Colony Cove Properties, LLC v. City of Carson

Appellant Colony Cove Properties, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, is the owner of the Colony Cove Mobile Estates, a mobilehome park (the Park) containing approximately 400 spaces, located in respondent City of Carson (the City). At the time appellant purchased the Park, it was rent controlled. Appellant submitted applications for rent increases in September 2007 and again in September 2008. After hearings in June 2008 and June 2009, respondent Carson Mobilehome Park Rental Review Board (the Board) approved increases in the monthly rent per unit of $36.74 and $25.02. Appellant contended that even after the rent increases approved by the Board, the rental income from Park residents was insufficient to cover its expenses, including interest payments on the $18 million loan it had secured to purchase the Park. Appellant maintained that to avoid becoming confiscatory, rents must be set at a level sufficient to provide a profit after payment of debt service. In two separate proceedings before the trial court (consolidated for appeal), the court denied appellant’s petitions for writ of administrative mandamus seeking to overturn the Board’s determinations. We conclude…