Keep mobile home rents affordable

I trust the Sonoma City Council to find an equitable solution to bring into balance the very high returns that mobile home park owners enjoy with affordable rents for the homeowners. (I understand there are very few investments today realizing the high rate of return that mobile home parks offer investors.) It’s baffling to think the current rent structure is causing some kind of hardship for these businesses.

The homeowners (tenants) are paying rents, all the maintenance costs and all utilities (including sewer, water, garbage collection in some cases) to maintain their home and the piece of land their home sits on (including expensive gardening and tree care costs) with limited means in most cases. Other “market” rents such as apartments or houses can’t be used as comparison because, for the most part, those landlords pay for the upkeep of the structure and the property it’s situated on. But because we own the home, we finance the care of it and our landlords’ properties as well.

I support equitable and affordable housing in Sonoma for those of us outside the growing “one percent” in this County. I look to our city council to protect this community for many of it’s most valuable citizens contributing to the quality of life for everyone, making Sonoma such a desirable place to live.

Barbara Crow, Sonoma