Amended in Senate June 15, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 20, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 7, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 999

Introduced by Assembly Member Daly

February 26, 2015

An act to amend begin delete Section end delete begin insert Sections 798.56a and end insert 798.61 of the Civil Code, relating to mobilehomes.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 999, as amended, Daly. begin delete Abandoned mobilehomes: end delete begin insert Mobilehomes: salvage and end insert disposal.

The Mobilehome Residency Law governs tenancies in mobilehome begin delete parks, including, among other things, imposing end delete begin insert parks and, among other things, authorizes the management of a mobilehome park, under specified circumstances, to either remove the mobilehome from the premises and place it in storage or store the mobilehome on its site. Existing law provides the management with a warehouse lien for these costs and end insert begin insert imposes various duties on the management to enforce this lien. Existing law also imposes end insert various duties on the management of a mobilehome park when seeking to sell an abandoned mobilehome and its contents. begin insert Existing law requires a court to enter a judgment of abandonment if the end insert begin insert criteria for abandonment has been satisfied and no party establishes an interest in the mobilehome at the hearing. end insert Existing law requires the management, under certain circumstances, to obtain a tax clearance certificate from the county tax collector of the county in which the mobilehome is located when selling an abandoned mobilehome.

This bill would amend the Mobilehome Residency Law to begin insert , among other things, authorize the management to enforce a warehouse lien and declare a mobilehome as salvage without requiring the management or other person enforcing the lien to obtain a tax clearance certificate. The bill would require a court to enter a judgment of abandonment if, instead, the criteria for abandonment has been satisfied and no party establishes an interest in the mobilehome and tenders all past due rent and other charges. The bill would end insert authorize a procedure for the management of a mobilehome park to dispose of begin delete or sell end delete an abandoned mobilehome and begin delete to dispose of or sell end delete its contents without requiring the management to obtain a tax clearance certificate. This bill would require the management to notify the county tax collector in the county in which the mobilehome park is located and the Department of Housing and Community Development that management will begin insert either enforce a warehouse lien and declare the mobilehome as salvage or end insert dispose of an abandoned mobilehome and its contents pursuant to these provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 798.56a of the end insert begin insert Civil Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

798.56a.  

(a) Within 60 days after receipt of, or no later than
65 days after the mailing of, the notice of termination of tenancy
pursuant to any reason provided in Section 798.56, the legal owner,
if any, and each junior lienholder, if any, shall notify the
management in writing of at least one of the following:

(1) Its offer to sell the obligation secured by the mobilehome
to the management for the amount specified in its written offer.
In that event, the management shall have 15 days following receipt
of the offer to accept or reject the offer in writing. If the offer is
rejected, the person or entity that made the offer shall have 10 days
in which to exercise one of the other options contained in this
section and shall notify management in writing of its choice.

(2) Its intention to foreclose on its security interest in the
mobilehome.

(3) Its request that the management pursue the termination of
tenancy against the homeowner and its offer to reimburse
management for the reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs
incurred by the management in that action. If this request and offer
are made, the legal owner, if any, or junior lienholder, if any, shall
reimburse the management the amount of reasonable attorney’s
fees and court costs, as agreed upon by the management and the
legal owner or junior lienholder, incurred by the management in
an action to terminate the homeowner’s tenancy, on or before the
earlier of (A) the 60th calendar day following receipt of written
notice from the management of the aggregate amount of those
reasonable attorney’s fees and costs or (B) the date the mobilehome
is resold.

(b) A legal owner, if any, or junior lienholder, if any, may sell
the mobilehome within the park to a third party and keep the
mobilehome on the site within the mobilehome park until it is
resold only if all of the following requirements are met:

(1) The legal owner, if any, or junior lienholder, if any, notifies
management in writing of the intention to exercise either option
described in paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) within 60 days
following receipt of, or no later than 65 days after the mailing of,
the notice of termination of tenancy and satisfies all of the
responsibilities and liabilities of the homeowner owing to the
management for the 90 days preceding the mailing of the notice
of termination of tenancy and then continues to satisfy these
responsibilities and liabilities as they accrue from the date of the
mailing of that notice until the date the mobilehome is resold.

