On July 16, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal overturned a previous ruling, effectively declaring Cotati's mobile home rent control ordinance was unconstitutional. The ordinance included "vacancy control," which prevents a park owner from raising the rent on a space of land after a tenant moves out.

The California Mobile Home Resource and Action Association is trying to get as many mobile home residents involved as possible in its efforts to get the case reheard by the entire Ninth Circuit Court. A 2-1 ruling decided the case, so attorneys for the association hope they can get it overturned.

That ruling was the topic of interest at the Willow Ranch chapter of the association's meeting Sept. 7. Although Sunnyvale does not currently have rent control, rents are kept in check partially because San Jose—the city's largest neighbor—does have rent control.

According to chapter President Chris Murtha, Sunnyvale space rental rates are kept in check by San Jose's rent control because property owners here want to remain competitive with neighboring cities' owners, so rents are kept within range.

A release from the association said that the legal means for declaring all similar rent control ordinances unconstitutional is in place in the Cotati ruling and that within three years—unless the ruling is overturned—all rent control ordinances like that could be gone. If this were to happen and San Jose were to lose rent and vacancy control, rental rates in San Jose and neighboring towns—like Sunnyvale and Cupertino—could rise dramatically.

"The concern is—especially in cities that are so close to a large city like San Jose that has rent control—if it is abolished by the state of California, the impact will be felt in the smaller cities," Murtha said.

Part of that impact may come from the fact that many property owners own parks in San Jose and Sunnyvale, and if they were to raise prices where there isn't rent control, it would reflect poorly on them.

"I think that the larger companies would be criticized if they said they were going to just do whatever they want in Sunnyvale," Willow Ranch resident Helen DeWolf said. "I think they would get a really bad reputation."

In addition, if rents kept rising, mobile homes would become unaffordable for many families who would previously have bought the units. Mobile homes traditionally cater to low-income and fixed-income families—which is why they are popular with first-time homeowners and retired seniors.

"It's already difficult enough to sell mobile homes because they are such unique property, and if you have the impact of rising rates, you're not going to be able to sell your home very well," Murtha said.

Right now, the association is trying to raise money for legal proceedings to retry the case.

For more information, visit www.cmraa.org.