MINUTES OF MEETING ASSEMBLY
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE
Sixty-seventh Session
April 5, 1993
The Assembly Committee on Commerce was called to order by
Chairman Gene T. Porter at 3:35 p.m., Monday, April 5, 1993, in
Room 332 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada.
Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda, Exhibit B is the Attendance
Roster.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mr. Gene T. Porter, Chairman Mr. Morse Arberry, Jr.,
Vice Chairman Ms. Kathy M. Augustine Mr. Rick C.
Bennett Mr. John Bonaventura Mr. Val Z. Garner Ms.
Chris Giunchigliani Mr. Dean A. Heller Mr. David E.
Humke Ms. Erin Kenny Mr. Richard Perkins Mr. Scott
Scherer Ms. Myrna T. Williams
COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:
None
GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:
Assemblyman William Petrak, District 18
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Paul Mouritsen, Senior Staff Analyst, Legislative Counsel
Bureau
OTHERS PRESENT:
Mr. Kirby L. Burgess, Clark County; Mr. C. Joseph Guild,
III, Nevada Mobile Home Park Owners Association; Mr. George
Flint; Mr. Jeff Beintema, Schmitt & Cook Properties; Ms.
Joan Clements, Administrator, Manufactured Housing Division,
Department of Commerce; Ms. Lisa M. Stowell, President,
Coalition of Manufactured Mobilehome Owners of Nevada, Inc.;
Mrs. Lois Lazor; Mr. Galen Varien; Dr. Barbara A. Gunn,
State Housing Coordinator, American Association of Retired
Persons; Ms. Mary Jo D. Wiese; Ms. Gail F. Burks, Staff
Attorney, Nevada Legal Services, Inc.; Mr. Joe Grana; Mr.
Larry Osborne, Executive Vice President, Carson City Chamber
of Commerce; Mr. Peter Echeverria; Mr. Charlie Joerg, Nevada
Manufactured Housing Association; Mr. Mark Brown, Nevada
State Apartment Association; Mr. Mike Brierley; Mrs. Mae
Thorpe; Mr. Fabio Reginato; Mr. Walter Bantz; Mr. Chris
Harris, President, Nevada Association of Realtors; Mr. Roger
Service; Mr. John Cole; Mr. Paul Havas; Mr. Bill Van Patton;
(See also Exhibit B attached).
ASSEMBLY BILL 163 Expands authorized use of money from trust
fund for low-income owners of mobile homes to include payment of
costs of moving mobile homes under certain circumstances.
Mr. Kirby L. Burgess, Clark County, testified. Mr. Burgess
advised he was speaking on behalf of Karen E. Larson, and read
Ms. Larson's testimony into the record as follows: "AB 163 is
proposed by Clark County to address concerns that were expressed
before our board of county commissioners regarding mobile homes.
During a hearing at that time, our residents expressed a desire
to move their homes rather than accept the rent increase that
were mandated by park owners. Many of the residents stated that
they must accept the increase because their financial situation
precluded them from moving to another reasonable location. AB
163 intends to address this concern by allowing the existing
rental assistance fund to be used to relocate the mobile homes
when appropriate.
"NRS 118B established a fund which is supported by a fee charged
to mobile home park owners. This fund is currently available to
residents who meet the income criteria and are eligible for
rental assistance. We would propose to allow the Manufactured
Housing Division to also utilize this fund to move a manufactured
home to a new location when the applicant meets the income
criteria. Through administrative rules, the division would then
set the criteria for moving the units and the procedure to
determine the cost effectiveness of rental subsidy for moving the
unit if requested by the resident.
"This bill is only intended to give the mobile home owner the
flexibility to request relocation of the mobile home unit if it
is in the financial interest of both the mobile home owner and
the currently established fund. It is not intended in any way
for anyone but the mobile home owner to request or impose
relocation. It is simply intended to provide an additional
option for tenants whose rent is raised beyond their ability to
pay."
