Board affirms arbitrator in Delillo mobile home rent dispute, blocks $20,000 broker fee from pass-through

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on June 23 affirmed an arbitrator's award setting the allowable rent increase at Delillo Mobile Home Park, denying the park owner's petition for review.

The ruling leaves in place the arbitrator's calculation and specifically excludes a $20,000 broker commission from the list of costs that can be passed through to homeowners. Management had argued the commission was "incidental to the purchase" and therefore expressly recoverable under the county's mobile-home rent-control ordinance; the arbitrator excluded it, finding it not incidental. The board unanimously concluded the arbitrator did not abuse his discretion.

Why it matters: Mobile-home residents and park operators use the county's arbitration process to resolve contested rent increases. The decision preserves a narrow interpretation of the ordinance's "expenses incidental to the purchase" language and prevents the disputed commission from increasing monthly lot payments.

What the board said and did: General Services staff told the supervisors the arbitrator found a fair minimum adjustment but rejected a larger sum sought by park management and that the ordinance limits the arbitrator's discretion on certain return‑on‑investment questions. Park counsel Jason Dilde argued the arbitrator misapplied the ordinance's "incidental" standard and improperly excluded the broker commission paid when the park was purchased; he asked the board to modify the award and recompute the increase. Tenants' counsel Bruce Stanton urged the supervisors to defer to the arbitrator's factual findings under the substantial‑evidence standard.

After oral argument and the parties' rebuttals, the board considered the legal standard on appeal (abuse of discretion) and voted to uphold the arbitrator's findings, including that the broker commission was not allowable to be recovered from tenants. County counsel confirmed the board's action ends administrative remedies; further legal challenges would be pursued in court.

Next steps: The arbitrator's award stands as affirmed by the board. The decision resolves the immediate rent dispute; either party could seek judicial review outside the county process. The board recorded a unanimous roll‑call vote to affirm the award.