For a publication that professes to have its finger on the pulse of North County, a recent editorial by the North County Times regarding mobile-home rent control demonstrated an amazing lack of sensitivity and understanding of the issue. The Times deserves a bushel full of raspberries for its reckless stance.

The Times fails to appreciate the precarious nature of owning valuable property "permanently" affixed to someone else's land.

Manufactured-home (mobile-home) owners provide the housing, not park owners. Park owners provide a patch of dirt for the home to sit on, and the homeowner is responsible for the costs of maintaining the home, utility usage and landscaping. It is disingenuous to compare mobile-home space rent to that of other rental situations. Mobile-home owners are trapped —— captive customers with very limited ability to relocate their homes. Conversely, apartment dwellers can move out if living conditions become intolerable.

Rent stabilization, or control, is a good thing, not only for those homeowners protected by such ordinances, but it also helps bolster the local economy and tax base. For every dollar rent is increased, homeowners have one less dollar to spend in the local economy, money that otherwise goes to park owners who rarely live locally. If rents increase to unfair levels, homeowners are often forced to seek governmental subsidies, creating an added burden to taxpayers.

Unlike the real estate and stock markets, rent stabilization ordinances provide park owners a fair and just return on their investment. Even in regulated areas, many park owners receive 50 percent or more return on their investment year after year. Do your investments perform that well?

There is no such thing as a "fair market" within a monopoly having virtually no market forces. Without rent protections, homeowners are helpless prey to the monopolistic whims of unscrupulous park owners.

As outrageous as gasoline prices have become, there are at least some market forces that could lead to a decline in fuel prices. Such is not the case in mobile-home parks; rents typically only go up. Consider what the price of gasoline would be today if you could buy gasoline at only one designated station closest to where you live and the station operator knew he had a captive market who couldn't go elsewhere. Some stations might charge reasonable prices, while others might charge $10 per gallon or more. That is what unregulated mobile-home parks are like. There are some good and decent park owners, but, unfortunately, many millionaire park owners focus only on maximizing profits with no regard to the plight of homeowners.

In areas of San Diego County where no rent protections exist, some dirt spaces that rented for less than $100 per month 30 years ago now exceed $950 per month, surpassing the monthly income of many homeowners. Residents have been economically evicted from the homes they own because of park owner greed; plus, the high rents have made many homes unsellable. That is what could happen in all areas of the county if mobile-home rent protections are not preserved.

Tim Sheahan is a volunteer homeowner advocate in San Marcos. He represents the Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League, the County Mobile-home Positive Action Committee, the San Marcos Mobilehome Residents Association and the Manufactured Home Owners Association of America.