Mr. C. Joseph Guild, III, Nevada Mobile Home Park Owners
Association, testified. He said the intent of the legislation
passed in 1991, which created a rental assistance fund, was to
provide assistance with rents not with moving costs. He
indicated the fund would not become operational until July 1,
1993, and stated the law should be allowed time to operate in
order to determine if any problems existed. He said if needs
other than rental assistance were determined, the law could be
changed. He said he was uncertain the fund could afford to
provide both rental assistance and moving costs.
Mr. George Flint testified. He advised he was appearing on
behalf of Ms. Vickie Demas (representative for the Mobilehome
Owners League of the Silver State, Inc.), who was unable to
attend the meeting due to illness. He reiterated the position
taken by Mr. Guild that the rent assistance fund was intended to
assist with rents, not moving costs. He advised rents varied
little from park to park, and suggested it made little sense to
"......spend $4,000 to save $20 a month."
Mr. Jeff Beintema, Schmitt & Cook Properties, testified,
expressing the same opinion as that of Mr. Guild and Mr. Flint
regarding the rental assistance fund. He suggested an owner of
a mobile home might attempt to use the assistance provided under
AB 163 to move from a mobile home park solely because he disliked
the park.
Chairman Porter closed the hearing on AB 163.
ASSEMBLY BILL 161 Prohibits, under certain circumstances,
disclosure of information obtained pursuant to investigation of
complaint alleging violation of provisions governing mobile home
parks.
Ms. Joan Clements, Administrator, Manufactured Housing Division,
Department of Commerce, testified, reading from prepared text
(Exhibit C).
Ms. Lisa M. Stowell, President, Coalition of Manufactured
Mobilehome Owners of Nevada, Inc., testified, reading from
prepared text (Exhibit D).
Mr. C. Joseph Guild, III, Nevada Mobile Home Park Owners
Association, testified. He expressed the association's support
for AB 151. He suggested, however, as a practical matter, the
name of a complainant would have to be divulged because of the
difficulty in solving a problem if the source of the problem was
unknown.
Chairman Porter closed the hearing on AB 161.
ASSEMBLY BILL 334 Prohibits harassment of tenant of mobile home
park by landlord.
Ms. Joan Clements, Administrator, Manufactured Housing Division,
Department of Commerce, testified, reading from prepared text
(Exhibit E).
Ms. Lisa M. Stowell, President, Coalition of Manufactured
Mobilehome Owners of Nevada, Inc., testified, reading from
prepared text (Exhibit F).
Chairman Porter asked Ms. Stowell if she considered the February
9th letter from her landlord to be harassment. Ms. Stowell
replied she considered the last paragraph of the letter to be
harassment.
Chairman Porter closed the hearing on AB 334.
ASSEMBLY BILL 187 Limits increase in rent for mobile home lots
in certain counties.
Assemblyman William Petrak, District 18, testified. He provided
some personal background. He stated never had he seen a person
or group of people "exposed to the shabby and the rent gouging
tactics of the many mobile home park owners." He spoke of a
letter he received from a 78 year-old woman, living on Social
Security benefits and a small savings account, who had been
notified of a rent increase for her mobile home park space. He
also spoke of various conversations he had with individuals who
had experienced rent increases.
Mr. Petrak discussed section 5, subsection 2 of AB 187. He
advised because 80 percent of Nevadans were "from out of state,"
it was more fair to use the Social Security Administration's cost
of living adjustment (COLA) as the basis for determining what, if
any, rent increase would be allowed than to use the consumer
price index for the west coast.
He reviewed the proposed amendments to AB 187 set forth in
Exhibit G. He suggested the nonrefundable fees which would be
established by the proposed amendment to section 6 would address
the financial concern raised by the fiscal note.
Mr. Petrak advised the "sunset clause" contained in section 13 of
AB 187 would provide an opportunity to determine the
effectiveness of the bill.
He encouraged favorable consideration of AB 187.
Mr. George Flint testified. He advised AB 187 was a simpler
version of a bill which failed by two votes to pass in the last
legislative session.
Mr. Flint related approximately 14 years ago, he moved into a
mobile home park where he paid rent of $112 a month. He stated
when he moved from the park, five years later, he paid rent of
$496 a month for the same service and the same amount of ground
space. He advised because he did not wish to pay rent of $496 a
month, he paid $10,500 to move his mobile home to a park in Reno.
