BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Noreen Evans, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
AB 2150 (Atkins)
As Amended May 15, 2012
Hearing Date: June 26, 2012
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
BCP:rm
SUBJECT
Mobilehome Parks
DESCRIPTION
This bill would require every rental agreement in a mobilehome
park to include a statutory summary of the rights and
responsibilities of homeowners and park management under the
Mobilehome Residency Law.
This bill would also require park management to distribute the
statutory notice to all homeowners prior to February 1st of each
year.
BACKGROUND
Enacted in 1978, the Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) governs the
relationship between park owners or managers and the residents
of the 4,800+ mobilehome parks and manufactured housing
communities in California. In most of those parks, residents
own their home but lease the land on which their home is
installed.
To inform residents of their rights and responsibilities,
existing law requires a copy of the MRL to be attached to each
rental agreement. When a significant change is made to the MRL
by legislation enacted in the prior year, park management is
required to either provide all homeowners with a copy of the
MRL, or provide written notice to all homeowners that there has
been a change and that they may obtain one copy of the MRL from
management at no charge. This bill seeks to further inform
residents about the provisions of the MRL by (1) requiring a
(more)
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statutory summary to be included in each rental agreement, and
(2) requiring management to provide a copy of that summary to
all homeowners prior to February 1st of each year.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law , the Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL), contains nine
Articles that extensively regulate the rights, responsibilities,
obligations, and relationships between mobilehome park
owners/management and park residents. (Civ. Code Sec. 798 et
seq.)
Existing law requires the rental agreement to be in writing and
contain, in addition to the provisions required by law to be
included, all of the following:
the term of the tenancy and rent therefore;
the rules and regulations of the park;
a copy of the text of the MRL;
a provision specifying that it is the responsibility of
management to provide and maintain physical improvements in
common facilities, and, with respect to a sudden or
unforeseeable breakdown, the management shall have a
reasonable period of time to repair the breakdown;
a description of the physical improvements to be
provided to the homeowner during his or her tenancy;
a provision listing those services which will be
provided at the time the rental agreement is executed and
will continue to be offered for the term of tenancy; and
a provision stating that management may charge a
reasonable fee for services relating to maintenance, as
specified. (Civ. Code Sec. 798.15.)
This bill would additionally require the rental agreement to
contain a copy of the following statutory notice, which
management shall also, prior to February 1 of each year, provide
a copy to all homeowners:
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL MANUFACTURED HOME/MOBILEHOME OWNERS:
CALIFORNIA LAW REQUIRES THAT YOU BE MADE AWARE OF THE
FOLLOWING:
The Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL), found in Section 798 et
seq. of the Civil Code, establishes the rights and
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responsibilities of homeowners and park management. The MRL
is deemed a part of the terms of any park rental agreement
or lease. This law is subject to change. You may request a
current copy of the complete text of this law once per year
from the park management.
Homeowners and park management have certain rights and
responsibilities under the MRL. These include, but are not
limited to:
1. Management must give a homeowner written notice of any
increase in his or her rent at least 90 days before the date
of the increase. (Civil Code 798.30)
2. No rental or sales agreement may contain a provision by
which a purchaser or a homeowner waives any of his or her
rights under the MRL. (Civil Code Sections 798.19, 798.77)
3. Management may not terminate or refuse to renew a
homeowner's tenancy except for one or more of the authorized
reasons set forth in the MRL. (Civil Code Sections 798.55,
798.56)
4. A homeowner must give written notice to the management of
not less than 60 days before vacating his or her tenancy.
(Civil Code Section 798.59)
5. Homeowners, residents, and their guests must comply with
the rental agreement or lease, including the reasonable
rules and regulations of the park and all applicable local
ordinances and state laws and regulations relating to
mobilehomes. Failure to comply could be grounds for eviction
from the park. (Civil Code Section 798.56)
6. Homeowners must pay rent, utility charges, and reasonable
incidental service charges in a timely manner. Failure to
comply could be grounds for eviction from the park. (Civil
Code Section 798.56)
7. Homeowners have a right to peacefully assemble and freely
communicate with respect to mobilehome living and for social
or educational purposes. Homeowners have a right to meet in
the park, at reasonable hours and in a reasonable manner,
for any lawful purpose. Homeowners may not be charged a
cleaning deposit in order to use the park clubhouse for
meetings of resident organizations or for other lawful
purposes, such as to hear from political candidates, so long
as all park residents are allowed to attend. Homeowners may
not be required to obtain liability insurance in order to
use common facilities unless alcohol is served. (Civil Code
Sections 798.50, 798.51)
8. If a home complies with certain standards, the homeowner
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is entitled to sell it in place in the park. Management may
require certain upgrades. Management may not require a
homeowner to sell his or her home to the park, may not
charge a transfer or selling fee, and may not require a
homeowner to use a broker or dealer approved by the park. A
homeowner has a right to advertise his or her home for sale.
