BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1421|
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 1421
Author: Correa (D)
Amended: 4/25/12
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/26/12
AYES: Evans, Harman, Corbett, Leno
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee
SUBJECT : Mobilehomes: resident-owned mobilehome parks
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes two clarifying changes to the
Mobilehome Residency Law related to parcel maps and rental
agreements.
ANALYSIS : 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. Articles 1-8 deal with legal rights and
remedies related to the leasing of space by tenants;
Article 9 contains provisions that apply to resident owned
parks. (Civil Code �CIV] Section 789 et seq.)
Existing law provides that in a subdivision, cooperative,
or condominium for mobilehomes, or a resident-owned
mobilehome park, Articles 1-8 of the MRL apply only to
residents who do not have an ownership interest in the
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subdivision, cooperative, or condominium for mobilehomes,
or the resident-owned park in which his/her mobilehome is
located or installed. (CIV Sec. 799.1(a).)
Existing law provides that in a mobilehome park owned and
operated by a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation whose
members consist of park residents where there is no
recorded condominium plan, tract, parcel map, or
declaration, Article 1-8 of the MRL shall govern the rights
of members who are residents that have a rental agreement
with the corporation. (CIV Sec. 799.1(b).)
This bill strikes the reference to "parcel map" in the
above subdivision, thereby removing the requirement for
there to be no recorded parcel map.
This bill, in that same subdivision, replaces "residents
who have a rental agreement" with "residents that rent
their space."
Background
Clarifying amendments . The provisions of the MRL are
separated into nine different articles - the first eight
deal with residents who rent their space from the park,
including requirements regarding the rental agreement,
rules and regulations, fees, utilities, rent control,
homeowner communications and meeting, termination of
tenancy, and transfer of mobilehomes. Article 9 (the last
article) applies to residents who have an ownership
interest in a subdivision, cooperative, or condominium for
mobilehomes, or a resident-owned mobilehome park. Although
SB 1047 (Correa), Chapter 17, Statutes of 2011, (this bill
passed the Senate on Consent, 33-0) clarifies that in a
mobilehome park owned and operated by a nonprofit mutual
corporation whose members consist of park residents and
there is no recorded condominium plan, tract, parcel map,
or declaration, Articles 1-8 shall govern the rights of
members who are residents that have a rental agreement with
the corporation.
In response to recent concerns, this bill makes two
clarifying changes to that provision: (1) strikes the
reference to parcel map; and (2) replaces the reference to
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rental agreement with residents that rent their space.
Those changes seek to preserve the original intent of SB
1047.
Enacted in 1978, the 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.
Over the past twenty years, residents have been
increasingly interested in various ways to purchase their
parks and the space upon which the home is installed. One
method of purchasing a park - the nonprofit mutual benefit
corporation (the subject of this bill) - is described by
the Department of Real Estate as follows:
Park residents need a legal entity to purchase their
park. A nonprofit mutual benefit corporation is well
suited to this purpose. In general, the nonprofit
corporation makes an offer of participation to the
residents. Residents who decided to participate become
shareholders or members of the corporation. As
residents purchase shares or memberships in the
corporation, cash is accumulated for the down payment
required to purchase the park. The officers of the
corporation, elected by the members and acting on their
behalf, negotiate with the seller to purchase the park
and solve problems relating to conversion. After
conversion, the corporation may manage the park.
To deal with the various facets of mobilehome parks and
manufactured housing communities, the MRL is divided into
nine different Articles. Articles 1-8 of the MRL deal with
legal rights and remedies for mobilehome parks which rent
space to residents. Article 9 of the MRL generally deals
with the legal rights and remedies of resident owned
mobilehome parks. To address concerns that residents who
have shares in a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation but
lease their space from that corporation should be subject
to the provisions of the MRL that deal with tenants, SB
1047 (Correa) clarifies that Articles 1-8, but not Article
9, of the MRL apply in that circumstance. This bill makes
two technical changes to the subdivision enacted by SB 1047
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in order to address issues that arose since enactment.
Comments
According to the author, "A simple, clean-up amendment to
SB 1047 (Correa, Chap. 17, Stats. 2011) is needed to
protect the rights of residents who have an ownership
interest in a resident owned park (ROP), or subdivision or
condominium. Civil Code 799.1(b), as it is currently
written, unintentionally allows all ROPs to be treated as
subdivided parks. The amendment proposed in SB 1421 would
restore the original intent of the law."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
RJG:do 6/28/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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