Santee, CA Rental Property Rules: Rent Control (2026)

Santee adopted its mobile home rent stabilization scheme, codified at Municipal Code Chapter 2.44, to address the shortage of rental spaces for manufactured homes and the resulting risk of rapidly escalating rents described in the chapter's preamble. The chapter applies to all manufactured home parks and their tenancies except spaces covered by a qualifying long-term rental agreement exempt under California Civil Code Section 798.17, and except park-owned coaches, which follow their own controlled-rent rules. Under Section 2.44.090, the space rent ceiling for a covered space is the rent that was in effect on December 31, 1989; for spaces first rented after that date, the ceiling is the rent charged when that space was first rented.

Owners cannot demand, accept or retain rent above the ceiling. Increases above the ceiling are permitted only through the adjustment procedures the chapter sets out: an initial CPI-based adjustment tied to 1989-1994 index changes, annual CPI-based adjustments, and net-operating-income adjustments a park owner may apply for with the Manufactured Home Fair Practices Commission. The five-member Commission, whose members cannot be park owners, managers, or owners of four or more rental units, is appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council, with staff support from the City Manager and legal support from the City Attorney.

Violations carry real financial exposure: under Section 2.44.190, a park owner who demands, accepts, or retains rent above the lawful ceiling is liable in a civil action for three times the overcharge amount, plus the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees and court costs. Because this rent control regime reaches only manufactured and mobile home park spaces, apartment buildings, single-family rentals, and other residential tenancies in Santee are not subject to any city rent-control ordinance and remain governed solely by state landlord-tenant law.