BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 244|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 244
Author: Vidak (R), et al.
Introduced:2/18/15
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/7/15
AYES: Jackson, Vidak, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,
Wieckowski
SUBJECT: Mobilehomes: injunctions
SOURCE: Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association
DIGEST: This bill strikes the January 1, 2016, sunset date
attached to the authorization to petition for an order enjoining
a continuing or recurring violation of any reasonable rule or
regulation of a mobilehome park within the limited jurisdiction
of the superior court.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Governs, under the Mobilehome Residency Law, the relationship
between park owners or managers and the residents in
mobilehome parks and manufactured housing communities.
2)States that a mobilehome tenancy shall be terminated by the
management for, among other reasons:
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conduct by the homeowner or resident, upon the park
premises, that constitutes a substantial annoyance to other
homeowners or residents; or
failure of the homeowner or resident to comply with a
reasonable rule or regulation of the park that is part of
the rental agreement or any amendment thereto.
1)Provides that, in addition to other rights to terminate the
tenancy of a homeowner, any person in violation of a
reasonable rule or regulation of a mobilehome park may be
enjoined from the violation as follows:
until January 1, 2016, a petition for an order enjoining
a continuing or recurring violation of any reasonable rule
or regulation of a mobilehome park may be filed by the
management thereof within the limited jurisdiction of the
superior court of the county in which the mobilehome park
is located; and
after January 1, 2016, a petition for an order enjoining
a continuing or recurring violation of any reasonable rule
or regulation of a mobilehome park may be filed by the
management thereof with the superior court of the county in
which the mobilehome park is located.
1)Provides that at the time of filing the petition, the
petitioner may obtain a temporary restraining order, with
notice, upon the petitioner's affidavit showing to the
satisfaction of the court reasonable proof of a continuing or
recurring violation of a rule or regulation of the mobilehome
park by the named homeowner or resident and that great or
irreparable harm would result to the management or other
homeowners or residents of the park from continuance or
recurrence of the violation.
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2)Provides that a temporary restraining order shall be
personally served upon the respondent homeowner or resident
with the petition for injunction and the notice of hearing.
The restraining order shall remain in effect for a period not
to exceed 15 days, except as modified or limited by the court.
3)Specifies that a hearing shall be held within 15 days of
filing the petition for an injunction. If the court, by clear
and convincing evidence, finds the existence of a continuing
or recurring violation of a reasonable rule or regulation of
the mobilehome park, the court shall issue an injunction
prohibiting the violation. The duration of the injunction
shall not exceed three years, but not more than three months
prior to its expiration the management may petition for a new
injunction where there has been recurring or continuous
violation of the injunction or there is a threat of future
violation of the mobilehome park's rules upon termination of
the injunction.
This bill strikes the January 1, 2016, sunset date attached to
the authorization to petition for an order enjoining a
continuing or recurring violation of any reasonable rule or
regulation of a mobilehome park within the limited jurisdiction
of the superior court.
Background
Enacted in 1978, the Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) governs the
relationship between mobilehome park owners or managers and the
residents of the more than 4,800 mobilehome parks and
manufactured housing communities in California. In most of
these parks, residents own their home but lease the land on
which their home is installed. Although they have historically
been called "mobilehomes," it is often very difficult to
actually move a mobilehome once it has been installed in a park.
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Similar to other types of tenants (and property owners),
mobilehome residents are entitled to quiet enjoyment of their
property and park owners are obligated to preserve that quiet
enjoyment. Originally limited to protecting a lessee against
physical interference, the right to quiet enjoyment has been
expanded to protect "the tenant against any act or omission on
the part of the landlord, or anyone claiming under him, which
interferes with a tenant's right to use and enjoy the premises
for the purposes contemplated by the tenancy." (Petroleum
Collections Inc. v. Swords (1975) 48 Cal.App.3d 841, 846.) The
Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, noted in Andrews v.
