Residents of Skyline Mobile Home Park have urged the Torrance City Council to protect them from skyrocketing rents for more than a year, but have been unsuccessful time and again — including this week.

The City Council this week rejected a proposed mobile home rent stabilization ordinance, reaching the same conclusion as it did in September: The panel supported the rent stabilization deal proposed by Skyline’s ownership over enacting the city’s own policy.

Skyline is a 265-lot, senior-only mobile home park that was purchased by Saunders Property Group in October 2021. Since then, residents’ rents have increased by around 15.9% and are set to increase a further 10% in January.

The initial rent increase was a direct result of the $625,000 increase in property tax the property group got hit with because of a land-value reassessment at the time of purchase, primary park owner John Saunders previously said in meeting with residents. Further raises, Saunders said, reflect his intent to gradually bring rates up to what he says is market value.

These successive raises are alarming to many residents who are retired and living on fixed incomes. Residents own their homes, but pay a monthly fee to rent the land upon which they sit.

“I want to stay in Torrance, I love Torrance, but if these increases continue, I won’t be able to afford Torrance,” resident Bernice Rose said during the Tuesday, Nov. 8, council meeting.

“I’m 85 years old, blind in one eye and can barely see out of the other,” Rose added. “If I had to move somewhere else, I’d be crawling along the floor to find out where I’m going.”

In response to pressure from the City Council – which has been discussing a potential RSO since January – Saunders proposed a rent stabilization deal in August.

Saunders volunteered to apply the rent increase limits of state Assembly Bill 1482 to the lot rents at Skyline. This statewide bill applies to rental units, but not mobile home parks, and caps annual rent increases at 5% plus the regional rate of inflation, for a total raise not to exceed 10%.

The council supported this agreement over an RSO in September, saying it was a fair deal and expressing a desire not to meddle in the affairs of individual businesses.

Councilman Asam Sheikh, however, requested a reconsideration of this decision, saying he felt there was confusion over the terms of both rent stabilization proposals at the time.

“I think we reached what I thought was a real reasonable degree of compromise,” Councilman Mike Griffiths said during Tuesday’s meeting, defending the panel’s initial decision. “It’s not perfect, but it’s a compromise.

“We could have chosen to do nothing,” he added, “and you (Skyline residents) would be subjected to the rent increases of the property owner.”

Sheikh was the sole councilmember in favor of an RSO during Tuesday’s meeting. His motion to pass one did not receive a second and was therefore defeated without a vote.

“If we don’t pass the RSO, it (Saunders’s deal) will be a temporary solution,” said Sheikh, adding that he believes problems with mobile home rent rates will happen again in the future, particularly if other new owners face significant increases in property tax.

“I think this fight will never be over,” Sheikh said, “unless we have clear transparency for the investors and also for the residents.”

The RSO Sheikh proposed during the council meeting was similar to the agreement proposed by ownership – a 4% increase plus the regional rate of inflation for a total raise not to exceed 10%. It would also allow the owner to reset lot rents to market value in the home’s ownership changed.

Councilman Aurelio Mattucci said he opposes rent control in principle and doesn’t see why an RSO is necessary, given that it closely resembles Saunders’s agreement.

“We have an agreement on the table right now, which matches the terms of AB 1482,” Mattucci said. “I just don’t see why we want to create another layer of government bureaucracy.”

Despite the similarities between Saunders’s deal and Sheikh’s proposal, residents voiced a strong preference for an RSO during almost two hours of public comment Tuesday, saying they were fearful and distrustful of the current ownership. Residents, during a Nov. 4 meeting among themselves, also said they see the RSO as a good starting point and could potentially argue for lower numbers in the future.

“Unfortunately, one year later, a lack of trust with the new owner and his team continues,” resident Deb Osborn said during Tuesday’s public comment, “and the situation remains untenable.

“We need an RSO,” Osborn added, “because we need to keep them accountable.”

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi was also an outspoken proponent of an RSO. He recently visited with residents at the park and advocated on their behalf during the Tuesday council meeting.

“Mobile homes are among the last remaining affordable housing in the South Bay,” Muratsuchi said. “I believe we have a responsibility as elected representatives of this community to do everything we can to preserve that reducing pool of affordable housing so that we can keep these seniors in their homes rather than have them living on our streets.”

“If you choose not to take action with the local ordinance,” the assemblyman said, “I may have to consider introducing a statewide solution.”

LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn is also a proponent of an RSO and urged Torrance to enact one with even stricter limits on rent increases during a council meeting in September.

Councilwoman Sharon Kalani, though, pointed out that another benefit of Saunders’s agreement is that it keeps the subsidy program in place. Mike Misera, a representative for the Skyline owners, said that Saunders reserves the right to cancel this program if the council were to pass an RSO.

The subsidy program aims to support residents who are at risk of eviction or unable to pay for essential life expenses as a result of the rent raises. Residents, however, have complained that the numerous requirements of the program — including spending at least 40% of household income on rent and living in the park prior to 2018 — make it challenging to qualify.

Only 13 residents had qualified for the subsidy program as of Aug. 11. The ownership has not provided updated numbers to the council since then and declined to do so when requested by the Breeze in November.

After Sheikh’s motion for an RSO received no support, Councilwoman Bridgett Lewis made a motion requesting that staff return with a report on how many residents have applied for and qualified for the subsidy program at a future meeting. She also asked for a report on the leases offered to residents under Saunders’s rent stabilization agreement.

The new lease agreements codifying the rent increase protections of AB 1482 will be sent to residents on Tuesday, Nov. 15, Misera said.