BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Chair
2015-2016 Regular Session
SB 1106 (Leyva)
Version: February 17, 2016
Hearing Date: April 19, 2016
Fiscal: Yes
Urgency: No
TH
SUBJECT
Mobilehome Parks
DESCRIPTION
Existing law, the Mobilehome Parks Act, provides that any person
who willfully violates the act, related building standards, or
other related rules and regulations adopted by the Department of
Housing and Community Development, is guilty of a misdemeanor,
subject to suspension or revocation of permits issued under the
act, and liable for a civil penalty for each violation or for
each day of a continuing violation.
This bill authorizes the Director of Housing and Community
Development, or a local enforcement agency that has assumed
jurisdiction, to issue citations that assess civil penalties to
any owner or operator of a mobilehome park, or a registered
owner of a manufactured home, mobilehome, or recreational
vehicle, or other responsible party, when he or she has
permitted the continuation of a violation for at least 30 days
after the expiration of a notice to correct the violation or
violations from the enforcement agency.
BACKGROUND
The Mobilehome Parks Act, Health and Safety Code Section 18200
et seq., authorizes the Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) to regulate mobilehome parks to assure the
protection of the health, safety, and general welfare of all
mobilehome park residents. The act "clearly expresses that it
is California state policy to ensure that mobilehome parks are
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operated to assure the health, safety, general welfare, and
decent living environment of the residents, as well as protect
the investment value of mobilehomes." (County of Santa Cruz v.
Waterhouse (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 1483, 1489 [citations and
internal quotation marks omitted].) The act's goal of
"promoting the health and safety of mobilehome residents [is]
implemented through the HCD's establishment of standards for
[the] construction, maintenance, occupancy, use, and design of
[mobilehome] parks," (Id.) and these standards are codified in
Title 25 of the California Code of Regulations.
The Mobilehome Parks Act gives local jurisdictions the option to
assume enforcement authority within their jurisdiction by
executing an agreement with HCD. Currently, HCD exercises
enforcement authority over approximately 4,200 mobilehome parks,
and local agencies - about 70 in total - enforce the act and its
regulations in just over 1,000 parks. HCD reports that during
compliance investigations carried out in 2015, the "accumulation
of rubbish or combustible material" was the most frequent
violation noted for park residents, and "exposed live electrical
parts" was among the top three violations noted for park owners
or operators. In total, 15,900 violations were found during
inspections undertaken in 2015, and as of January of this year,
approximately 8,040 violations remained uncorrected.
The act provides that willful violations of its provisions
constitute a misdemeanor, punishable by either or both a fine of
$400 or 30 days imprisonment. The act also provides that
enforcement agencies may collect a civil penalty of $500 for
willful violations through a proceeding in civil court. (See
Health & Saf. Code Sec. 18700.)
This bill would additionally authorize an enforcement agency to
assess a civil penalty, payable to the enforcement agency, of up
to $500 for continuing violations of the act or its implementing
regulations, provided they remain uncorrected for a minimum of
30 days. This bill provides that any person assessed a civil
penalty may petition the enforcement agency to dismiss or modify
the citation giving rise to the penalty, and participate in an
informal hearing on the merits of the petition within 30 days of
filing.
This bill was approved by the Senate Committee on Transportation
and Housing on April 12, 2016, by a vote of 11-0.
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CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law , the Mobilehome Parks Act (MPA), authorizes the
Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to develop
specific requirements relating to the construction, maintenance,
occupancy, use, and design of mobilehome parks. (Health & Saf.
Code Sec. 18200 et seq.)
Existing law provides that the MPA applies to all parts of the
state and supersedes any local ordinance, as specified. (Health
& Saf. Code Sec. 18300 (a).)
Existing law provides that upon 30 days' written notice from the
governing body to HCD, any city, county, or city and county may
assume the responsibility for the enforcement of the MPA and its
implementing regulations, as specified. (Health & Saf. Code
Sec. 18300 (b).)
Existing law authorizes officers or agents of the applicable
enforcement agency to enter and inspect all parks, wherever
situated, and inspect all accommodations, equipment, or
paraphernalia used in connection therewith, including the right
to examine any registers of occupants maintained therein in
order to secure the enforcement of the MPA and the regulations
adopted pursuant to the MPA. (Health & Saf. Code Sec. 18400
(b).)