Mobile Aire Estates (2005) 125 Cal.App.4th 578, 590, that "[t]he
perpetrator of the interference with the tenant's quiet
enjoyment need not be the landlord personally. There may be an
actionable breach where the interference is caused by a neighbor
or tenant claiming under the landlord." The Andrews court
further noted that "while the MRL limits the eviction rights of
mobilehome park owners, it expressly preserves the park owners'
ability to secure the quiet enjoyment of mobilehome park tenants
by authorizing park owners to pursue eviction or injunctive
relief against offending tenants." (Id. at 592.)
Under current law, until January 1, 2016, a petition by park
management for an order enjoining a continuing or recurring
violation of a reasonable rule or regulation of a mobilehome
park may be filed as a limited civil action in the superior
court of the county in which the mobilehome park is located.
This bill removes the January 1, 2016, sunset date, thus
extending indefinitely this authority to seek injunctive relief
within the limited jurisdiction of the superior court.
Comments
The author writes:
AB 2272 (Wagner, Ch. 99, Stats, 2012), until January 1, 2016,
[permits] the management to file a petition for an order to
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enjoin violations within the limited jurisdiction of the
superior court of the county in which the mobilehome community
is located. . . . Without new legislation[,] mobile home park
owners will be unable to utilize injunctions to enforce the
rules of the park.
SB 244 will remove the sunset date thereby allowing mobile
home park owners to continue using this tool in enforcing the
rules of the park instead of having to resort to the eviction
process.
Prior to the enactment of AB 2272 park owners had few options
available to deal with residents that were not following the
park rules and engaging in disruptive behavior. If the
disruptive behavior became . . . a problem park owners were
only able to utilize the eviction process[,] which was
burdensome to park owners, [the] evicted resident, and the
entire mobile home park community.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 419 (McGuire, 2015) authorizes the seller of a mobilehome to
display a "for sale" sign of a generally accepted yard-arm type
design and requires the management of a mobilehome park, upon
request, to provide in writing the information and standards
management will use to review a prospective homeowner to
prospective homeowners or the seller. The bill is currently in
the Senate Judiciary Committee.
AB 999 (Daly, 2015) authorizes the management of a mobilehome
park to dispose of a mobilehome left upon the premises by a
tenant or lienholder under specified circumstances. The bill
requires the landlord, prior to disposing of the mobilehome, to
provide written notice to the tenant and owner, and conclusively
presume, if the tenant or lienholder does not respond to the
notice on or before the date specified in the notice, that the
mobilehome is immediately subject to salvage, demolition,
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removal, or other abatement. The bill is currently in the
Assembly Judiciary Committee.
AB 2272 (Wagner, Chapter 99, Statutes of 2012) authorized, until
January 1, 2016, the management of mobilehome parks to file
petitions for orders to enjoin violations of reasonable rules or
regulations of mobilehome parks within the limited jurisdiction
of the superior court.
SB 459 (Lockyer, Chapter 270, Statutes of 1991) authorized the
management of mobilehome parks to obtain injunctions for three
years against continuing or recurring violations of the
reasonable rules and regulations of the park. The bill entitled
the management to an injunction upon showing such a violation by
clear and convincing evidence, and authorized the court to grant
a temporary order restraining the violation for up to 15 days
pending a hearing on the injunction.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified4/7/15)
Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association (source)
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/7/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the sponsor, the
availability of injunctive relief promotes quiet enjoyment and
reduces disruption in housing. An injunction against a tenant
nuisance is a far less drastic remedy than the summary
displacement of an eviction. Prior to AB 2272 (Wagner), an
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injunction was more expensive than pursuing an unlawful
detainer, so mobilehome park owners were more inclined to pursue
an unlawful detainer instead. AB 2272 allowed injunctions to be
pursued in the same limited jurisdiction court as termination of
tenancies, subject to a three-year sunset. This bill removes
the sunset date and extends AB 2272's provisions.
Prepared by:Tobias Halvarson / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
4/10/15 12:06:32
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