Facts: The owner of a mobilehome park subject to rent control ordinances applied to a government agency to convert the occupancy of the spaces in the mobilehome park from tenant occupancy to resident ownership occupancy. As required by the application, the owner surveyed the tenants of the mobilehome park to determine whether the tenants supported the conversion. In the survey, the tenants nearly unanimously opposed the conversion. Based on the survey, the government agency determined the conversion was a sham to preempt rent control ordinances. The government agency denied the application.
Claim: The owner sought to convert the mobilehome park to resident ownership occupancy, claiming the government agency’s denial of the application was invalid since a government agency may not consider the survey results when making a decision on a conversion application.
Counterclaim: The government agency claimed its denial of the application was valid since a government agency may consider a survey results if the results indicate the conversion is a sham to preempt rent control ordinances.
Holding: A California court of appeals held the government agency’s denial of the conversion application was valid since a government agency may consider a survey’s results in making its decision if the results indicate the conversion is a sham to preempt rent control ordinances. [Goldstone v. County of Santa Cruz (2012) 207 CA4th 1038]
-ft