Existing law states that if, upon inspection, the applicable
enforcement agency determines that a mobilehome park is in
violation of any provision of the MPA, or any rule or regulation
adopted pursuant thereto, the enforcement agency shall promptly
issue a notice to correct the violation to the owner or operator
of the mobilehome park and to the responsible person, as
specified. The owner or operator of the mobilehome park shall
be responsible for the correction of any violations for which a
notice of violation has been given. (Health & Saf. Code Sec.
18420 (a).)
Existing law states that if, upon inspection, the applicable
enforcement agency determines that a manufactured home,
mobilehome, an accessory building or structure, or lot is in
violation of specified provisions of the MPA, or any rule or
regulation adopted pursuant thereto, the enforcement agency
shall promptly issue a notice to correct the violation to the
registered owner of the manufactured home or mobilehome, with a
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copy to the occupant thereof, if different from the registered
owner. The registered owner of the manufactured home or
mobilehome shall be responsible for the correction of any
violations for which a notice of violation has been given.
(Health & Saf. Code Sec. 18420 (b).)
Existing law provides that service of the notice of violation
shall be effected either personally or by first-class mail.
Each notice of violation shall be in writing and shall describe
with particularity the nature of the violation in as clear
language as the technicality of the violation will allow the
average layperson to understand what is being cited, including a
reference to the statutory provisions or regulation alleged to
have been violated, as well as any penalty provided by law for
failure to make timely correction. For violations other than
imminent threats to health and safety, as specified, the notice
of violation shall allow 60 days from the postmarked date of the
notice or date of personal delivery for the elimination of the
condition constituting the alleged violation. (Health & Saf.
Code Sec. 18420 (c).)
Existing law provides that if the owner or operator of the
mobilehome park or the registered owner of the manufactured home
or mobilehome disputes a determination by the enforcement agency
regarding the alleged violation, the alleged failure to correct
the violation in the required timeframe, or the reasonableness
of the deadline for correction specified by the notice of
violation, the owner or operator of the mobilehome park or the
registered owner of the manufactured home or mobilehome may
request an informal conference with the enforcement agency. The
informal conference, and any subsequent hearings or appeals of
the decision of the enforcement agency, shall be conducted in
accordance with procedures prescribed by HCD. (Health & Saf.
Code Sec. 18421.)
Existing law provides that any person who willfully violates the
MPA or any rules or regulations adopted by HCD pursuant to the
MPA is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not
exceeding $400 or by imprisonment not exceeding 30 days, or by
both such fine and imprisonment. (Health & Saf. Code Sec.
18700.)
Existing law provides that any person who willfully violates the
MPA or any rules or regulations adopted by HCD pursuant to the
MPA shall be liable for a civil penalty of $500 for each
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violation or for each day of a continuing violation. The
enforcement agency shall institute or maintain an action in the
appropriate court to collect any civil penalty arising under
this section. (Health & Saf. Code Sec. 18700.)
This bill states that in addition to other remedies, the
Director of HCD (Director), or an employee authorized by a local
enforcement agency, may issue a citation that assesses a civil
penalty to any owner or operator, or both, of a mobilehome park
or registered owner of a manufactured home, mobilehome, or
recreational vehicle, or other responsible party who violates
the MPA or regulations adopted pursuant to the MPA, if the owner
or operator, or both, or registered owner of a manufactured
home, mobilehome, or recreational vehicle, or other responsible
party has permitted the continuation of a violation for at least
30 days after the expiration of a notice to correct the
violation or violations from the enforcement agency.
This bill specifies that each citation and related civil penalty
assessment shall be issued no later than seven months after
issuance of the notice to correct that provides the basis of the
citation, and that these penalties shall be in addition to other
penalties, as specified.
This bill specifies that the amount of a civil penalty assessed
shall be $100 for each violation that the enforcement agency
determines is a hazard constituting an unreasonable risk to
life, health, or safety, but shall be increased to $250 for each
subsequent violation of the same prohibition for which a
citation for the subsequent violation is issued within one year
of the citation for the previous violation.
This bill specifies that the amount of a civil penalty assessed
shall be $200 for each violation that the enforcement agency
determines is an imminent hazard representing an immediate risk
to life, health, and safety and requiring immediate correction,
but shall be increased to $500 for each subsequent violation of
the same prohibition for which a citation for the subsequent
violation is issued within one year of the citation for the
previous violation.
