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Residents urge tighter mobile-home rent caps, citywide tenant protections and rental registry
Summary
Multiple public commenters at the April 2 meeting told council that a 45% rent notice at a local mobile home park and rising costs are forcing longtime residents from Santa Paula; speakers asked the council to reduce the mobile-home increase cap from 12% to 3%, expand protections citywide, and create a rental registry.
At the April 2 Santa Paula City Council meeting several residents and tenant advocates addressed the council during public comment to press for stronger tenant protections after a recent rent notice at a mobile-home park.
Elma de la Aguilar, speaking for tenants, said residents at 4100 Mobile Estates received a notice of a roughly 45% rent increase — described in the meeting as more than $200 per month — that would displace or strain retirees, farmworkers and other long-term residents. Aguilar urged the council to amend the city’s mobile-home rent-stabilization ordinance, which currently allows increases up to 12%, by adopting a 3% cap similar to neighboring Oxnard and Ojai. She also asked the city to expand mobile-home protections to cover apartments and other multifamily housing citywide, to adopt anti-retaliation protections, and to create a rental registry to improve transparency and provide policy data and local revenue.
Advocates linking housing stability to public safety also urged the council to fund youth programs, improve streetlights and sidewalks, and invest in cooling centers and climate-resilience hubs to protect vulnerable households during extreme weather. Several speakers asked the city to protect tenants from retaliation and to provide better outreach for residents who may fear interactions with authorities when they assert their rights.
City staff did not take immediate policy action that evening but have previously indicated work on strengthening smoking and other ordinances and said the city is engaged in a strategic planning process; council members encouraged residents to participate in outreach and the strategic-planning process. The mayor and staff noted upcoming opportunities for community input, and staff said an ordinance-options package on smoking had been anticipated this summer. The meeting record shows no city action on rent-stabilization changes at this session.
Speakers asked for a rental registry and for the council to consider aligning the mobile-home rent-cap with neighboring cities; they also reported community petition counts (Aguilar said at least 90 residents submitted letters opposing the increase). Council members thanked speakers and encouraged continued participation in city planning.
