Half of the boarders with horses at the OC Fair and Event Center’s equestrian facility received a 30-day notice this week to sign a new rental agreement or vacate the property after months of pushing back against recent rent hikes and a new contract approved by the fair board.
The board approved phasing in stall rental price increases during a March public meeting, saying the cost to maintain the 100 horse stalls was greater than revenue coming in and rent increases were needed to keep the facility open. Boarders and trainers are expected to pay $979 for a 12-by-12-foot stall and $1,558 for a 12-by-24-foot stall – a slight decrease from the original price increases approved earlier this year.
A new six-month rental agreement was drafted and sent out to the equestrians in mid-May with a deadline to sign by May 30, however, some renters did not sign the lease and others who did made edits to the contract, Terry Moore, communications director at the OC Fair and Event Center, said in an email. The center is operated by the state’s 32nd District Agricultural Association.
“Currently 23 of the 45 boarders are using the OC Fair & Event Center equestrian facilities without a valid rental agreement, which expired June 14,” she said. “Nineteen of those boarders submitted heavily edited versions of the standard rental agreement on June 14. Four have not responded at all. None of the edits submitted are acceptable to the district.”
Gibran Stout, who runs the OC Vaulting nonprofit out of the equestrian center, said the boarders would like to see details about space and amenities, boarders would like the term of the deal to be for at least one year and that the lease agreement should also include details on how the center will manage the grounds.
“We have been trying for months to get them to meet and talk and negotiate contracts, and we have been refused,” Stout said. “They started refusing our payments because they made the contract expire in the middle of the month, and we’re like, well, we’re not moving. We want to meet.”
“Their response to our asking to meet and work out solutions has been an eviction notice,” Stout added.
Moore said some renters tried to submit payments that were not accepted because they had not signed the rental agreement and the amounts did not reflect the new fees.
Michele Richards, CEO of the OC Fair & Events Center, said the opportunity to meet about issues with the new agreement has passed. At the end of May through early June, Richards said she was meeting one-on-one with some boarders and trainers about the center’s new vision for the equestrian center. All were invited to schedule time to chat about this new plan, she added.
“I felt the meetings were productive. There were a lot of good ideas that were discussed, but I did not receive any questions or requests for changes to those rental agreements. In fact, they weren’t even discussed in those meetings. No one expressed concern to me about any of the terms in those contracts,” Richards said, adding that at the eleventh hour, officials received 19 signed and heavily edited agreements.
“They were not changes that we would agree to at all,” she said. “They included significant changes to the rental agreement terms, for example, changing the dates, crossing off the rates that they didn’t approve or the security deposit that was required. Some of them crossed out some of the safety terms. I went through the changes that were requested and rejected all of them.”
Carol Graves, who has boarded her horse at the OC Fair equestrian center since 2021, found the notice taped to her stall after wrapping up a horse show. Graves said another concern for her regarding the new contract was that returning boarders were expected to pay a security deposit.
“The deposits are described as for damages to the facility, but there’s a lot of deferred maintenance that’s not being addressed right now. I’m concerned that they would attribute to me damage that I didn’t cause and just keep my money,” Graves said.
Graves added that a six-month contract creates “instability” for people who are trying to run programs.
“Then, they have pages and pages of demands for us, including things like ‘No hanging flower plants,’ but then they have half a page of things that they would do, and none of them describe how horses will be fed or cared for and what to do when we have some sort of problem,” she said.
Other terms of the agreement include automobile liability, workers compensation and medical malpractice clauses.
“There was a whole section on insurance for carnival rides, motorized events, ATVs, rodeos,” Graves said. “There’s language about automobile liabilities, workers compensation, handing out their employee manual. It’s not wrong for me to point out in writing that none of that applies to me as a horse boarder.”
Richards said the rental agreements have standard terms, including the ones cited by Graves, that are part of a state-mandated template and that these rental agreements have been signed without edits in the past.
“There is a group of renters who do not agree with the new rate structure that the board approved and they are pushing back on working with us,” Richards said. “They want to negotiate on the rates, the rates have already been approved by the board of directors. They want to take out some of the provisions related to safety, we’re never going to agree to that. It’s very disappointing to me that not only are we at this kind of a stalemate with them, but it’s keeping the ranch program from moving forward, which is our vision to open up that facility for the whole community to benefit from.”
Equestrians boarding at the OC Fair & Event Center, Graves said, are “captive consumers” in this deal.
“This isn’t a Netflix subscription that I can just cancel. I have a horse. He’s our pet, and our whole family loves him, especially my daughter who rides,” Graves said. “This contract exploits the fact that we’re trapped with no good options because the contract is so unreasonable. I have no idea where else I can go. I’d have to sell my horse, and finding a good home for him isn’t easy.”
All boarders want is a meeting, Stout said.
“There’s nothing to meet about at this point. They have been informed that we can’t accept any edits to that standard agreement,” Richards said. “And if they sign the rental agreement within the 30-day notice, that we would withdraw that 30-day notice.”
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