BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 244| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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: SB 244 Page 2 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. SB 244 Page 3 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. SB 244 Page 4 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 SB 244 Page 5 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, SB 244 Page 6 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 SB 244 Page 7 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 **** END ****