Mobile Home Parks Rent Control War

Guggenheim is taking his case to the Supreme Court. He has nothing to lose but think of the many, many millions he’ll gain in his attempt to swindle the City of Goleta. I hope he loses! His newly appointed big-wig attorneys are crying that the City has taken his property. The City’s taken nothing except a lot of nonsense from Guggenheim. Every year, he’s capitalized on his mobile home park (even through this long, recessionary period) by raising space rents.

Rent control safeguards the elderly, disabled, low-income, and fixed income people. Without it, these greedy park owners do whatever they want.

When Goleta became a city, the rent control ordinance was part of the deal. Guggenheim bases his case on a small loophole—a time lapse during the change-over. The real lapse is Guggenheim’s mental lapse: He’s forgotten that rent control was already in place when he purchased Rancho Mobile Homes. The government is smarter than that. They didn’t leave rent control unprotected; it was sustained throughout the transfer and change.