Ranch Mobile Home Park Rent Adjustment Hearing Will Continue on Monday, January 24th

December 6, 2010 was the date of the initial City of Thousand Oaks Rent Adjustment Commission public hearing to address the application of Andrew V. Hohn and A.V.M.G.H., LLC to increase the monthly space rent at the Ranch Mobile Home Park (2193 Los Feliz Drive) from an average of $132 per month to an average of $719 per month. An increase of $587.45 per month, or roughly 445%.

The first hearing started at 6 p.m. and lasted until around 11 p.m. at which point the Commission determined it would not be feasible to attempt to finish it up that night. So the hearing was continued to next Monday, January 24th. I sat through that initial hearing and frankly, at this point, it has become a blur.

The City prepared an analysis with the help of outside experts and recommended that an increase of $192/month be allowed, phased in over a 5 year period.

It is the job of the Rent Adjustment Commission to review the work of the City, testimony of the experts and questions/answers from the owner's attorneys and experts as well as the pro bono attorney of the tenants. I would anticipate another long night.

For more information and all the details about the hearing, visit http://toaks.org/government/agendas_minutes/agendas/rent_adjustment_commission.asp.

Most of the 72 elderly, low income Ranch tenants will likely be present at this hearing. Many of these tenants submitted letters to the city. Here is one of the handwritten letters:

Re: Ranch Mobile Home Park - Notice of Request for Rent Increase

Dear Mr. Watson:

This letter is in response to the October 8, 2010 City of Thousand Oaks Notice of Hearing regarding a request for rent increase of $587.95/month at Ranch Mobile Home Park. We are very concerned regarding this proposed significant rent increase, which will bring severe hardship on us.

We are 92 and 96 years of age and have resided at Ranch Mobile Home Park for over 19 years. We purchased our mobile home with the understanding that Ranch was a low-income park for seniors and would remain so.

Frank worked his entire life manufacturing truck tires during the war 12-hour shifts and Alfreda worked as a church secretary and insurance administrative assistant. We grew up during the Depression and throughout adulthood continued to live very frugally, forgoing vacations, dining out and entertainment and sharing our car. Despite relatively low wage employment, our frugal lifestyle has allowed us to save for our basic needs during our retirement.

However, this proposed significant rent increase is more than we can possibly afford, no matter how much we scrimp. Our only source of income is Social Security and my modest pension from the tire factory. Our health is poor and we struggle with numerous medical conditions, which require expensive medication co-pays. Our medical insurance alone runs over $700/month.

The proposed rent increase will cause us severe hardship. We would like to live out our few remaining years with dignity, with the ability to afford the basic necessities of lodging, food and adequate medical care. But this rent increase would make that impossible for us. We are unable to sleep with worry about what will happen to us if this proposed rent increase occurs.

Please consider allowing us our basic needs in the sunset of our lives and deny the proposed rent increase for our senior citizens mobile home park.

Thunderbird Oaks Mobile Home Park Meeting Was Tonight in Thousand Oaks

Ultimately the mobile home rent matters were resolved with the help of the City of Thousand Oaks as discussed in this TOTV video:

Tonight the City of Thousand Oaks Rent Adjustment Commission met as a follow-up to last Monday's marathon 6 hour session to vote on a rent increase for the 161 tenants of the Thunderbird Oaks Mobile Home Park.

Tonight's session ended before 7:30 p.m. as compared to the midnight finale to last week's session.

The Commission voted to adopt the City's recommendation and grant a 15.7% "Just and Reasonable" increase in rent to the owner of the park, or $62 per space, over a 2 year period. This would be in addition to any other annual increases for inflation.

This increase will bring the average space of the age 55+ Thunderbird Oaks, located adjacent to the 101 Freeway next to The Lakes, to $456 per month, which would make Thunderbird the second most expensive mobile home park in Thousand Oaks, after Vallecito in Newbury Park.

The owner of the park, who in 2009 made net profit of over $443,000, was seeking an increase of $260.62 per month, and "not a penny less" according to his attorney in last week's session. In other words, the owner, A.V.M.G.H., Ltd. c/o Andrew V. Hohn of Fallbrook, California, believes he should be making net profit of roughly $950,000 per year on this park.

So without too much fanfare, a 15.7% rent increase was approved tonight by the Rent Adjustment Commission. Both parties have 14 days to appeal the decision.

Something tells me we have not seen the end of this one.

On deck is the continuance of the Ranch Mobile Home Park hearing next Monday, January 24th. The initial hearing was December 6th. Yes, the same owner, Andrew V. Hohn and A.V.M.G.H., LLC, filed an increase last year to raise the rent on this 72 tenant, elderly, low income park of 450%, or $587.45 per space, per month. The current average space rent there is $133/month for single wide trailers.

The proposed rent increase at Ranch in and of itself is more than the average rent of ALL mobile home parks in Thousand Oaks. The total proposed rent by Hohn is $720/month, which would make the space rent at Ranch 34% higher than the highest average rents in town (Vallecito).

Yes sir. There is an assault on the elderly in Thousand Oaks taking place. Stay tuned.

Thunderbird Oaks Mobile Home Park Rent Adjustment Hearing is Tomorrow Night at Thousand Oaks City Hall

Tomorrow is the day of reckoning for residents of the Thunderbird Oaks Mobile Home Park in Thousand Oaks. The Thousand Oaks Rent Adjustment Commission is holding a public hearing starting at 6 p.m. to address whether the owner of Thunderbird Oaks should be granted a requested rent increase of $260.62 per space, a 66% increase over current average rents at the park.

Much has been previously written about this issue, beginning with a CVG article on August 22nd and followed by multiple VC Star and T.O. Acorn articles. CLICK HERE for details.

Park owners originally requested a rent increase of $322.52 per space in June 2010. But subsequently in October filed a new application reducing the increase to $260.62 per space. The City of Thousand Oaks has hired experts to review the application and the owner's assumptions and has issued a report recommending a rent increase not to exceed $65 per space per month, phased in over a two-year period.

This $195 difference between the owner's requested rent increase and the City's recommended increase will no doubt provide for a long night tomorrow night, if the owner's other rent increase hearing for the Ranch Mobile Home Park is any indication. That hearing on December 6th (to be continued at 4 p.m. on January 24th) started at 6 p.m. and ended at 11 p.m.

There are currently 1,058 mobile home spaces in Thousand Oaks, and after the Conejo Mobile Home Park is closed (soon), there will be 1009 spaces. Thunderbird Oaks and Ranch Mobile Home Parks, owned by the same owner, represent nearly a quarter of the mobile home park spaces available in the City.  Thunderbird is designated for seniors and Ranch is designated for low income seniors. Ranch's proposed rent increase is nearly 500%. The lives of hundreds of local senior citizens are at stake in these hearings.

Residents of Thunderbird have submitted several hundred pages of letters to the City voicing concern over the proposed rent increase. See Thunderbird Oaks Case 7A - Attachment 4 at http://ci.thousand-oaks.ca.us/government/agendas_minutes/agendas/rent_adjustment_commission.asp.

Here is one letter that was handwritten:

"I am 86 yrs old WWII vet. My name is ____ and live in the Thunderbird Oaks Mobile Home Park. Have lived here 5 yrs. Used to live in T.O. yrs ago and moved to Lancaster because my wife was transferred to the B-2 Plant. I was retired but then went to work on the B-2 for about a yr also. I had worked for General Dynamics. When we moved here with a new double wide mobile home I asked what the rent had gone up in previous yrs and was told, and we said that was ok. My wife passed away last yr. We planned on just living our last yrs on our fixed income. If I had known it was going to double we would never have moved in. I can't go out now and get another job, my stepsons are married and don't have room or want me. I would have to live under a bridge if the rent is doubled (CJ note: the original proposed increase nearly doubles some rents). Please help me and my neighbors and don't raise the rent double. We have worked hard all our lives but this would devastate us."

Ranch Mobile Home Park Hearing to Take Place Tomorrow Night, December 6th, at Thousand Oaks City Hall

The lives of 72 elderly, low income tenants of the Ranch Mobile Home Park in Thousand Oaks will be at stake tomorrow night as the City of Thousand Oaks Rent Adjustment Commission meets to decide the fate of their rent. This hearing takes place Monday night, 6 p.m. at City Hall (Scherr Theatre).

Earlier this year, the landlord of this property, Andrew V. Hohn and A.V.M.G.H., LLC, filed a Rent Adjustment Application with the City of Thousand Oaks to increase the space rents for the single-wide spaces in this mobile home park by $587.45 per month, per space. The average space rental costs at this park are about $130, making this about a 450% increase.

Ranch was completed in 1977. Previously, in exchange for a waiver of $100,000 in City development fees, the owners of the park agreed to classify this as a park for low income (initially $10,000/year) and elderly (62+ tenants).

For the last 33 years, Ranch has continued to operate as an elderly, low income mobile home park, where most tenants are on fixed incomes and some fall below the poverty line.

The owners of Ranch have been entitled to make request annual rent increases these past 33 years to maintain a fair profit percentage. But oddly, they only asked for rent increases two times - 1983 and 2001.

They are now seeking to more than make up for their lack of rent increases all these years by sticking these tenants with a 450% rent increase. Imagine the horror of purchasing one of these units in 2009 with a monthly space rental of $139 per month, then 1 year later receiving a notice in the mail that your landlord thinks they should be receiving $727 per month.

I have spoken to several Ranch tenants and they are scared. Very, very scared. Imagine your only income is $1,000 per month in Social Security payments, barely enough to survive. These people are stressed. In fact, since receiving word of the proposed rent increases, several Ranch tenants have had strokes; one passed and the other is in rehabilitation. Neither had prior history of strokes. A third resident has been hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer. May be a coincidence. The tenant I spoke with whose friend passed away recently does not believe it was a coincidence.

The owner and his attorney, Boyd L. Hill of Santa Ana law firm Hart, King & Coldren believe that the Ranch Mobile Home Park no longer qualifies as a "low income, elderly" park, adding to the complexity of the rent increase proposal.

On Friday, December 3rd, the City of Thousand Oaks issued its own recommendation to the Rent Adjustment Commission. The City recommended a $191.95 rent increase per space, per month over a five-year period. This represents a 160% increase in rent over a 5 year period, which, while still a huge increase for these people, is a much more realistic solution.

In the meantime, Ranch residents were only recently able to find a pro bono attorney to support them. This attorney submitted a letter to the City last Tuesday asking for a continuance of tomorrow's hearing to give her time to prepare. It appears the hearing is still set for tomorrow night however.

The Rent Adjustment Commission consists of five residents, including one mobile home park owner and tenant and three others.

The T.O. Acorn published an extensive article about this hearing last Thursday.

Conejo Valley Guide story written by Nancy Needham last month.

Additionally, the Thunderbird Mobile Home Park has a similar situation with the same owner and attorney, with a revised hearing date of January 10, 2011.

Ventura County Star Article Dated 10/13

Ventura County Star Letter to the Editor Dated 8/30

Ventura County Star Article Dated 8/23

Thousand Oaks Acorn Article Dated 10/14

Thousand Oaks Acorn Letter to the Editor Dated 9/16

Thousand Oaks Acorn Letter to the Editor Dated 9/2

Thousand Oaks Acorn Article Dated 8/26

Conejo Valley Guide Article Dated 8/22