This bill specifies that the civil penalties assessed shall be
payable to the enforcement agency, notwithstanding any other
provision of law, and that payment of the civil penalty shall be
remitted to the enforcement agency within 45 days of the
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issuance of the citation.
This bill specifies that any person or entity served a citation
pursuant to this section may petition the Director or the
authorized representative of the local enforcement agency, where
applicable, to dismiss or modify the citation. The petition
shall be a written request briefly stating the grounds for the
request, and must be received by HCD or the local enforcement
agency within 30 days of the date of issuance of the citation.
Upon receipt of a timely and complying petition, the enforcement
agency shall suspend enforcement of the citation and set a time
and place for an informal hearing, as specified.
This bill specifies that the enforcement agency shall notify the
petitioner in writing of its decision and the reasons therefor
within 30 days following conclusion of the informal hearing.
This bill provides that a mobilehome park owner or operator, or
the registered owner of a manufactured home, mobilehome,
recreational vehicle, or other responsible party, who both
receives a citation with civil penalties issued by an
enforcement agency other than HCD, and receives a final, formal
order from the enforcement agency following an informal hearing
on a submitted petition, shall be entitled to petition HCD to
review and investigate, as necessary, the enforcement activities
of the local enforcement agency. This bill specifies procedures
for petitioners to follow when seeking such review from HCD.
This bill states that if HCD finds that the notice of violation,
citation, written determination, or final, formal order issued
by the local enforcement agency reflects non-enforcement of the
law, HCD shall initiate corrective action including, but not be
limited to, cancellation of the civil citation.
This bill specifies that informal hearings held pursuant to the
above provisions shall not be subject to the administrative
adjudication provisions of Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section
11400) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.
COMMENT
1.Stated need for the bill
According to the author:
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The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and
certain local governments enforce the state's health and
safety requirements of the "Mobilehome Parks Act" (MPA) laws
and regulations in the 4,500 mobilehome parks with about
400,000 spaces throughout the state. Enforcement includes
issuing both park owners and resident homeowners notices of
violation for defects in their parks or homes, respectively.
Except for imminent hazards, they generally have 30 days to
correct the violations.
Most violations by park owners include dangerously deficient
electrical, gas and plumbing systems. Violations by park
residents are mostly accumulations of combustible materials,
and electrical cords in lieu of permanent wiring. The same
code violations sometimes linger for years in mobilehome parks
because there is no monetary penalty for uncorrected
violations.
Many park owners and residents do not make the repairs,
despite repeated "notices" and follow-up inspections, and
HCD's authority to obtain compliance is limited by statute.
Under current law, noncompliance with an order to repair a
serious health and safety defect can only be enforced by
expensive civil or criminal court proceedings by local or
state public prosecutors, which makes enforcement of serious
violations virtually impossible, given other prosecutorial
priorities. The only other options are, for resident
violations, to mandate park evictions lawsuits, and, for park
violations, to suspend the park's permit to operate and its
right to collect rent. Both options have serious consequences
without necessarily resulting in repairs.
SB 1106 would add to HCD's existing citation authority to
allow it, and local governments enforcing the MPA, to issue
citations after 30 days have elapsed without repair to an
unreasonable or imminent health and safety violation by a park
owner or homeowner in a mobilehome park. The initial
citations for an "unreasonable" violation, such as a
mobilehome park-wide brownout, would be $100, with subsequent
violations within one year being $250. Similarly, initial
citations for an "imminent" hazard, such as running sewage
under a mobilehome or trailer unit, would be $200, with
subsequent violations within one year being $500.
Additionally, simple administrative appeal rights are
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provided, including allowing HCD to keep the costs to the
state and petitioners reasonable by utilizing in-house
informal appeals rather than the Office of Administrative
Hearings judges. The enforcement agency issuing the citation
would retain the penalties, thus self-funding the enforcement
process.
