Local News in Brief : Anaheim : Mobile Home Owners Threaten to Sue City

A group of mobile home owners, angry over the City Council’s rejection of a proposed ballot measure to control mobile home rents, are considering a lawsuit, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Anaheim Political Action Committee, which represents about 8,000 mobile home park residents in the city, had submitted a petition with more than 23,000 signatures seeking a rent-control ordinance.

The City Council voted 3 to 2 to reject that petition Tuesday. Councilman Irv Pickler said the majority rejected the petition, saying it did not fulfill legal guidelines.

Committee spokesman G. Nelson Lucas said the petition had sought to adjust rents to 1984 levels and to limit future increases to 8% a year, or 80% of the Consumer Price Index. It also sought establishment of a rent board to settle landlord-tenant disputes.

Without rent control, Anaheim resident Melody Burtt said, her rent at the Rio Vista Mobile Estates has increased from $245 to $564 during a 5 1/2-year period and forced her to move.

But Harvey A. Englander, a spokesman for the Anaheim Taxpayers Assn., which represents mobile home park owners, said rent hikes are necessary to pay for the rising costs of operating expenses, improvements and property taxes.