Santa Paula rent-review panel adopts resolution denying River’s Edge rent‑increase request for 400 Mobile Estates

The Santa Paula Mobile Home Rent Review Commission voted unanimously on March 12 to adopt a written resolution denying a rent‑adjustment application from River’s Edge Manufactured Housing Community for 400 Mobile Estates and to vacate a prior, related resolution.

The action memorializes the commission’s earlier verbal denial and includes findings of fact based on the record developed at public hearings. Commissioners also directed staff to mail the adopted resolution to the park owner and the park’s residents no later than March 13, 2026, to meet timing requirements under the commission’s procedures and applicable civil‑procedure deadlines.

The vote followed a staff presentation and a single public comment from a resident of 400 Mobile Estates. Dan (Daniel) Melendez, a member of the park’s resident association, told commissioners the park’s written application sought a retroactive rent increase beginning Jan. 1, 2024 — nearly a year before the park’s current owner took possession — and asked that the resolution explicitly note that fact for the court record. "The park's written application actually seeks retroactive rent going back to 01/01/2024," Melendez said, asking that recital 10(d) be corrected to reflect the earlier date.

City staff and the city attorney said they could not immediately locate a Jan. 1, 2024 retroactive start date in the application record. The city attorney told the commission she would verify the records and, if the earlier date is supported by the application materials, the commission would incorporate that finding into the resolution. The staff report and city attorney presentation explained the resolution both denies the requested net‑operating‑income adjustment and would vacate the commission's earlier decision on a nearly identical application.

Commissioners noted the commission’s ordinance contains no provision authorizing retroactive rent increases and said that a claim for a retroactive increase covering a period when a purported owner did not hold an ownership interest would raise additional legal issues. Commissioners voted to adopt the resolution with an amendment to add the additional finding if staff verification shows the application includes the Jan. 1, 2024 date.

The roll call reflected unanimous approval. After adopting the resolution, the commission approved a separate motion directing staff to deliver the adopted written decision to the park owner and to park residents by March 13, 2026. The meeting adjourned at about 6:25 p.m.

What happens next: staff will verify the application record for the contested retroactive date and incorporate that finding into the resolution only if the record supports the change; staff will mail the final, adopted resolution to the owner and residents by March 13, 2026.