ESCONDIDO — The Escondido City Council has approved a rent increase for Carefree Ranch, a senior mobile home park, marking the second consecutive year of increased costs for residents.
Bart Thomsen, owner of the 55-and-up mobile home park at 211 N. Citrus Avenue, filed for a short-form rent increase over the summer following a similar request approved in 2023.
Under short-form rules, park owners can apply for rent increases only once a year and must limit hikes to either 90% of the local consumer price index or 8% of current rent, whichever is lower.
Proposition K, passed by voters in 1988, mandates rent control in Escondido’s mobile home parks and requires city approval for rent increases.
At Carefree Ranch, 58 of the 184 spaces are rent-controlled. Last year’s increase averaged nearly $38 per space. This year’s hike, approved by the City Council on Oct. 23, will average nearly $27 and take effect on Nov. 1.
Dale Anderson, a resident of the park, expressed concern about the impact of rising rents on seniors, many of whom live on fixed incomes.
“Most seniors are on fixed incomes, and in the last two years the park has asked for over $50 per resident,” Anderson said. “The majority of the senior citizens with this rent increase are going to go broke.”
Anderson also questioned whether the 90-day notice requirement for the increase had been met. City staff, however, confirmed that all paperwork and notices were submitted on time.
Park Manager Jim Younce explained that a staffing change had delayed the application process this year. Carlos Cervantes was recently hired as the city’s management analyst for mobile home rent increase applications.
Younce noted that Thomsen has a rental assistance program to help residents who are struggling with payments.
“We like to keep our residents in the park,” Younce said. “We don’t want them to lose their home — especially if they’ve lived there for 20 or 30 years.”
Despite expressing reluctance to approve another increase, council members unanimously supported the request. Younce also urged the city to improve road signage on Citrus Avenue to prevent drivers from blocking the park’s entrance, citing school traffic congestion as a safety issue.
Since January, the City Council has raised rents at several mobile home parks, including Greencrest, Casa Grande Mobile Estates and Town and Country Club.
