Apr. 21--Rents could rise in a decade in north San Rafael for residents of the rent-controlled mobile home park Contempo Marin now that a U.S. District Court judge has reaffirmed his belief the city's rent-control ordinance is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco issued an order for entry of judgment on Friday, after releasing findings of fact in January 2008 declaring San Rafael's rent-control ordinance violated the Fifth Amendment against government "taking." A stay of the order, which was denied Friday, had been sought to bar a rent increase until the lawsuit was resolved.

The decision nullifies the ordinance in 10 years -- a time frame developed to give residents time to adjust to the market-rate rent adjustments -- and calls on the city to pay Contempo's owner, Chicago-based Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc., $3 million in attorneys' fees, although city would end up paying $1.8 million based on a related ruling. If homeowners sell, the new owners will be subject to market-rate rent on the "pads," or land where the mobile homes sit. Homeowners lease the land from the property owner.

"During this 10-year period, the only 'hardship' current residents of Contempo Marin will suffer is the inability to capture the artificial premium in the resale price of their mobile homes that the ordinance creates," the judge's order reads.

"We're just looking forward to operating the property outside of the cloud of litigation and putting this whole thing behind

us," said Kiley Russell, a spokesman for Equity LifeStyle Properties. "We feel it's a fair and reasonable transition plan that we can live with."

The city and the homeowners have 30 days to issue a notice of appeal once the judgment is recorded. A decision on whether to appeal has not yet been made, attorneys for the city and the homeowners said.

"We are assessing our options right now," said Craig Daniel, a San Francisco attorney representing the homeowners. "We haven't decided. It's certainly a possibility."

San Rafael officials could not immediately come up with a total figure of how much the city had spent on its own attorneys' fees.

Talk abounded last year that Equity LifeStyle Properties planned to more than double Contempo Marin rent to as high as $1,925 per month, which would be out of reach for many of the park's residents who are on fixed incomes, officials said.

"Obviously the fact that the judge has effectively stayed enforcement to the current residents for 10 years is a good thing," said Michael Ng, an attorney who represents the city.