(2) Within 60 days following receipt of, or no later than 65 days
after the mailing of, the notice of termination of tenancy, the legal
owner or junior lienholder commences all repairs and necessary
corrective actions so that the mobilehome complies with park rules
and regulations in existence at the time the notice of termination
of tenancy was given as well as the health and safety standards
specified in Sections 18550, 18552, and 18605 of the Health and
Safety Code, and completes these repairs and corrective actions
within 90 calendar days of that notice, or before the date that the
mobilehome is sold, whichever is earlier.

(3) The legal owner, if any, or junior lienholder, if any, complies
with the requirements of Article 7 (commencing with Section
798.70) as it relates to the transfer of the mobilehome to a third
party.

(c) For purposes of subdivision (b), the “homeowner’s
responsibilities and liabilities” means all rents, utilities, reasonable
maintenance charges of the mobilehome and its premises, and
reasonable maintenance of the mobilehome and its premises
pursuant to existing park rules and regulations.

(d) If the homeowner files for bankruptcy, the periods set forth
in this section are tolled until the mobilehome is released from
bankruptcy.

(e) begin insert   end insert begin insert (1) end insert  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including,
but not limited to, Section 18099.5 of the Health and Safety Code,
if neither the legal owner nor a junior lienholder notifies the
management of its decision pursuant to subdivision (a) within the
period allowed, or performs as agreed within 30 days, or if a
registered owner of a mobilehome, that is not encumbered by a
lien held by a legal owner or a junior lienholder, fails to comply
with a notice of termination and is either legally evicted or vacates
the premises, the management may either remove the mobilehome
from the premises and place it in storage or store it on its site. In
this case, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
management shall have a warehouse lien in accordance with
Section 7209 of the Commercial Code against the mobilehome for
the costs of dismantling and moving, if appropriate, as well as
storage, that shall be superior to all other liens, except the lien
provided for in Section 18116.1 of the Health and Safety Code,
and may enforce the lien pursuant to Section 7210 of the
Commercial Code either after the date of judgment in an unlawful
detainer action or after the date the mobilehome is physically
vacated by the resident, whichever occurs earlier. Upon completion
of any sale to enforce the warehouse lien in accordance with
Section 7210 of the Commercial Code, the management shall
provide the purchaser at the sale with evidence of the sale, as shall
be specified by the Department of Housing and Community
Development, that shall, upon proper request by the purchaser of
the mobilehome, register title to the mobilehome to this purchaser,
whether or not there existed a legal owner or junior lienholder on
this title to the mobilehome.

begin insert

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the
management of a mobilehome park obtains title to a mobilehome
after enforcing the warehouse lien and obtains approval from
Department of Housing and Community Development to designate
the mobilehome for salvage, management or any other person
enforcing this warehouse lien shall not be required to obtain a tax
clearance certificate, as set forth in Section 5832 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code, provided that management notifies the county
tax collector in the county in which the mobilehome is located, as
well as the Department of Housing and Community Development
of management’s intent to enforce a warehouse lien and apply to
have the mobilehome designated for salvage. The written notice
shall be sent to the county tax collector and the Department of
Housing and Community Development no less than 10 days prior
to the intended date of the sale to enforce the lien against the
mobilehome. The notice shall be sent by first class mail, postage
prepaid.

end insert

(f) All written notices required by this section begin insert , except the notice
in paragraph (2) of subdivision (e), end insert shall be sent to the other party
by certified or registered mail with return receipt requested.

(g) Satisfaction, pursuant to this section, of the homeowner’s
accrued or accruing responsibilities and liabilities shall not cure
the default of the homeowner.

begin delete SECTION 1. end delete
begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

Section 798.61 of the Civil Code is amended to read:

798.61.  

(a) (1) As used in this section, “abandoned
mobilehome” means a mobilehome about which all of the
following are true:

(A) It is located in a mobilehome park on a site for which no
rent has been paid to the management for the preceding 60 days.

(B) It is unoccupied.

