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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