2.Incentivizing compliance
As noted in the Background, above, HCD reports that several
thousand mobilehome park owners and residents are, and remain,
out of compliance with the Mobilehome Parks Act (MPA) and its
implementing regulations. Many of the regulatory violations
identified by HCD present significant risks to park residents
and guests, including the presence of exposed live electrical
equipment and the accumulation of combustible material near
residences. The City of Montclair, writing in support, offers a
similar view:
The City of Montclair has several mobile home and trailer
parks, many of which are in need of significant enforcement of
health and safety regulations. However, despite repeated
"notices" and follow-up inspections, [HCD's] authority to
obtain compliance is limited by statute. Under current law,
noncompliance with an order to repair a serious health and
safety defect can only be enforced by expensive civil or
criminal court proceedings by local or state public
prosecutors, which makes enforcement of serious violations
virtually impossible, given other prosecutorial priorities and
limited court resources. Some of these parks -- developed
prior to 1960 -- are in need of serious enforcement that will
compel owners and residents to maintain their dwellings, which
in turn promote healthier and safer environments in the city.
This bill would incentivize compliance with the MPA and its
implementing regulations by authorizing HCD and local
enforcement jurisdictions to assess civil penalties ranging from
$100 to $500 for violations that remain uncorrected more than 30
days after the designated deadline given by an enforcement
agency to correct a violation.
Importantly, the bill provides certain basic due process rights
to parties who receive such assessments. Under existing law,
underlying notices of violation must be in writing and describe
with particularity the nature of the violation in as clear
language as the technicality of the violation will allow the
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average layperson to understand what is being cited, including a
reference to the statutory provisions or regulation alleged to
have been violated, as well as any penalty provided by law for
failure to make timely correction. For violations other than
imminent threats to health and safety, a notice of violation
must allow 60 days from the postmarked date or date of delivery
for the elimination of the condition constituting the alleged
violation. Individuals are provided with an opportunity to
contest alleged violations following HCD's informal conference
procedures, and can also challenge enforcement actions of local
jurisdictions through direct petitions to HCD.
This bill would offer similar informal conference procedures for
individuals to use when contesting civil penalty assessments,
and would impose a timeline limiting when such penalties may be
assessed to within seven months of the underlying notice of
violation. This bill would also provide a 30-day period in
which parties may cure alleged violations before a civil
assessment could issue, and would require enforcement of the
assessment to be suspended while being contested by an alleged
violator. Just as with existing law, individuals would be able
to challenge assessments levied by local jurisdictions through a
direct petition to HCD.
3.Impact to low-income communities
Staff notes that while this bill may ultimately help incentivize
compliance with the Mobilehome Parks Act (MPA), the civil
assessments authorized by the bill would likely be levied
against lower income Californians who may not have the financial
means to easily absorb them. It is unclear what percentage of
health and safety violations identified by HCD during its
compliance inspections result from deferred maintenance or
repairs not undertaken because of a lack of resources. Should
these assessments be levied against mobilehome residents who
already lack the resources needed to maintain their properties
to the appropriate standard, the additional costs imposed by
this bill may actually increase noncompliance by diverting funds
away from needed repairs. Given the impact these assessments
could have on lower income communities, the Committee may wish
to consider how to best ensure that these assessments do not
further impoverish financially vulnerable communities.
4.Opposition concerns
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The Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association (WMA),
writing in opposition, expresses concern that the management of
a mobilehome park may ultimately be held responsible for
correcting a resident's health and safety violations, or that it
may be held financially responsible for civil penalties
accumulated by a resident. WMA also expresses concern over the
possibility that penalties may be assessed by an enforcement
agency while a park owner or operator's "permit to operate"
(PTO) the park is suspended. They write, "[w]hen the PTO is
suspended the management cannot collect rent, which is a pretty
big hammer for the enforcement agency" and could "place the
community in double-jeopardy."
Support : City of Montclair; Educational Community for
Homeowners
Opposition : Western Manufactured Housing Communities
Association
HISTORY
Source : Author
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation :
SB 244 (Vidak, Ch. 176, Stats. 2015) removed a sunset provision
implemented by AB 2272 (Wagner, Ch. 99, Stats. 2012), and
thereby indefinitely authorized the management of a mobilehome
park to file a petition for an order to enjoin violations of a
reasonable rule or regulation of the mobilehome park within the
limited jurisdiction of the superior court.
AB 2272 (Wagner, Ch. 99, Stats. 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, Ch. 270, Stats. 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. This bill entitled the
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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.
Prior Vote : Senate Transportation and Housing Committee (Ayes
11, Noes 0)
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