Watsonville Municipal Code Art. 5 Procedures

The Park Owner shall not participate in, or influence in any manner whatsoever, the process of selecting and designating the Homeowners Representative. Any such designation should be signed by the persons owning a majority of the Mobile homes located within the applicable Mobile home park. The persons submitting the designation should certify under penalty of perjury that the signatures thereon are true and correct to the best of the declarant’s knowledge. If the Homeowners fail to designate a representative through the foregoing procedures, the City Manager may establish any such procedure, such as mailed sealed ballots, reasonably likely to yield a democratically selected representative.

Once a representative has, for any particular year, being properly designated, all notices to Home-owners may be directed to that representative. Any Homeowner who can show that his or her individual interests are not likely to be fully represented by the Homeowners’ representative may request that the arbitrator allow that person, or group of persons, to represent him, her, or themselves. An example would be a Homeowner who claims to be the victim of retaliatory Park Owner practices not directed against a majority of the Homeowners of a Mobile home park.

(§ 1, Ord. 1018-96 C-M, eff. November 15, 1996)

At least three (3) months before the anticipated date of any intended rent increase, the Park Owner shall submit a calculation of any rent increase under Section 11-3.220, and any application under Article 4. A statement of his/her individual space rent increase shall be sent on the same date to each Homeowner in the park. The Homeowner’s rent increases notice shall include a statement of the official CPI percentage increase. If either the City Manager or the Homeowner representative, within ten (10) days of its receipt, disagree with the Park Owners mathematics concerning the Section 11-3.220 rent increase or application under Article 4, the dispute shall be promptly set for City Manager determination.

(§ 1, Ord. 1018-96 C-M, eff. November 15, 1996)

All disputes arising out of the City Manager’s interpretation and enforcement of the provisions of this Chapter may be resolved by mandatory binding arbitration pursuant to the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association, unless all parties agree to other rules of arbitration.

(§ 1, Ord. 1018-96 C-M, eff. November 15, 1996)

All disputes arising out of the interpretation and enforcement of the provisions of this Chapter shall be conducted according to the following rules:

(a) Within fifteen (15) working days of receipt of a petition for relief, an Arbitrator shall be appointed to conduct the hearing. Final retention of the Arbitrator shall be subject to the payment of costs under (c) of this section.

(b) The Arbitrator shall be appointed in the following manner:

(1) Any interested person may submit to the City Manager a list of nominees. The nominee shall be an experienced arbitrator with particular expertise in Mobile home rental disputes or with experience or training showing the capabilities to deal with the issues found in a Mobile home rental dispute. The lists of nominees shall include the resumes of each, detailing their qualifications.

(2) To be eligible for nomination, the arbitrator shall not own a real estate interest in a Mobile home park, shall not be a tenant of a Mobile home park, and shall not be an employee, officer, member or otherwise affiliate with any group or organization which has or is viewed, in the City Manager’s opinion, by a significant number of owners or tenants as having taken advocacy position in rent control matters.

(3) The City Manager shall review the lists, conduct such investigations and/or interviews as he/she deems necessary, and refer the lists to the City Council together with a recommendation.

(4) The City Council shall review the lists, shall conduct such investigations and/or interviews as it deems necessary, and shall select an arbitrator. The arbitrator, selected by the City Council, may but need not, appear on either list submitted, but shall meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivision 2 of this subsection. The decision of the City Council under this section shall be final.

(c) Upon appointment of the Arbitrator, the City Manager shall notify the petitioner by mail of the estimated cost of the hearing officer and request payment. If payment is not received from the petitioner within ten (10) days of the notice, the petition shall be deemed withdrawn.

(d) If the payment made under subsection (c) of this section is insufficient to pay the full cost of the Arbitrator, the petitioner shall pay the difference to the City Manager within ten (10) working days of receiving notice of the amount due. If the payment made exceeds the full cost of the Arbitrator, the excess shall be refunded by the City Manager to the petitioner after the Arbitrator is paid in full.

(e) Upon receipt of payment under subsection (c) of this section, the hearing officer shall be deemed retained.

(§ 1, Ord. 1018-96 C-M, eff. November 15, 1996)

Any party desiring findings regarding decisions made by the arbitrator under this Chapter must request them in writing. Such request must be received in the arbitrator’s place of business within ten (10) calendar days of the date the arbitrator made the decision and shall specify those issues upon which findings are requested.

(§ 1, Ord. 1018-96 C-M, eff. November 15, 1996)

Any party to an arbitration pursuant to this Chapter in which a decision has been made may petition the Santa Cruz County Superior Court to confirm, correct or vacate the decision pursuant to Article 1 of Chapter 4 of Title 9 of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, commencing with Section 1285.

(§ 1, Ord. 1018-96 C-M, eff. November 15, 1996)

It shall be unlawful for any Mobile home Park Owner or manager to directly or indirectly require any Homeowner or prospective Homeowner to sign a rental agreement with a term in excess of twelve months as a condition of residence in the park.

(§ 1, Ord. 1018-96 C-M, eff. November 15, 1996)