He said when he moved into Reno in 1985, his rent was $248 a
month. He told of subsequent increases in his rent and stated he
had just received a notice of an increase to $381 a month. Mr.
Flint stated if he had been able to pay rent of $248 a month over
the past eight years, he would have saved $8,000.
Mr. Flint said 2-1/2 years ago, tenants of the Palomino Park in
Reno were advised their rents would be increased from $300 a
month to $675 a month. He suggested the owner of the park wished
to close the park, did not want to pay the cost of moving the
tenants, and used the rent increase as a means to cause the
tenants, many of whom were elderly and on fixed incomes, to leave
the park. He stated nothing in the NRS prevented the owner from
doing what he did. He said AB 187 would eliminate the
opportunity for such action.
Mr. Flint spoke of receiving four rent increases in one year
while residing in Verda park and of being told by one individual
that she had received as many as three rent increases in one
year.
He suggested one cause of rent abuse arose when individuals from
other states bought mobile home parks in Nevada, for prices
higher than they should have paid, and used increased rents to
recover their excess expenditures.
Mr. Flint said AB 187 would not eliminate rent increases but
would eliminate "these gargantuan, ripoff increases" and multiple
increases in a single year. He advised, based on a rent increase
of $18 a month, the park in which he resided would recover
$72,000 more in the coming 12 months than in the past 12 months,
for which the park's residents would receive nothing in return.
Ms. Augustine referred to the proposed amendment to AB 187 which
would require a landlord wishing to make repairs or improvements
to a park to pay an application fee of $750 plus $1 for each lot
in the park. She asked Mr. Petrak why, if the landlord was
paying the costs of the repairs or improvements, he should be
charged such a substantial application fee. She suggested the
landlord might not recover 100 percent of the cost of the repairs
or improvements from the tenants and might not wish to pass those
costs on to the tenants. Mr. Petrak advised in Escondido,
California, the fee for such an application was $775 plus $2 per
space. He submitted the effort and cost of processing an
application would justify the filing fee. He stated he felt the
fee was fair. Mr. Flint also responded to Ms. Augustine's
question and explained there would be no application fee if a
landlord merely wanted to make repairs: a landlord would need to
apply only if he was seeking a rent adjustment, in addition to
the annual rent increase.
Mrs. Williams asked what percentage of mobile home parks were
owned by out-of-state owners or syndicates. Mr. Petrak said he
understood approximately 80 percent of the parks in Nevada had
out-of-state owners. He stated nine of the ten mobile home parks
in his district had out-of-state owners. Mr. Flint also answered
and advised 80 to 90 percent of the largest mobile home parks had
out-of-state owners.
Mrs. Williams asked what percentage of complaints came from
tenants of parks with out-of-state owners. Mr. Petrak replied
one would assume an abundance of complaints came from tenants of
parks whose owners had headquarters outside Nevada.
Mr. Petrak referred to information in a packet he distributed
(Exhibit H) concerning two mobile home parks in Las Vegas which
generated net profits of $1.3 million and whose owners were
headquartered in Michigan. He advised the owner of Cabana Mobile
Home Park, a park close to the one in which he resided, was
headquartered in New York. He cited other mobile home properties
which had out-of-state owners. He contended out-of- state owners
of mobile home parks sent profits obtained in Nevada out of the
state and paid no tax to the state of Nevada. Mr. Petrak said
".......they're taking taxes right out of our pocket. They're
destroying our economy. They're building.....another level of
poverty by doing this."
Ms. Giunchigliani asked if "the old trailer parks which are now
considered a mobile home park" were covered by AB 187. Chairman
Porter responded they were.
Mrs. Lois Lazor testified. She advised over 28,000 owners of
manufactured homes in Nevada lived on rented lots in mobile home
parks, and were at the mercy of unscrupulous park owners who
raised rents as often and as high as they wished. She said when
a park was sold, the new owner would immediately raise space rent
because of his large investment. She advised some mobile home
owners were required to sign lifetime leases. She contended a
mobile home owner's only alternatives were to pay high rent or
sell his home. She explained if a mobile home owner's rent
became too high, he could sustain a terrible loss when, and if,
he was able to sell his home. She stated virtually all mobile
homes were now sold on site. She advised it was impractical to
move a mobile home once it was placed on a site. She further
stated there were very few lots in Nevada, zoned for mobile
homes, which were either desirable or affordable. She said, in
effect, a manufactured house, once placed on a lot, was there
permanently and must be sold on site.
