People Post is a space for opinion pieces, letters to the editor and guest submissions from members of the Long Beach community. The following is an op-ed submitted by Greg Gill is a lifelong resident of Long Beach with more than 50 years of commercial real estate experience, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Long Beach Post.

After nearly two decades of little or no rent increases, the residents of Belmont Shores Mobile Estates received notice in late September that their monthly rent will be increased, effective January 1, 2020.  The news of the increase and the realities of a tight housing and rental market understandably concerned some residents.

In the days and weeks following the announcement, Councilmember Suzie Price, who represents the park and its residents in Southeast Long Beach, asked park ownership and management to work on an alternative structure for its residents to ease the impact of the increase.  As a result, ownership developed a four-year rent-credit program that will ensure there will be no additional rent increases for existing tenants through 2023, no strings attached. The rent-credit program will effectively keep the rent increase percentage in single-digits, making the phased-in monthly increase approximately $88 a month, each year.

In addition, the park’s ownership and management have pledged to work with individual residents who may be experiencing financial hardships. Park management is working diligently to ensure that the park does not lose a single resident due to the rent increase.  To date, fewer than 10 out of 347 homeowners have applied for some sort of assistance.

Belmont Shores Mobile Estates is a premier place to live. It overlooks the Alamitos Wetlands, is located adjacent to a marina and golf course, and is around the corner from first-class shopping, dining and entertainment. Moreover, the park has just undergone a massive $30 million-plus infrastructure replacement, and includes beautiful pool facilities, a mid-century modern clubhouse soon to be remodeled, a newly landscaped linear park and many other amenities. Comparable coastal mobile home parks in places like Huntington Beach have rents well above $2,000 per month.

Yet, rents at Belmont Shores Mobile Estates have remained very low. Since 2006, rents for the typical longtime resident at the park have increased at the rate of just 1% per year, on average. This year rents for longtime park residents range from $945 to $1,255 per month.

Even with the noticed increases, rents will continue to be far below market. But even so, a small group of residents is pushing for a citywide mobile home park rent stabilization ordinance.

That ordinance is a solution in search of a problem—and one which has unintended consequences, including park owners pushed to raise rents every year by the maximum amount allowed; no incentive to make capital improvements; administrative costs and burdens for the city; and frequent litigation.

Even worse, if an ordinance is adopted, it would force a massive rent increase for the park’s residents in 2020.  By state and federal law, mobile home park rent stabilization ordinances are subject to special requirements. First, when capital improvements are made the ordinance must allow a rent increase to repay the park owner’s investment.  At Belmont Shores Mobile Estates that rent increase would be $700 or more per month.  Second, when base-year rents are below market, the ordinance must allow a rent adjustment to bring starting rents to market. In the case of Belmont Shores, that rent increase would be more than $1,000 per month for many residents.

Those impacts on the park would be terrible.  Nobody wants massive rent increases, but a mobile home park rent stabilization ordinance would force it on park residents.

I urge the people of Long Beach to recognize that legislative action is not needed.  There is no problem to be solved by a mobile home park rent stabilization ordinance.