the per‑space pass‑through considerably in staff examples.

After closing the hearing, commissioners deliberated. One commissioner noted the owner’s own language in the record referring to repairs and maintenance, and others pointed to the ordinance’s two‑part test for capital improvements — that the work be more than ordinary repair and that it be amortizable under U.S. income tax rules — and found the application did not meet those standards. A motion to award no additional rent increase beyond the automatic CPI passed on roll call. In the formal outcome the commission directed that only the uncontested CPI increase ($7.82) take effect and denied the $37.07 nonautomatic request.

The commission’s written decision will be mailed to affected parties and will include notice of the CPI adjustment’s effective date per applicable notice requirements.

Votes at a glance - Motion: Finding (option 3) — no additional rent increase beyond the automatic CPI increase is fair, just and reasonable. - Mover: (motion introduced during deliberations on the record; transcript identifies the motion text and a seconder.) - Roll call (as recorded in the meeting transcript): Chairman Wakata — Aye; Vice Chair Katie Wilbur — Aye; Commissioner Burns — Aye; Commissioner Berry — Aye. Motion carries.

Why this mattered The commission’s decision prevents an owner from recovering the bulk of a recent repaving project from residents through the rent‑stabilization process, while preserving the automatic CPI adjustment that owners are entitled to annually. The ruling turned on whether the repaving qualified as a capital improvement under the city ordinance and whether documentation and calculations supporting the owner’s pass‑through met the commission’s standards for “fair, just and reasonable.”

What’s next Staff will finalize and mail the commission’s written decision, which will state the CPI increase and the denial of the nonautomatic $37.07 increase. The commission does not have authority in this hearing to refund previously collected charges from prior years; residents who believe earlier charges were improper were advised in public comments to pursue separate remedies outside this proceeding.

Reporting note: Direct quotes and attributions are taken from the meeting transcript of the Fresno Mobile Home Park Rent Review and Stabilization Commission meeting.