Mrs. Lazor said she and her husband moved into Comstock Mobile
Village (Comstock) in Carson City more than eight years ago, and
invested a large portion of their retirement money in their home.
She stated when they moved into the park, the park was affordable
and represented a good way of life. She advised the park was now
a senior citizens' park. She said during the eight years she and
her husband had resided in the park, there had been repeated rent
increases which had not caused them concern; however, in the past
2 years, they had sustained two increases. She said for some of
the park's residents, those two increases amounted to a 28
percent increase in their rent. She reminded the committee most
of the park's residents were senior citizens whose Social
Security benefit increases were 3 percent or 3.7 percent. Mrs.
Lazor said many residents of mobile home parks were senior
citizens who could not afford repeated, unjustified increases in
their rents. She asserted the last two rent increases in
Comstock were not justified by increases in the park's expenses
and would augment the gross annual income of the park's owners by
approximately $160,000. She suggested the residents of Comstock
were more fortunate than many other mobile home owners in Nevada,
some of whom had sustained two increases in rent in one year.
Mrs. Lazor said there was no law to prevent a park owner from
raising rent as often and as much as he wished; he was required
only to give 90 days notice of an increase. She declared a
mobile home owner was at the mercy of a park owner and had no
recourse. She suggested if AB 187 was passed, it would provide
recourse for mobile home owners. Mrs. Lazor advised mobile home
lots brought premium rents and said lots at Lake Tahoe rented for
as much as $395 a month and lots in Reno for as much as $387 a
month. She suggested those rents might not appear high, but one
should remember that the individual who resided on such a lot
owned his home and everything on the lot and rented only the lot
itself.
Mrs. Lazor referred to the two increases in rent in Comstock she
mentioned earlier and said she spoke to the park owner's son who
said she was the only resident who had complained. She implied
other residents of Comstock had not complained because they
feared what the park owner might do.
Mr. Heller reminded Mrs. Lazor of a discussion in which she told
him that one of the two rent increases about which she testified
was based on road repair to be done in the park. He asked if any
of the road repair was done. Mrs. Lazor replied both increases
were based on prospective repair of the streets in Comstock but
the streets had not been repaired. Mr. Heller asked if the
notice Mrs. Lazor received had indicated a rent increase
effective May 1, 1992. Mrs. Lazor responded that was correct.
Mr. Heller asked if there had been no repair of the streets
during the following summer. Mrs. Lazor answered very minimal
repairs were made on October 14th because the Manufactured
Housing Division had advised the owner the streets needed repair.
Ms. Lisa M. Stowell, President, Coalition of Manufactured
Mobilehome Owners of Nevada, Inc., testified by reading from
prepared text (Exhibit I).
Mr. Galen Varien testified. He said he lived in Oasis Mobile
Home Estates. He stated over the years he had lived in the park,
rent had increased constantly and had increased by 485 percent
since he moved into the park. He said such an increase destroyed
the purchasing power of mobile home owners and reduced the resale
value of their mobile homes.
Mr. Varien said mobile home space rents in Nevada were
unrealistic and rents for cheap apartments were less. He said he
looked forward to a rent rollback to no more than $150 per space.
Dr. Barbara A. Gunn, State Housing Coordinator, American
Association of Retired Persons, testified by reading from
prepared text (Exhibit J) and urged support for AB 187. Dr. Gunn
provided the committee with a booklet entitled "Manufactured
Housing Park Tenants: Shifting the Balance of Power" (Exhibit K
available in the research library).
Ms. Mary Jo D. Wiese testified by reading from prepared text
(Exhibit L).
Mrs. Williams referred to Ms. Wiese's testimony regarding living
with raw sewage and asked if the Health Department had visited
Ms. Wiese's park and issued citations. Ms. Wiese replied the
Health Department came to the park and issued citations on a
regular basis, after which corrective action would be taken, but
the following week, the problem would recur on some other street
in the park. She suggested the problem had been neglected so
long and the pipes were so old that removal and replacement of
the entire system would be required to correct the problem.
