Ben Ivry Weighs In On The North Lamar Mobile Home Park Controversy

NEW YORK, May 8, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- North Lamar Mobile Home Park seems, from the photos, to be a quaint village of older trailers. It could be located in any city or town in the U.S. But it is located in Austin, Texas, and that simple fact has created one of the most absurd news stories of 2015 so far. It's a tale of showmanship, hypocrisy and, in the end, no effect whatsoever.

The facts don't match the political assertions

Articles are describing the situation as dire and in bad faith. That is not the case. The owners are simply trying to moderately raise the rent. There are 69 trailers in the park, and 47 are on month-to-month leases. Those homeowners were notified that the rent was increasing to $450 per month, and that water and sewer would no longer be provided free to the residents. Nobody was asked to leave. The park is not shutting down and rendering all families homeless. Every step of the way there was due notice as required by law. All prior leases were honored. For the rent to have been "doubled", as some have claimed, the new amount would have to be around $800 per month, not $450 per month.

There are virtually no vacant mobile home lots in Austin

Austin has one of the hottest real estate markets in the U.S. and a huge shortage of affordable housing. As a result, virtually every mobile home park in Austin is at 100% occupancy. This has been the case for years. Austin has known for years that there are no options for mobile home park residents to move their homes to. Perhaps Austin politicians, if they are so concerned about this situation, should rezone vacant land for the construction of new trailer parks. However, you know that their constituency will not appreciate having a trailer park next to their properties, so it is a political non-starter.

The new rent is still among the lowest in the city

This may be a shocker to those who have not fact checked, but at $450 per month, the new rent in North Lamar is still among the lowest in Austin. My research shows that mobile home lot rent in Austin can be up to $700 per month in many areas. Even if you don't know what is too high for mobile home lot rent in Austin, you certainly do know that $450 is cheap.

Water conservation is supposed to be something that Austin is in favor of

One of the greatest hypocrisies from the articles available for reading is that it is bad for tenants to pay for their own water usage. Isn't that what Austin is all about – conserving natural resources? If tenants are not personally accountable for their water usage, then why not waste it? One resident complained of $160 per month water bills. How can you use $160 of water in an old mobile home? Those who live in a regular house, several times larger, have water bills a third of that amount. It sounds like mobile home park residents are using more water than those who live in pricey subdivisions with irrigation systems. Why is Austin not showing tenants how to use less water, to change their habits, and to use their discretion when it comes to wasting water? Isn't Austin supposed to be proactive on this issue?

It does cost a lot of money to move a mobile home, but that's not the park owner's fault

It costs around $5,000 to move a mobile home from point A to point B. I guess that nobody wants to do it, as it is very nasty work and chock full of liability. But that's not the park owner's fault. If Austin politicians are so concerned with the cost to move mobile homes, perhaps they could open a mobile home park moving division in the city operations department, and drive that cost down. Until then, sure, it's unlikely that any trailer park tenant can afford to move. But since there are no vacant mobile home lots anyway, I guess it really does not matter. But the inability to move the mobile home does not take away their freedom of choice. What owner of a brick home has the ability to move their home? Like everyone else, the mobile home tenant could always simply sell it where it sits. That's as much freedom of choice as the rest of us get.

But the whole situation does make a great political grandstanding opportunity

What is the root cause of this whole media event? Is it political grandstanding by Greg Casar, a 25 year old politician who took office only about 90 days ago, and is apparently trying to make a name for himself among voters? We don't really know the motives. But it's safe to say that the political agenda far pre-dates the owners' January 2015 purchase of the property. It would not matter who bought this property or how much they raised the rent, the tenants would still complain. Prices in Austin go up every day for every product and service. Raising a mobile home rent by $60 per month doesn't seem to be worthy of such attention. There are far more important news stories in Austin. So who is behind trying to milk this non-issue for all that it's worth?

But it will certainly be an embarrassment for politicians in the end

The sad truth, and everyone knows it, is that there is no purpose to any of this. The law says that the landlord can raise the rent as much as they want, and the tenants must pay their water and sewer usage going forward. The rally and cardboard signs are fruitless and ridiculous. What will Greg Casar do when the tenants find out that the rent is not going down and he is powerless to stop it? As the Austin Chronicle pointed out "Once the tenants' current leases expire, a landlord-friendly state like Texas doesn't give them a lot of options under the law other than paying or leaving. ARNL's lawsuit may keep tenants in their homes until November, but what then?"

Austin politicians talk a big game, but do not deliver on the shortage of affordable housing

The real news story here, that nobody wants to talk about, is the fact that Austin politicians have done a terrible job of supporting the need for affordable housing. The median single family home price in Austin is $229,700. The average three bedroom apartment rents for $1,483 per month. Both are far in excess of the U.S. average. While Austin has done a terrific job of creating jobs and growing population, it has failed miserably in providing affordable housing for those who have not shared in the economic boom. But, of course, that's not what liberal media or politicians want to talk about. It's so much easier and more fun to have purposeless rallies on TV! Better yet, let's harass a company that is actually providing affordable housing – at around $1,000 per month less than the Austin average apartment – and make their life miserable. That will attract more entrants into this space!

Conclusion

The poor trailer park owners who bought North Lamar must really wonder what Austin is all about. Wild accusations without any fact checking. An affront to the concept of water conservation. Political grandstanding with all the trimmings. And absolutely no substance to any political claims of helping the affordable housing shortage. Until Austin wants to get down to the gritty business of housing the city's poor, you can expect more stories like North Lamar. And they will have the same meaningless ending. Shame on you, Austin, for not being more transparent and proactive about solving your affordable housing crisis! That's the big news story here. Not raising rent in some small mobile home park. It shouldn't take long for the voters of Austin to take note. Austin is a very progressive city that has some of the brightest minds in America. How about putting some focus on housing the poor!

SOURCE Benjamin Ivry