Management may deny approval of a buyer, but only for
certain reasons listed in the law. (Civil Code Sections
798.70-798.74)
9. Management has the right to enter the space upon which a
mobilehome is situated for maintenance of utilities, trees,
and driveways; for inspection and maintenance of the space
in accordance with the rules and regulations of the park
when the homeowner or resident fails to maintain the space;
and for protection and maintenance of the mobilehome park at
any reasonable time, but not in a manner or at a time that
would interfere with the resident's quiet enjoyment of his
or her home. (Civil Code Section 798.26)
10. A homeowner may not make any improvements or alterations
to his or her space or home without following the rules and
regulations of the park and all applicable local ordinances
and state laws and regulations, which may include obtaining
a permit to construct, and, if required by park rules or the
rental agreement, without prior written approval of
management. Failure to comply could be grounds for eviction
from the park. (Civil Code Section 798.56)
This bill would further provide that all notices required by
the Mobilehome Residency Law to be delivered prior to February
1 of each year may be combined in one notice that contains all
the information required by the sections under which the
notices are given.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
According to the author:
The �Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL)] is a lengthy and
complex document, and not all homeowners are likely to
familiarize themselves with it, until they have a specific
question. This bill would provide these homeowners with more
meaningful and practical information about their rights, and
the content of the MRL, while retaining their right to
obtain a full copy of the MRL upon request.
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2. Statutory summary of rights
For residents of mobilehome parks, the MRL is an important body
of statutory law that governs the resident's rights and
responsibilities within the park. To facilitate understanding of
that law, this bill would require park management to provide a
copy of a one-page summary of the rights and responsibilities of
both homeowners and park management. That summary must be
included in any rental agreement, and, must be provided to all
homeowners prior to February 1st of each year. That summary
would arguably inform homeowners of their general rights, and
include citations to the relevant code sections should an
individual seek to look up a specific right or responsibility.
The Western Center on Law & Poverty, in support, asserts that by
requiring a plain-language summary this bill represents an
improvement over existing law, and that:
The MRL itself represents a unique area of the law, where
the "bundle of property rights" is apportioned between the
park and residents in unique ways. Both residents and some
managers might be surprised to learn that some of the MRL's
provisions do not comport with their understanding of the
law. Your bill provides an additional benefit, since now in
most cases the MRL is only delivered to a resident upon
request. A party mistaken in their understanding of the law
might now think a copy of the MRL is needed. Your bill
solves the whole issue by requiring the notice to be
delivered once per year.
The Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association
(WMA), in an oppose unless amended position, requests
amendments to: (1) adopt a clause outlining the responsibility
of the homeowner to read the law; (2) delay implementation of
including the new notice in rental agreements until July 1,
2014; and (3) a technical correction to item 7 of the notice.
Staff notes that while it appears reasonable for the
homeowners to also be informed that they should read the
actual statute (not rely solely on a summary of the law), a
one and a half year delayed operative date would be a
substantial delay in the operation of this bill (WMA asserts
that the time is needed to ensure parks are aware and have an
adequate opportunity to prepare the materials). Accordingly,
the author proposes to accept WMA's amendments with respect to
outlining the homeowners responsibility to read the law, and
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the technical correction regarding use of the clubhouse.
Author's amendments :
1) On page 5, line 22, after the period insert:
This notice is intended to provide recipients with a
general awareness of selected parts of the Mobilehome
Residency Law (Civil Code Section 798, et seq.). This
notice is intended to acquaint recipients with the law,
and does not serve as a legal explanation or
interpretation. For authoritative information, the
recipient must read and understand the laws themselves.
These laws change from time to time. This notice is
required by Civil Code Section 798.15(i) and the
information provided may not be current.
2) On page 6, line 12 after "so long as" insert:
a homeowner of the park is hosting the meeting and
3. Consolidation in one notice
This bill would also permit all notices that are required by the
MRL to be delivered prior to February 1 of each year to be
combined into one notice. Staff notes that those notices
include the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) notice,
which informs homeowners and residents about assistance to
low-income persons for utility costs. (Civ. Code Sec.
798.43.1.)
4. Author's amendment to correct a drafting error
The author offers the following amendment to correct a drafting
error that inadvertently struck the requirement for management
to provide, upon request, a copy of the MRL to park residents.
That ability to provide the MRL upon request (as opposed to
mandatory distribution) was enacted by AB 2120 (Silva, Chapter
90, Statutes of 2010) and is referenced in the statutory notice
proposed by this bill. As a result, the following author's
amendment is necessary to restore that provision in order to
conform to the rights stated in the notice.
Author's amendment
On page 2, line 21 after the period, insert:
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Management shall do one of the following prior to
February 1 of each year, if a significant change was made
in this chapter by legislation enacted in the prior year:
(1) Provide all homeowners with a copy of this chapter.
(2) Provide written notice to all homeowners that there
has been a change to this chapter and that they may
obtain one copy of this chapter from management at no
charge. Management must provide a copy within a
reasonable time, not to exceed seven days upon request.
5. Technical amendment
The following technical amendment is also suggested:
Technical amendment:
On page 5, line 29 after Code insert: Section
Support : California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation; Western
Center on Law & Poverty
Opposition : Western Manufactured Housing Communities
Association
HISTORY
Source : Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation : AB 2120 (Silva, Chapter 90, Statutes of
2010) See Comment 4.
Prior Vote :
Assembly Housing & Community Development Committee (Ayes 6, Noes
0)
Assembly Floor (Ayes 68, Noes 2)
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