That remark is contemptible
Posted on 01/30/2008 3:12:23 PM PST by Lorianne
A measure on the June 3 ballot would phase out limits that now apply to 1.2 million state residents. ___ Having toiled in machine shops during World War II and worked for decades in other manual jobs, 84-year-old Mary Kubancik felt entitled to live out her years in a pleasant mobile home park in Sylmar.
Instead, the frail Kubancik is preparing to move out after 19 years. Her $919 monthly Social Security check won't cover her essentials and the $702 that her mobile home space will cost when the latest double-digit increase takes effect in April.
"I worked since I was 14 years old, and this is all I have," she said, tears vying with anger in her eyes. "I had to sell. And this was supposed to be my golden years."
Six rows away, Elisena Thompson, 86, doesn't worry about making ends meet, thanks to rent control rules that have kept her space at $385 a month. In a quirk of geography, the 186-unit Blue Star Mobile Home Park, where both women live, is partly in the city of Los Angeles, which has a rent control law, and partly in an unincorporated area, which has none.
Across town is Robert Kubota, 66, a pharmacist and chief executive of a family firm that operated a mobile home park in Chula Vista for 44 years. He blames rent control laws for six years of financial losses on the park. A Bankruptcy Court judge agreed that the business was not sustainable and approved a plan that led to the closure of Jade Bay Mobile Lodge last year.
"With rent control, you couldn't make any money," Kubota said. "The social problem of helping the poor should not be thrown on one industry."
(Excerpt) Read more at landv.net ...
As long as the currency printing presses continue to roll those on fixed incomes will be screwed. But, what the hell? We got credit expansion and govt spending prosperity! Who cares about these people? They need to get out of the way and make way for the new paradigm! /sarc
The only problem is there are people that could and would take advantage of a rent controlled property. My friend has an old roomate that moved out to California to live with a woman that has had a rent controlled residence for 13 years I believe. I asked him if he would ever give up that property if he decided to move and he said they would rent it out or sublet I guess is the proper term, and they were would most likely charge the going rate. Good people huh?
“I worked since I was 14 years old, and this is all I have,” she said, tears vying with anger in her eyes.”
70 years of work and she has a mobile home on a rented space and no kids to support her?
“Tears vying with anger” at who???
There is much more to that story.
Said person in the above example is a die hard liberal and works supposedly for the under priveledged yet is sitting on a property that she could afford to pay the going rate but is taking advantage. I believe the place is near or around Beverly Hills / Santa Monica.
Los Angeles rents are very high. Those who live on low income or fixed incomes are being driven from the city. Many seniors move out to outer areas in the state or out of state entirely. It is simple math. More people are living on a fixed amount of land.
Wonder how much she dumps at the nearby Indian casino each month.
Los Angeles rent control is not that onerous when compared to some other rent control laws. Landlords can raise rents 4% a year, and they can also charge tenants for any improvements done to the property. Once a tenant leaves, they can push the rent to fair market. It also only applies to properties built prior to 1977.
A landlord who bought after 1977 knew what he was getting himself into, so the landlord who blamed his bankruptcy on rent control is either full of it, or he needs to do his homework before buying properties.
Why not have a family member move in with her? It’s LA - surely a relative would like to live there cheap.
Or have another little old lady move in, too, as a roommate?
Selling isn’t the only option.
That's the only problem? Sounds like you caught the RINOvirus.
Perhaps if liberals would stop making development of land off-limits, property wouldn't be so ridiculously expensive out there.
You’re not supposed to think of creative or realistic alternatives. You’re supposed to feel sorry for the victim in the story. Get with the program!
My parents used to own apartments so trust me I know all the hideous things that bad tenants can do.
My solution was to leave that terrible place... L.A.
It's really unfair of you to make that kind of accusation. There isn't an Indian casino anywhere near Sylmar. You should take back what you said.
...cuz she's probably a SuperLotto player!
Indeed.
Right now, there are tons of luxury apartments, often fetching over 2 grand for a 600 sq foot one bedroom. On the flipside, there are 1 bedroom dumps to be had for about $1000 a month, but those places are completely overrun with illegal aliens, usually multiple families in each apartment.
Those in the middle are the ones who really feel the squeeze.
Are you sure you are on the right forum?
Yeah. Obviously it's all her own fault. s/
Let's see. For one thing, at 84, that means that her working years were at a wage about half that of a man, so that had a big effect on her Soc. Sec. check. Were she getting the average male Soc Sec check, she'd be okay.
She had NO control over that.
Alone at 84 - lot's of possible reasons for that. She may have been widowed, she may not have been able to have children, or her child/children may have already died.
etc
Women of her age did not have the opportunities or equalities women do today.
But yep. Let's just assume she's old (that's probably her fault too. After all, she's no longer of use to society, she should have the good grace to depart) - anyway, she must be alone and in dire straights, financially, due to her own faults.
Be the way, she said she "had to sell" - which indicates the trailer, itself, was hers = and the $800 plus a month is just for lot rent. That sounds outrageous to me.
But then, I am probably not far behind her - I've had my house for 17 years - my oil costs almost 4 times more, my taxes are doubled, etc etc = but my Soc Sec goes up about $20 a year. Wont be many more before the expenses exceed the income - certainly be the time I'm 84.
Fortunately I DO have children who have already tried to get me to live with them. So I don't have to worry on that score. It's that I want to live independent - I should have that right.
That remark is contemptible
Which is why older Los Angelinos move out to Riverside county, Palm Desert, the Antelope Valley, and the outer areas of the San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, and depressed areas of Los Angeles.
Those in the middle are the ones who really feel the squeeze.
Indeed. It is a huge problem because the county needs low and middle income earners to be in close enough proximity to their jobs. I know for a fact that L.A. county is letting certain areas zoning restrictions slide for multiple family dwellings so the work force can be near.
The remark sounds bad, but on the other hand, we do not really know the truth in the case, because ... look at the source.
In response to another comment: no one “deserves” to live on her own. Such assumed rights entail impositions on the rest of society. You only deserve what you have earned and can pay for. This is not a monarchy. No one is “entitled.”
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