Ms. Gail F. Burks, Staff Attorney, Nevada Legal Services, Inc.,
provided written testimony (Exhibit M) and highlighted certain
portions thereof with oral testimony. She advised in a 20 month
period there had been 166 evictions of mobile home owners for
failure to pay rent. She said 40 of those evictions occurred in
the first six months of 1991, 102 occurred in 1992, and 24
occurred in the first two months of 1993. She explained when a
mobile home owner was unable to pay rent, the park's owner could
take a lien against the mobile home and the owner would then lose
the mobile home through a sale by auction. She stated in a 14
month period, 627 liens were taken against mobile homes, and
assuming those mobile homes were single occupancy homes, 627
people had lost their homes.
Ms. Burks directed attention to a breakdown of expenses on page 3
of Exhibit M and advised it represented an average estimate of
costs to move a single-wide mobile home.
She stressed the importance of using the Social Security COLA
standard (in determining annual rent increases). She stated 75
percent of those who resided in mobile homes were senior
citizens. She said if those individuals received Social Security
Title II benefits, their average income for 1993 was only $640
per month. She advised in order to receive more than $640 per
month, those individuals would have had to earn over $100,000.
Ms. Burks referred to Mrs. Williams earlier question regarding
the number of mobile home parks which had out-of-state owners.
She said it was difficult to determine the number due to the rate
at which mobile homes changed hands, but Nevada Legal Services,
Inc., would provide an answer by April 14, 1993.
Mr. Joe Grana addressed the Chair. He asked if Chairman Porter
could explain why AB 187 did not pertain to Douglas County or to
any county with a population of less than 35,000. Chairman
Porter answered the bill drafter had included a clause in AB 187
to exempt rural counties and asked if Mr. Grana would like that
clause removed from the bill. Mr. Grana answered, "Yes."
Mr. Galen Varien gave further testimony. He suggested the state
of Nevada provide a place to which mobile home owners could move
their mobile homes if they were unable to afford park rents.
Mr. C. Joseph Guild, III, Nevada Mobile Home Park Owners
Association, testified. He said he would offer three reasons why
the legislature should not pass AB 187. He said, first, AB 187
would cost the state too much money. Mr. Guild provided a
booklet of articles and position papers (Exhibit N available in
the research library). He said the booklet (Exhibit N) contained
the fiscal note on AB 187 and advised the Division of
Manufactured Housing estimated a cost to the state's general fund
in excess of $1.5 million over a three year period. He stated he
understood Mr. Petrak's proposed amendment to section 6 of AB 187
which would create a filing fee. He explained calculations he
used to determine the offset which could be generated by the
proposed filing fee against the $1.5 million estimated cost of AB
187 and advised there would be a shortfall of $834,000.
Mr. Guild said a second reason not to pass AB 187 was that there
was "no problem to fix." He stated, according to the
Manufactured Housing Division's figures, between 1991 and 1992,
the average rent increase in Carson City for triple-wide, double-
wide and single-wide mobile homes was 3 percent and in Clark
County the net increase was 4.6 percent.
Chairman Porter asked what Mr. Guild defined as a "net increase."
Mr. Guild explained the calculations he employed to arrive at his
figure of 4.6 percent.
Mr. Guild offered a third reason why AB 187 should not pass. He
said in 1991, the legislature passed a law which created a low
income rental assistance fund, effective July 1, 1993, from which
needy people would be able to obtain assistance with their rents.
He said he had heard the fund criticized as welfare for
individual tenants, and proposed, if that were the case, then AB
187 was collective welfare and by the same logic should be
defeated.
Mr. Larry Osborne, Executive Vice President, Carson City Chamber
of Commerce, testified. He advised the Carson City Chamber of
Commerce opposed AB 187. He stated rent control was
fundamentally bad government policy and said the result of
limiting the income of private property owners would be to reduce
the supply and quality of the housing involved and increase the
cost to the entire community. He contended rent controls would
in fact discriminate against the poor and those on fixed incomes
and increase their problems. He stated the chamber did not
believe AB 187 would solve the problem which the legislature felt
it must address.
