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Home My WebLink AboutORD 800,y� ORDINANCE NO. Finn AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SECTIONS 9.50.040, 9.50.050, AND 9.50.060 OF THE PALM DESERT MUNICIPAL CODE, PERTAINING TO MOBILE HOME PARK RENT REVIEW. WHEREAS, the City Council finds it desirable to amend and clarify various provisions of the City's mobile home park rent review laws. NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Palm Desert, California, DOES ORDAIN as follows: Section 1. Subdivision "A" of Section 9.50.040 of the Municipal Code is amended to read as follows: "A. There is established within the city a mobile home park rent review board consisting of five regular members and two alternate members appointed by the city council and serving at the pleasure of the city council. Alternates shall serve only to the extent necessary to form a quorum of three members. The secretary of the board shall determine whether the attendance of one or more alternates at a given meeting is necessary to ensure a quorum and notify them accordingly. Regular and alternate board members shall serve a term of four years, at the end of which he/she may be considered for reappointment. All regular and alternate board members shall be residents of the City of Palm Desert during their terms." Section 2. The following sentence shall be added to the end of subdivision "E" of Section 9.50.050 of the Municipal Code: "In examining repair and maintenance costs submitted in a given case, the board shall consider whether those costs could have been minimized or avoided by the park owner through prudent and ongoing maintenance activities; to the extent such costs were exacerbated through unnecessarily deferred, negligent, or otherwise improper repair and maintenance, they shall be disregarded." Section 3. Section 9.50.060 of the Municipal Code is amended to read as follows: "A. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter (e.g., a fixed -term rental agreement or a hardship rent adjustment), the maximum rent that a mobile home park owner may request, demand, or receive for a mobile home space shall not exceed the monthly rent that was charged for that space on base date (as defined below) adjusted up or down for the change in the cost of living since the base date. In other words, the maximum rent ORDINANCE NO. Rnn chargeable will increase or decrease over time based on fluctuations (up or down) in the cost of living. As the cost of living goes up relative to the base date, the maximum chargeable rent will also go up; as the cost of living goes down, the maximum chargeable rent will also go down. If the cost of living remains constant, then the maximum chargeable rent also remains constant. In implementing this Section, a mobile home park owner shall not increase -- nor be obligated. to decrease -- the rent charged for any space more than once during any 12-month period, unless an additional increase or decrease is expressly authorized or ordered by the rent review board. B. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no rent increase in a given 12-month period shall cause the previous rent charged for the space to increase more than 6% unless expressly permitted by the rent review board. If an increase of more than 6% would occur, then the excess increase may be carried forward for a period of up to 8 years, until utilized to allow an automatic, annual increase up to 6% unless expressly permitted by the rent review board; If an increase of more than 6% would occur, then excess increase may be carried forward for a period of up to 8 years, until utilized to allow an automatic, annual increase up to 6% in any future years in which the permitted increase in the rent would be less than 6%. C. The "base date" shall be April 28, 1983, for any space that was rented on that date and not governed by a fixed -term rental agreement permitted by this chapter. For all other spaces, the base date shall be the first date after April 28, 1983, that the space was rented and not governed by a fixed -term rental agreement permitted by this chapter. D. Changes in the cost of living shall always measure from the base date. For purposes of this section, the change in the cost of living shall be measured by three- quarters (75%) of the net change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the base date until any subsequent date in the present. The CPI used for the subsequent date shall be the most recent CPI published before that date. E. Raising rent during a 12-month period in accordance with this Section shall not prevent a park owner from subsequently filing a hardship rent petition during that same period. Nor shall the filing of a hardship rent petition preclude the subsequent imposition of an otherwise allowable rent increase while the petition is pending, provided any such increase is brought to the attention of the City official or board considering the petition. At all times during the hardship petition process, the most recent CPI date shall be used. F. Non -imposition of a rent increase permitted by this Section during a 12-month period shall not affect the maximum rent that a park owner may charge in a later 12- month period. But a park owner may never retroactively collect rent from tenants that could have been charged but was not. That is, rent increases allowed by this Section shall only apply prospectively." N ORDINANCE NO. Ann Section 4. The City Clerk shall certify as to the passage and adoption of this ordinance and shall cause the same to be published once in the Palm Desert Post, a newspaper of general circulation, printed, published, and circulated within the City of Palm Desert, and the same shall be in force and effect thirty (30) days after its adoption. PASSED, APPROVED, and ADOPTED this 9th day of May , 1996, by the City Council of the City of Palm Desert, California, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: CRITES, KELLY, SPIEGEL, SNYDER NOES: NONE ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: BENSON WALTER H. SNYDER / MAYOR ATTEST: SHEILA R. GILLIGAN, C Y CLERK DIRECTOR OF CO ITY AFFAIRS CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA