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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 5/25/2021 - Memorandum From Jc Ward And Emily Olivo Re: North College Mobile Home Park Rental Increases Planning, Development & Transportation Community Development & Neighborhood Services 281 N. College Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.416.2350 970.224.6134 FAX www.fcgov.com MEMORANDUM DATE: May 20, 2021 TO: Mayor Arndt and Councilmembers THRU: Darin Atteberry, City Manager Kyle Stannert, Deputy City Manager Dean Klingner, Deputy Director, Planning, Development, & Transportation Paul Sizemore, Interim Director, Community Development & Neighborhood Services Jacqueline Kozak-Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer, Sustainability Services FROM: JC Ward, Senior City Planner, Neighborhood Services Emily Olivo, Senior Specialist-Neighborhood Liaison, Neighborhood Services RE: North College Mobile Home Park Rental Increases Purpose This memo is a follow up to a request for information from the May 17 LPT meeting about the lot rent increases occurring at North College Mobile Home Park (MHP ). Staff were asked to report on any tools that exist to help address the issue, and if not, whether local enforcement options could be developed quickly. Bottom Line Residents of North College MHP have received several rent increases over the past year, the latest being the most substantial. This increase, which goes into effect July 1, will make it extremely difficult for residents to make ends meet. The city has very limited enforcement ability in this situation. Some legal and financial tools to assist residents are available through the state and non-profit partners, and staff is connecting residents with these resources. Background The lot rent in the North College MHP 55+ senior community was increased to an average of $493 monthly in November 2020. The first week of May 2021, residents of North College MHP 55+ senior community received notices that their lot rent would be increased to $640 monthly effective July 1, 2021. Resident notices indicated new leases and updated park rules would also go into effect July 1. Property owners and management indicated that after July 1 rent will now include water, sewer, trash, and cable. Water and sewer charges have been previously billed as a separate line item per the 2019 Colorado Mobile Home Park Oversight Act Amendments. Property management stated that the increase was based on a review of income and expenses by park owners/management. Mobile home parks in Fort Collins have a history of allegations of overcharging for water. MHP s have a master meter owned by Fort Collins Utilities and park owners are the Utilities customer that receives the entire MHP water bill. Park owners are allowed to rebill residents for water, sewer, and stormwater costs through submetering individual housing units, utilizing and disclosing a formula for apportionment of the total water costs to each housing unit, or incorporating the cost for water into lot rents. Incorporating water costs into lot rents does not have the same transparency requirement under State law as other rebilling methods. North College MHP units have water submeters that monitor actual water usage in the housing unit, but property owners/managers discontinued their use in 2019, switching to a flat rate. Flat-rate cc: Marcy Yoder, Neighborhood Services Manager charging increased many residents water bills $25-40 per month and decreased financial incentives to conserve water. Including water as part of the lot rent prevents Colorado Mobile Home Park Oversight Program investigators from determining what portion of rent increases are associated with water rebilling and whether those amounts are in excess of what is permitted under State law. The rent increases in the last 12 months in the North College MHP put the vulnerable tenants, many of whom are on fixed incomes from social security, disability, or retirement accounts, in situations where their lot rents will now be 70% or more of their total monthly income. Some of the residents have payments on their homes in addition to the rent, further increasing the percentage of income used for housing. It is anticipated that this rent increase will lead to evictions from the park. Many of the homes in the North College MHP were built pre-1976 and have restrictions on being moved to a different mobile home park and are no longer truly mobile . There are few available lots in other local or regional mobile home parks and the cost to move a mobile home is approximately $5,000-15,000, leaving residents little practical ability to leave the MHP voluntarily to avoid eviction for nonpayment of rent. In response to the increase, residents have contacted city, county, and state governmental entities and elected officials as well as other organizations in our community expressing frustration and a need for help and resources. They have also expressed a desire to organize protests and petitions. Available Tools/Resources The State of Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) MHP Oversight Program provides a complaint system where residents can submit grievances for investigation. Making complaints to this program provides a record, establishes a pattern, and notifies park management that complaints have been filed against them. In cases where a state law appears to have been violated, an investigation will occur. As of May 18th, there have been seven North College residents who have filed formal complaints with the state through this system. The Colorado Poverty Law Project (CPLP) Mobile Home Initiative provides free legal advice through monthly legal clinics and informational resources on MHP resident rights. If residents have been financially impacted by COVID (lost a job/income, for example), they can apply for rent assistance, regardless of the rent increase, through Neighbor to Neighbor. Neighborhood Services is hosting a meeting for North College Mobile Home Park residents, June 5th from 10-11:30am, at the Northside Aztlan Center. Staff from the City and community partners will be available to assist residents with their questions and concerns. Information will be presented on residents rights, eviction avoidance, forming a residents association, and available resources. Enforcement Options The City of Fort Collins has limited enforcement ability in this situation. Colorado Revised Statute 38-12- 301 states that the imposition of rent control on private residential housing units is a matter of statewide concern; therefore, no county or municipality may enact any ordinance or resolution that would control rent on either private residential property or a private residential housing unit. Even if rent increases are excessive, they are permissible as long as they are applied uniformly across the park. The state MHP Oversight Act Amendments limit the ability of the property manager/owner to require the residents to sign new leases. However, most North College residents are at the end of their lease terms and would need to renew or be forced to go on a month-to-month lease, which has far fewer protections than a 6-month or 12-month lease.