Mr. Peter Echeverria testified. He advised he and his wife owned
the Lucky Lane Mobile Home Park which they had built over 15
years earlier. He said the current space rent in his park was
$270 for a single-wide mobile home and $290 for a double- wide
mobile home and there had been no rent increase for over one
year. He advised his and his wife's retirement depended upon
their park.
Mr. Echeverria suggested the problem being addressed by the
legislature could be solved in other, easier ways, than those
proposed by AB 187. He indicated one solution was through
zoning. He stated the reason for the mobile home problem
throughout Nevada was that zoning authorities were not granting
permits to build mobile home parks.
He said most of the problems he'd heard discussed during the
meeting pertained to Clark County. He proposed if a problem
pertained to a specific county or municipality, the legislature
should authorize that county or municipality to solve the problem
at the local level. He maintained the problem faced by the
legislature was a local problem and should be solved by local
government. He suggested the legislature grant authority to
county governments to exercise rent control within their
jurisdictions.
Mr. Charlie Joerg, Nevada Manufactured Housing Association,
testified. He said he agreed with the statements of Mr. Osborne
and Mr. Echeverria. He stated the zoning problem was one of the
major issues faced by the manufactured housing industry. He said
in at least the four major counties of Nevada, Clark, Washoe,
Carson City and Douglas, there was discrimination against
placement of manufactured housing and low income housing in
general.
Mr. Mark Brown, Nevada State Apartment Association, testified. He
stated the association had received numerous commitments from
members of the committee that AB 187 was not intended to affect
the apartment industry, but the association still had serious
concerns. He said the association believed the rental assistance
program provided the solution for those in need. He stated, "If
we want to take a broad brush approach, I think we need to amend
this bill to include a restriction on any increase in grocery
prices, any increase on utility prices, any increase on
veterinary prices. If we're out to protect those that can't
afford any increases because they're on fixed incomes, let's
really address the problem. Let's take the whole problem on and
not just go after one segment of that."
Mr. Brown advised legislation such as AB 187 had a chilling
effect on the apartment industry. He suggested recent rent
increases in mobile home parks were a result of such legislation.
He indicated the mobile home industry was already experiencing a
problem due to zoning and suggested AB 187 would further deter
investment in the industry.
Mrs. Williams asked the Chair for permission to comment. She
said she did not doubt AB 187 had a chilling effect. She
emphasized she had no mobile homes in her district. Mrs Williams
stated AB 187 was not, nor had it ever been, rent control and was
never intended to apply to apartments. She said previously there
had been a lack of recognition that when discussing mobile home
owners, those discussions concerned people who had property
rights and had made an investment, not "........ people who rent
an apartment and can just pick up and leave."
Mr. Brown responded he understood AB 187 was not intended to
affect the apartment industry but it still had a chilling effect.
He suggested out-of-state investors were encouraged to come into
Nevada and then made to appear to be "slumlords" with no concern
for their investments, which he proposed violated the trust and
agreement created by encouraging those individuals to invest in
Nevada.
Mr. Mike Brierley testified. He advised he owned Yorkshire
Mobile Home Park in Reno, Nevada, which he and his wife had built
as a park for residents 55 years old and older. He stated
numerous programs and services had to be provided in order to
continue the park as one for residents 55 and older. He said the
park was completely equipped for the handicapped, had a small
clubhouse, contained all new coaches and was one of the more
nicely landscaped parks in its area.
Mr. Brierley advised rents in his park were low compared to many
he had heard discussed. He stated there had been two increases
in rent in his park since its inception and none for a period of
22 months as of July 1, 1993, at which time an increase was
proposed. He said there was one tenant in his park who received
rental assistance through the Department of Housing and Urban
Development. He said the department had reviewed the proposed
rent increase and determined the increase was within the
department's guidelines.
Mr. Brierley enumerated some of the increases in the park's
operating expenses experienced over the previous 22 months. He
stated the provisions of AB 187 would result in a decrease in
services provided in his park and might necessitate making the
park a family park. He said ultimately the quality of his park
would be reduced.
