BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2120
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Norma Torres, Chair
AB 2120 (Silva) - As Amended: March 22, 2010
SUBJECT : Mobilehome parks.
SUMMARY : Requires the management in a mobilehome park to notify
all homeowners where they can obtain a copy of the Mobilehome
Residency Law (MRL) prior to February 1 of each year, if a
significant change was made in the MRL by legislation enacted in
the prior year.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires all rental agreements in mobilehome parks to be in
writing (Health and Safety Code Section 798.15).
2)Requires a copy of the text of the MRL to be attached as an
exhibit to all rental agreements and states that the MRL shall
be incorporated into the rental agreement by reference (Health
and Safety Code Section 798.15).
3)Requires management to provide all homeowners with a copy of
the MRL prior to February 1 of each year, if a significant
change was made in the law by legislation enacted in the prior
year (Health and Safety Code Section 798.15).
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
The Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) is California's
landlord-tenant law for mobilehome parks. When a homeowner
signs a rental agreement in a mobilehome park, a copy of the
text of the MRL must be attached as an exhibit. Anytime the MRL
is significantly changed, park management must provide a new
copy of the MRL to every homeowner by February 1 of the next
year. The requirement to provide a new copy of the MRL to every
homeowner every time there is a significant change to the law
has been in statute since 1981. Since then, the MRL has been
changed every year.
The MRL encompasses Civil Code Sections 798-799.9. The bills
AB 2120
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sponsor, the Western Manufactured Housing Communities
Association, prepares copies of the law for its member parks to
distribute that are 20 pages long. The Senate Select Committee
on Manufactured Homes and Communities annually produces a
publication that includes the full text of the MRL. In the
English version of that document (it is also available in
Spanish), the MRL takes up 54 pages.
AB 2120 proposes to eliminate the requirement that management
provide a new copy of the MRL to homeowners and instead require
management to notify residents where they can obtain a copy of
the MRL by February 1 of each year in which the law was changed
by legislation enacted in the prior year.
Arguments in support
According to the sponsor:
"?the requirement to physically distribute copies of the
MRL each year has become both an environmental burden and
cost-prohibitive for WMA members, especially given the
economy. When the provision was added to the MRL to
require distribution, the body of law was more condensed (4
pages-WMA publication) as opposed to today (20 pages-WMA
publication).
Prior to other means of communication, it may have made
sense to physically distribute certain documents, such as
the MRL, because there was no other way of obtaining the
information. However, the advent of the internet is
dramatically changing the way government interacts with the
public and the way business interacts with its customers.
The annual distribution of the MRL makes no sense anymore
given the numerous other ways residents can access the
information.
There are approximately 365,000 mobilehome spaces in the
state of California spread among 4,700 parks. This means
that if every space were to receive the minimum of one copy
per year, that is 7,300,000 pages that need to be printed
[based on WMA's 20-page publication], every single year.
Since the phrase 'significant change is subjective,
mobilehome park owners simply provide a new document every
single year regardless of the significance of the change in
the body of law."
AB 2120
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Arguments in opposition
According to the Golden State Manufactured-Home Owner's League,
the Western Center on Law & Poverty, and the California Rural
Legal Assistance Foundation:
"Because most homeowners can not easily move their home,
the rights established in the MRL?are critical to
protecting their investment in their home. Indeed, he MRL
defines so much of the day-to-day rights and
responsibilities of homeowners, the law has long required
that the MRL be incorporated into the lease.
This is why the requirement to give homeowners a copy of
the MRL annually, when the MRL has been amended
substantively, was first established-to ensure that
homeowners have an up-to-date copy of the law that protects
their investment, and governs their relationship with the
park owner. This gives homeowners the ability to make
informed decisions about enforcing their rights and
observing their responsibilities.
We see no meaningful benefit to deleting this requirement.
Indeed, doing so may lead to more litigation and conflict,
and put unsophisticated homeowners at risk. Without this
requirement, many homeowners are unlikely to know of
changes in the law and may lead many to rely on an outdated
copy of the MRL. The consequences of this could be
disastrous for a homeowner who may lose his or her home if
evicted over a misunderstanding of the law."
Committee amendments
Strike the changes to the law currently in the bill and replace
with language stating that by February 1 of each year in which
the MRL was significantly changed by legislation enacted in the
prior year, management must do one of the following:
1) Provide all homeowners with a copy of MRL; or
2) Provide written notice to all homeowners that there
has been a change to the MRL and that they may obtain one
AB 2120
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copy of the text of the law from management at no charge.
Management must provide the copy within a reasonable
time not to exceed ten days upon written request.
This ensures that homeowners will know when the MRL is
substantively changed and can still receive a free, printed copy
of the text of the law if they wish.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association (sponsor)
California Mobilehome Parkowners Alliance
Opposition
Executive Council of Homeowners
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners' League
Western Center on Law & Poverty
Individual letters (55)
Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / H. & C.D. / (916)
319-2085