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Residents accuse Riverdale Estates owner of improper rent resets; city staff to meet with resident and attorney
Summary
Multiple Riverdale Estates residents told the commission they face steep base-rent resets and unbundled utility fees after in-place sales; residents cited Indio Municipal Code Chapter 99 and the California Mobile Home Residency Law. Property management disputed claims and provided utility income/expense figures; staff proposed a follow-up meeting with the resident and the city attorney.
Residents of Riverdale Estates told the Mobile Home Fair Practices Commission they believe park owner Caritas and on-site management have improperly reset base rents after in-place sales and begun charging itemized utility fees without deducting them from space rent. A frequent speaker identified in staff references as Mr. Stewart summarized the community's understanding of the city's mobile-home rent-stabilization code: "The rent control coverage... limits rate increases to 0.75 of the consumer price index," he said, and he contended that new buyers were being charged market-level rent rather than the space's retained base rent.
Mr. Stewart and other residents alleged that in-place sales are being treated as vacancies or otherwise used to raise base rates; he described examples of new renters being charged a $725 base plus separate utility line items. He urged the commission to enforce Chapter 99 of the Indio Municipal Code and to ensure residents receive the disclosures required under the Mobile Home Residency Law (copies of MRL and three-year rent history). "When you sell your mobile home in place, the space remains subject to rent stabilization," he said, arguing that management's practices have devalued homeowners' equity.
Liberty Gutierrez, representing Caritas' property manager Keritas, replied that Caritas rescinded an earlier incorrect rent calculation and has been implementing rent increases tied to CPI from the 1983 base. She said utility pass-throughs were applied only to 30 new residents after August 2025 and provided year-to-date figures for utility income and expenses (e.g., sewer income $5,248 vs. sewer expense $72,580). "We rescinded them," Gutierrez said of incorrect notices, and she described the nonprofit Caritas Foundation's rental-assistance programs.
City staff and the commission did not adjudicate legal claims at the meeting; the city attorney said Chapter 99 remains in the municipal code and that the commission implements the ordinance but cannot itself enact new rent-control law without council or voter action. Staff proposed a sit-down meeting with the resident who raised concerns, the city attorney and staff (including David Razzo) to review the ordinance's application and return with a report if unresolved.
