Nonprofit Resident Owned Parks, Inc. (ROP) is in escrow for purchase of Westwind Mobilehome Home Park in Lower Lake. ROP shares the concern of every mobilehome owner in California regarding the resale of mobilehome parks to private investors, which typically causes spiraling rental increases and eliminates any opportunity for the residents to collectively purchase the park to stabilize future rents and maintain the investment which they have made in their homes. As a nonprofit, ROP”s purpose is to preserve affordable housing, and that purpose is being achieved with our purchase of Westwind. In our meetings with Westwind residents and with the Lake County Mobilehome Task Force, we have confirmed the following facts:
” ROP is not overpaying for Westwind. We are proceeding with the purchase only because the contract price has been supported by an independent certified appraisal ordered by our lender;
” The rental increase which we have discussed with Westwind homeowners to occur following close of escrow is based upon the cost of actual debt service for purchase of the park and each homeowner”s proportionate share of operation and maintenance expenses of the park, including management, property taxes, etc. There is no additional increase in rent for a “profit margin,” which private investors would most certainly add to the rent increase;
” We have offered to the homeowners association at Westwind to sell to the association Westwind Mobilehome Park at the same price we have paid plus one dollar ($1), and most importantly, to credit their rent payments each month toward that purchase price;
” After the initial required rental increase necessary to service the debt and operation and maintenance expenses of the park, future annual increases, if any, will not exceed three percent (3%) per year;
” We have offered to every homeowner in the park a long-term lease at Westwind which is fully assignable at their option when they sell their mobilehome and which includes the option to purchase which we have extended to the HOA. By accepting the offered leases, Westwind homeowners may be able to deduct the entire space rent payment which they make on a monthly basis from their income taxes; and
” For those current low-income residents of the park who document their low-income status for ROP, we are extending a rental assistance program, which means that documented low-income residents will be entitled to receive a reduction on the new rent to be charged. How much of a reduction they receive will depend upon how many persons document their low-income status in the park and choose to participate in our offered rental assistance program.
At the end of the day, the homeowners association at Westwind will own a debt-free mobilehome park.
In conclusion, we sincerely appreciate the willingness of the current park ownership to sell Westwind to nonprofit ROP. They could have chosen to sell the park to any number of private investors, and this opportunity to preserve affordable housing for the benefit of Westwind residents would not have been possible.
Maurice A. Priest, President
Resident Owned Parks, Inc.
