Community Corner

Letter to the Editor: Mobile Home Concerns

A mobile home owner is worried about the threat to rent control and the cost of legal fees.

Mobile home rent control continues to be an issue around Santa Cruz County including the City of Watsonville. As we continue to fight for rent control in Watsonville the subject comes up, how long can the City afford to pay legal fees to continue to fight? 

As Mobilehome residents we pay $1 a month for rent control, that is roughly $965 a month or $11,580 a year because we have about 965 mobilehomes in Watsonville. Mobilehome park owners continue to take residents and cities to court to break rent control. Even if the city wins they cannot go back and collect their legal fees, however, if the park owners win they can make the city pay their legal fees. This is not fair. 

I believe we must raise a good amount of funds so when we have to fight the park owners, we have the money. Remember Capitola paid out more than $1,000,000 for legal fees. We are in arbitration right now with one park and could at any time be sued by another. When the Park Owners sue they sue the City and the Residents, so we have to have two attorneys to fight back.

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We cannot afford to let the Park Owners take our homes and or raise our rent 50 to 100 percent; we have to fight back. We must have funds to do that, even if that means raising the fee a few dollars a month. Let’s stand together, fight back and save our investments.

Bill Neighbors
Concerned Mobile Home Owner in Watsonville

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