BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Noreen Evans, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
AB 317 (Calderon)
As Amended May 23, 2012
Hearing Date: July 3, 2012
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
BCP
SUBJECT
Mobilehomes
DESCRIPTION
Existing law requires the management of a mobilehome park to
provide prospective homeowners with a statutory notice entitled
"INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTIVE HOMEOWNERS." This bill would
clarify that notice by including a statement that prospective
purchasers who do not occupy the mobilehome as their principal
residence may not be subject to rent control.
(This analysis reflects author's amendments to be offered in
Committee.)
BACKGROUND
Enacted in 1978, the Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) governs the
relationship between park owners or managers and the residents
of the 4,800+ mobilehome parks and manufactured housing
communities in California. In most of those parks, residents
own their home but lease the land on which their home is
installed. Although they have historically been called
"mobilehomes," it is very difficult to actually move a
mobilehome once it has been installed in a park.
To protect mobilehome park residents from rent increases on the
property underlying their home, over 100 jurisdictions in
California have enacted some form of rent control. Those rent
control ordinances are a proper exercise of the local
government's police power if their provisions are "reasonably
calculated to eliminate excessive rents and at the same time
(more)
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provide landlords with a just and reasonable return on their
property." (Birkenfeld v. Berkeley (1976) 17 Cal.3d 129, 165.)
Although mobilehome parks are not subject to the Costa-Hawkins
Rental Housing Act (which restricts the use of rent control in
other residential properties), the MRL does limit the
application of rent control in certain circumstances, including
if the lease agreement is greater than 12 months, or if the
mobilehome is not the owner's principal residence and is not
being rented to another party.
This bill, as proposed to be amended, would clarify the required
statutory notice to prospective purchasers by informing
purchasers that if they do not occupy the mobilehome as their
principal residence, the space may not be subject to rent
control.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law requires, within two business days of receiving a
request from a prospective homeowner for an application for
residence for a specific space within a mobilehome park, if the
management has been advised that the mobilehome occupying that
space is for sale, the management shall give the prospective
homeowner a separate document in at least 12-point type entitled
"INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTIVE HOMEOWNERS," which includes
specified information about being a tenant in a mobilehome park,
including that:
Some spaces are governed by an ordinance, rule, regulation,
or initiative measure that limits or restricts rents in
mobilehome parks. Long-term leases specify rent increases
during the term of the lease. By signing a rental agreement
or lease for a term of more than one year, you may be
removing your rental space from a local rent control
ordinance during the term, or any extension, of the lease if
a local rent control ordinance is in effect for the area in
which the space is located.
(Civ. Code Sec. 798.74.5.)
This bill would also add the following two sentences to the
above statutory notice to clarify the application of rent
control to residents in mobilehome parks:
These laws are commonly known as "rent control." Prospective
purchasers who do not occupy the mobilehome as their
principal residence may be subject to rent levels which are
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not governed by these laws.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
According to the author:
Current law under Civil Code Section 798.21 requires that a
home be occupied as the homeowner's principal residence in
order to maintain the benefits of rent control. Many
individuals get around this law by various means to qualify
for rent control to secure a vacation home with subsidized
rent by the property owner. . . . AB 318 will add a sentence
to the form requested to be given to all prospective tenants
in Civil Code 798.74.5 to read, "prospective purchasers who
do not occupy the mobilehome as their principal residence
may be subject to rent levels which are not governed by
these laws (rent control)."
2. Information for prospective homeowners
Under existing law, management must generally provide
prospective homeowners with a document entitled "INFORMATION FOR
PROSPECTIVE HOMEOWNERS" that includes information regarding
owning a home in a mobilehome park, the monthly rent, additional
fees and charges that the person may be obligated to pay in
addition to rent, information about establishing tenancy in the
park, and other pertinent information. (Civ. Code Sec.
798.45.5.) This bill would clarify that notice by adding
language informing persons that "Ýp]rospective purchasers who do
not occupy the mobilehome as their principal residence may be
subject to rent levels which are not governed by these laws."
Staff notes that the proposed language appears to accurately
reflect existing Civil Code Section 798.21, which provides that
rent control does not apply to a mobilehome space that is not
the principal residence of the homeowner as long as the
homeowner has not rented the mobilehome to another party. Thus,
from a policy standpoint, prospective purchasers who are
purchasing the mobilehome as a second or vacation home should be
aware that the space may not be subject to any rent control laws
if it is not their primary residence.
3. Opposition related to portions of the bill removed by
author's amendment
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It should be noted that while the Committee received numerous
letters in opposition to this bill, those letters expressed
concern about the provisions of the bill stricken by the
author's amendment discussed in Comment 4. As a result, it is
unknown if there is any opposition to the bill as proposed to be
amended.
4. Author's amendment
The author offers the following amendment to strike the proposed
changes to Section 798.21 of the Civil Code relating to rent
control.
Amendment:
On page 2, strike out lines 1 through 19, and pages 4
through 7, inclusive, and on page 8, strike out lines 1
through 4, inclusive.
Support : California Association of Realtors; Western
Manufactured Housing Communities Association
Opposition : Unknown
HISTORY
Source : Author
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation : None Known
Prior Vote :
Assembly Rules Committee (Ayes 9, Noes 0)
Assembly Housing & Community Development Committee (Ayes 4, Noes
1)
Assembly Floor (Ayes 44, Noes 22)
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