Santa Paula commission pauses contested rent‑increase hearing at 400 Mobile Estates amid dispute over 1984 records

The Santa Paula Rent Stabilization Commission on Dec. 18 paused a high‑stakes hearing on a proposed rent increase at 400 Mobile Estates, closing the evidentiary record so commissioners can review thousands of pages of documents and receive five‑page post‑hearing briefs before reconvening.

The hearing centered on competing technical claims about how to calculate a constitutionally required “fair return” under Santa Paula’s rent‑stabilization rules. River’s Edge Manufactured Housing Community, the park owner, asked the commission to apply a full (100%) Consumer Price Index adjustment that the park’s attorney said would yield roughly a $218.17 monthly increase per space under the ordinance’s formula. Jason Dilday, counsel for the park, argued that the commonly used 75% CPI presumption had been rebutted by the park’s evidence: “As applied to this park, the 75% CPI formula is confiscatory,” he said, urging the commission to follow expert calculations showing higher cost growth.

City consultant Baker Tilly and the park’s CPA offered different, narrower recommendations. Andy Belknap, Baker Tilly’s consultant, told the commission the applicant is not entitled to a 100% CPI award and recommended against retroactive or…