Rent increases targeted

On a narrow 4-3 vote, the Huntington Beach City Council authorized Mayor Debbie Cook to ask state authorities to look into a Huntington Beach mobile home park where rents were set to more than double.

Residents of the Huntington Harbour Mobile Estates park crammed the seats of the Huntington Beach City Council chambers Monday and said a new appraisal of the property last year had sent rents skyrocketing, because the land’s value was calculated as how much it would fetch if the parcel were redeveloped.

Two years ago, commercial real estate investment firm Burnham USA bought the land for about $19 million. Residents and supporters said they believed Burnham was trying to force them out with higher rents.

“This is elder abuse and a planned eviction,” resident Mary Jo Baretich said. “The company knowingly raised the rents to a level many of them could not pay.”

According to the former president of a corporation of residents, Charles Payne, total rents will jump from about $1,250 per month to about $2,000. But residents — who collectively lease the land as a corporation that splits rent evenly between them — face worse problems than normal because of their convoluted contract. Every time someone has to leave because rent gets too high, the rest of the tenants have to make up for the missing money together.

“If people drop out of the pool, then the rest of us have to make up the shortfall,” Payne said. “As that pool diminishes, the people are picking up a bigger and bigger share that remains.”

But Burnham president Therese Hotvedt said her company was being portrayed in a false light and always wanted to work out its differences.

“We’re being strong armed,” she said. “I am more than willing to sit down and try to work this out. We are not a litigious company.”

The audience was sometimes unruly, with some cheering at support from council members or booing or yelling “That’s not true!” such as when Hotvedt said her firm had offered to give some residents financial assistance.

Ultimately, Hotvedt told council members she had had enough of a hostile crowd.

“This is disrespectful,” she said. “I’m more than happy to sit down with each and every one of you and answer whatever questions you have.”

Ultimately, a motion by Mayor Debbie Cook to ask the state District Attorney’s office and regulators to look into the situation, have the city attorney look into ways to strengthen local mobile home law to prevent such rent increases, and facilitate a meeting between both sides passed 4-3, with Cook joined by Council members Jill Hardy, Keith Bohr and Gil Coerper.

“I think it’s unconscionable that you folks have to be down here, that this is happening, that they’re trying to screw over you people,” Coerper said to a roar of applause.

But members Cathy Green, Don Hansen and Joe Carchio voted no, saying that both sides needed to negotiate. Some opponents said they were disturbed by the tone of the meeting.

“In an emotionally charged meeting, these are very easy things to say versus truly believing them,” he said. “I have a question of fairness on both sides here. But until all the facts are known you’re making some pretty disturbing statements in my opinion with three-minute sound bites on either side.”

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at michael.alexander@latimes.com.