(C) A reasonable person would believe it to be abandoned.

begin insert

(D) It is not permanently affixed to the land.

end insert

(2) As used in this section:

(A) “Mobilehome” shall include a trailer coach, as defined in
Section 635 of the Vehicle Code, or a recreational vehicle, as
defined in Section 18010 of the Health and Safety Code, if the
trailer coach or recreational vehicle also satisfies the requirements
of paragraph (1), including being located on any site within a
mobilehome park, even if the site is in a separate designated section
pursuant to Section 18215 of the Health and Safety Code.

(B) “Abandoned mobilehome” shall include a mobilehome that
is uninhabitable because of its total or partial destruction that
cannot be rehabilitated, if the mobilehome also satisfies the
requirements of paragraph (1).

(C) “Dispose” or “disposal” shall mean the removal and
destruction of an abandoned mobilehome from a mobilehome park,
thus making it unusable for any purpose.

(b) After determining a mobilehome in a mobilehome park to
be an abandoned mobilehome, the management shall post a notice
of belief of abandonment on the mobilehome for not less than 30
days, and shall deposit copies of the notice in the United States
mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the homeowner at the last
known address and to any known registered owner, if different
from the homeowner, and to any known holder of a security interest
in the abandoned mobilehome. This notice shall be mailed by
registered or certified mail with a return receipt requested.

(c) (1) Thirty or more days following posting pursuant to
subdivision (b), the management may file a petition in the superior
court in the county in which the mobilehome park is located, for
a judicial declaration of abandonment of the mobilehome. A
proceeding under this subdivision is a limited civil case. Copies
of the petition shall be served upon the homeowner, any known
registered owner, and any known person having a lien or security
interest of record in the mobilehome by posting a copy on the
mobilehome and mailing copies to those persons at their last known
addresses by registered or certified mail with a return receipt
requested in the United States mail, postage prepaid.

(2) To dispose of an abandoned mobilehome pursuant to
subdivision (f), the management shall also do all of the following:

(A) Declare in the petition that the management will dispose of
the abandoned mobilehome, and therefore will not seek a tax
clearance certificate as set forth in Section 5832 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code.

(B) Declare in the petition whether the management intends to
sell the contents of the abandoned mobilehome before its disposal.

(C) Notify the county tax collector in the county in which the
mobilehome park is located and the Department of Housing and
Community Development of the declaration that management will
dispose of the abandoned mobilehome by sending a copy of the
petition by first class mail.

(d) (1) Hearing on the petition shall be given precedence over
other matters on the court’s calendar.

(2) If, at the hearing, the petitioner shows by a preponderance
of the evidence that the criteria for an abandoned mobilehome has
been satisfied and no party establishes an interest therein at the
begin delete hearing, end delete begin insert hearing and tenders all past due rent and other charges, end insert
the court shall enter a judgment of abandonment, determine the
amount of charges to which the petitioner is entitled, and award
attorney’s fees and costs to the petitioner. For purposes of this
subdivision, an interest in the mobilehome shall be established by
evidence of a right to possession of the mobilehome or a security
or ownership interest in the mobilehome.

(3) A default may be entered by the court clerk upon request of
the petitioner, and a default judgment shall be thereupon entered,
if no responsive pleading is filed within 15 days after service of
the petition by mail.

(e) To sell an abandoned mobilehome, the management shall
do all of the following:

(1) (A) Within 10 days following a judgment of abandonment,
the management shall enter the abandoned mobilehome and
complete an inventory of the contents and submit the inventory to
the court.

(B) During this period the management shall post and mail a
notice of intent to sell the abandoned mobilehome and its contents
under this section, and announcing the date of sale, in the same
manner as provided for the notice of determination of abandonment
under subdivision (b). The management shall also provide notice
to the county tax collector in the county in which the mobilehome
park is located and the Department of Housing and Community
Development.