Mrs. Mae Thorpe testified by reading from prepared text (Exhibit
O).
Mr. Fabio Reginato testified. He said he owned Oasis Mobile
Estates, had been a resident of Nevada for 18 years, and was a
member and past president of the Nevada Mobilehome Park Owners
Association. He stated he opposed AB 187. He declared he was
shocked to see the issue of rent control resurface every two
years. He asserted it was obvious additional staff would be
needed to administer the provisions of AB 187, and asked,
rhetorically, if the necessary funding would come from park
owners and would those park owners then be prohibited from
passing that expense on to park residents.
He stated in 1991, a statute was enacted to provide assistance,
funded by Nevada's mobile home park owners, to low income
residents. He asserted with the rental assistance program in
existence, rent control would be redundant and suggested the
existing program be given a chance to work.
Mr. Reginata referred to increases in rents over the past decade
and said he, personally, had experienced a strong impact on his
operating expenses due to new government regulations. He stated
no law, whether federal, state, county or city, had been
conducive to his business and most had added to his costs of
operation. He suggested an opportunity existed to restore
credibility to the government process by showing concern for
private business and asked that the legislature stop regulating
an industry already overregulated.
Mr. Walter Bantz testified. He advised he was the owner of a 50
unit mobile home park in Reno, Nevada. He said he obtained
information from the Manufactured Housing Division that there
were 6,123 mobile home spaces in Washoe Valley. He said the
day's morning newspaper advertised only two mobile home spaces
for rent. He contended the shortage of spaces for rent was due
to zoning laws, which did not permit mobile home spaces in most
neighborhoods.
Mr. Bantz said if the legislature passed AB 187, the worth of his
mobile home park would be reduced by $100,000 to $150,000, and
implored the committee members to vote "no" on AB 187.
Mr. Jeff Beintema, Schmitt and Cook Properties, testified. He
stated he was a general manager for Schmitt and Cook Properties,
which two years earlier had purchased five mobile home parks. He
said since the purchase all utilities had been newly installed,
and each of the parks had been upgraded. He said in some of the
parks, the number of spaces were to be reduced to create larger
spaces and make the parks both better and more attractive. He
said if the provisions of AB 187 went into effect, his company
would be unable to do many things it intended to do. He said the
company alone could not pay the costs but needed the help of the
tenants. He asked that AB 187 not be passed.
Mr. Chris Harris, President, Nevada Association of Realtors,
testified. He stated the association had long opposed rent
control, in any form, because rent control artificially set rent
prices rather than allowing the market to do so.
Mr. Roger Service testified. He said he did not understand why
rent control would ever exist in this country. He suggested by
limiting park owners to rent increases on a percentage basis,
those who had been "gouging" would be rewarded and those whose
rents were low would be punished.
Mr. John Cole testified. He advised he lived in Riverview Mobile
Home Park. He said rents in the park were raised 7 percent the
previous year and, as of July 1, 1993, would have been raised 25
percent in the current year.
Mr. Paul Havas testified. He said he was a general partner in
Sierra Shadows Mobile Home Park in Reno, Nevada. He stated rent
control would result in deferred maintenance and would reduce
eligibility for refinancing and new loans. He said with rent
control based on cost of living increases, every mobile home park
owner would increase rents on an annual basis. He stated, as a
mortgage broker and owner of a mortgage company, he did not feel
AB 187 was positive legislation. He expressed pride in the
mobile home park in which he was a partner and said the park had
some of the lowest rents in the state and in the area and had
high standards with regard to aesthetic values. He contended the
mobile home park industry was a good industry and with the
support of the legislature and the state, should improve.
Mr. Bill Van Patton testified. He stated he was a long time
resident of Carson City and was owner of Parc de Maison mobile
home park. He advised all tenants in his park had 25 year leases
which provided for rent increases based on the cost of living,
with a three percent cap. He stated some mobile home park owners
had as stringent controls on rents as those provided by AB 187
and lived well with that fact.
Chairman Porter closed the hearing on AB 187.
There being no further business before the committee, Chairman
Porter adjourned the meeting.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
________________________
SARA J. KAUFMAN Committee
Secretary
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