BILL ANALYSIS AB 2120 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 28, 2010 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Norma Torres, Chair AB 2120 (Silva) - As Amended: March 22, 2010 SUBJECT : Mobilehome parks. SUMMARY : Requires the management in a mobilehome park to notify all homeowners where they can obtain a copy of the Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) prior to February 1 of each year, if a significant change was made in the MRL by legislation enacted in the prior year. EXISTING LAW 1)Requires all rental agreements in mobilehome parks to be in writing (Health and Safety Code Section 798.15). 2)Requires a copy of the text of the MRL to be attached as an exhibit to all rental agreements and states that the MRL shall be incorporated into the rental agreement by reference (Health and Safety Code Section 798.15). 3)Requires management to provide all homeowners with a copy of the MRL prior to February 1 of each year, if a significant change was made in the law by legislation enacted in the prior year (Health and Safety Code Section 798.15). FISCAL EFFECT : None COMMENTS : The Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) is California's landlord-tenant law for mobilehome parks. When a homeowner signs a rental agreement in a mobilehome park, a copy of the text of the MRL must be attached as an exhibit. Anytime the MRL is significantly changed, park management must provide a new copy of the MRL to every homeowner by February 1 of the next year. The requirement to provide a new copy of the MRL to every homeowner every time there is a significant change to the law has been in statute since 1981. Since then, the MRL has been changed every year. The MRL encompasses Civil Code Sections 798-799.9. The bills AB 2120 Page 2 sponsor, the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association, prepares copies of the law for its member parks to distribute that are 20 pages long. The Senate Select Committee on Manufactured Homes and Communities annually produces a publication that includes the full text of the MRL. In the English version of that document (it is also available in Spanish), the MRL takes up 54 pages. AB 2120 proposes to eliminate the requirement that management provide a new copy of the MRL to homeowners and instead require management to notify residents where they can obtain a copy of the MRL by February 1 of each year in which the law was changed by legislation enacted in the prior year. Arguments in support According to the sponsor: "?the requirement to physically distribute copies of the MRL each year has become both an environmental burden and cost-prohibitive for WMA members, especially given the economy. When the provision was added to the MRL to require distribution, the body of law was more condensed (4 pages-WMA publication) as opposed to today (20 pages-WMA publication). Prior to other means of communication, it may have made sense to physically distribute certain documents, such as the MRL, because there was no other way of obtaining the information. However, the advent of the internet is dramatically changing the way government interacts with the public and the way business interacts with its customers. The annual distribution of the MRL makes no sense anymore given the numerous other ways residents can access the information. There are approximately 365,000 mobilehome spaces in the state of California spread among 4,700 parks. This means that if every space were to receive the minimum of one copy per year, that is 7,300,000 pages that need to be printed [based on WMA's 20-page publication], every single year. Since the phrase 'significant change is subjective, mobilehome park owners simply provide a new document every single year regardless of the significance of the change in the body of law." AB 2120 Page 3 Arguments in opposition According to the Golden State Manufactured-Home Owner's League, the Western Center on Law & Poverty, and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation: "Because most homeowners can not easily move their home, the rights established in the MRL?are critical to protecting their investment in their home. Indeed, he MRL defines so much of the day-to-day rights and responsibilities of homeowners, the law has long required that the MRL be incorporated into the lease. This is why the requirement to give homeowners a copy of the MRL annually, when the MRL has been amended substantively, was first established-to ensure that homeowners have an up-to-date copy of the law that protects their investment, and governs their relationship with the park owner. This gives homeowners the ability to make informed decisions about enforcing their rights and observing their responsibilities. We see no meaningful benefit to deleting this requirement. Indeed, doing so may lead to more litigation and conflict, and put unsophisticated homeowners at risk. Without this requirement, many homeowners are unlikely to know of changes in the law and may lead many to rely on an outdated copy of the MRL. The consequences of this could be disastrous for a homeowner who may lose his or her home if evicted over a misunderstanding of the law." Committee amendments Strike the changes to the law currently in the bill and replace with language stating that by February 1 of each year in which the MRL was significantly changed by legislation enacted in the prior year, management must do one of the following: 1) Provide all homeowners with a copy of MRL; or 2) Provide written notice to all homeowners that there has been a change to the MRL and that they may obtain one AB 2120 Page 4 copy of the text of the law from management at no charge. Management must provide the copy within a reasonable time not to exceed ten days upon written request. This ensures that homeowners will know when the MRL is substantively changed and can still receive a free, printed copy of the text of the law if they wish. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association (sponsor) California Mobilehome Parkowners Alliance Opposition Executive Council of Homeowners California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners' League Western Center on Law & Poverty Individual letters (55) Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085