(C) At any time prior to the sale of an abandoned mobilehome
or its contents under this section, any person having a right to
possession of the abandoned mobilehome may recover and remove
it from the premises upon payment to the management of all rent
or other charges due, including reasonable costs of storage and
other costs awarded by the court. Upon receipt of this payment
and removal of the abandoned mobilehome from the premises
pursuant to this paragraph, the management shall immediately file
an acknowledgment of satisfaction of judgment pursuant to Section
724.030 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(2) Following the judgment of abandonment, but not less than
10 days following the notice of sale specified in paragraph (1), the
management may conduct a public sale of the abandoned
mobilehome, its contents, or both. The management may bid at
the sale and shall have the right to offset its bids to the extent of
the total amount due it under this section. The proceeds of the sale
shall be retained by the management, but any unclaimed amount
thus retained over and above the amount to which the management
is entitled under this section shall be deemed abandoned property
and shall be paid into the treasury of the county in which the sale
took place within 30 days of the date of the sale. The former
homeowner or any other owner may claim any or all of that
unclaimed amount within one year from the date of payment to
the county by making application to the county treasurer or other
official designated by the county. If the county pays any or all of
that unclaimed amount to a claimant, neither the county nor any
officer or employee of the county is liable to any other claimant
as to the amount paid.

(3) Within 30 days of the date of the sale of the abandoned
mobilehome and its contents, the management shall submit to the
court an accounting of the moneys received from the sale and the
disposition of the money and the items contained in the inventory
submitted to the court pursuant to paragraph (1).

(4) The management shall provide the purchaser at the sale of
an abandoned mobilehome with a copy of the judgment of
abandonment and evidence of the sale, as shall be specified by the
Department of Housing and Community Development or the
Department of Motor Vehicles, which shall register title in the
abandoned mobilehome to the purchaser upon presentation thereof.
The sale shall pass title to the purchaser free of any prior interest,
including any security interest or lien, except the lien provided for
in Section 18116.1 of the Health and Safety Code, in the abandoned
mobilehome.

(f) To dispose of an abandoned mobilehome, the management
shall do all of the following:

(1) (A) Within 10 days following a judgment of abandonment,
the management shall enter the abandoned mobilehome and
complete an inventory of the contents and submit the inventory to
the court.

(B) During this period the management shall post and mail a
notice of intent to dispose of the abandoned mobilehome and its
contents under this section, and announcing the date of disposal,
in the same manner as provided for the notice of determination of
abandonment under subdivision (b). The management shall also
provide notice to the county tax collector in the county in which
the mobilehome park is located and the Department of Housing
and Community Development.

(C) At any time prior to the disposal of an abandoned
mobilehome or its contents under this section, any person having
a right to possession of the abandoned mobilehome may recover
and remove it from the premises upon payment to the management
of all rent or other charges due, including reasonable costs of
storage and other costs awarded by the court. Upon receipt of this
payment and removal of the abandoned mobilehome from the
premises pursuant to this subparagraph, the management shall
immediately file an acknowledgment of satisfaction of judgment
pursuant to Section 724.030 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(2) Following the judgment of abandonment, but not less than
10 days following the notice of disposal specified in paragraph
(1), the management may dispose of the abandoned mobilehome.

(3) (A) Within 30 days of the date of the disposal of an
abandoned mobilehome and its contents, the management shall
submit to the court, the county tax collector in the county in which
the mobilehome park is located, and the Department of Housing
and Community Development a statement that the abandoned
mobilehome and its contents were disposed with supporting
documentation.

(B) Within 30 days of the date of the disposal of an abandoned
mobilehome or the date of the sale of its contents, whichever date
is later, the management shall submit to the court, the county tax
collector in the county in which the mobilehome park is located,
and the Department of Housing and Community Development an
accounting of the moneys received from the sale and the disposition
of the money and the items contained in the inventory submitted
to the court pursuant to paragraph (1) and a statement that the
abandoned mobilehome was disposed with supporting
documentation.

begin insert

(4) The management shall obtain a salvage title from the
Department of Housing and Community Development prior to
disposal.

end insert

(g) Notwithstanding any other law, the management shall not
be required to obtain a tax clearance certificate, as set forth in
Section 5832 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, to begin delete either end delete dispose
of an abandoned mobilehome and begin delete sell end delete its begin delete contents, or dispose of
an abandoned mobilehome and its contents. end delete begin insert contents pursuant to
subdivision (f). However, any sale pursuant to this section end insert begin insert shall
be subject to the tax clearance certificate requirements of Section
18092.7 of the Health and Safety Code. end insert