California Mobile Home Lease Laws
As of 2008, California was home to more than 4,700 mobile home parks and communities which housed approximately 700,000 residents, according to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). A mobile home lease involves an oral or written agreement for the use, possession and occupation of a mobile home in exchange for rent, according to California Civil Code.
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Mobilehome Residency Law Enforcement
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California's Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) was enacted in 1978. It is the mobile home and manufactured housing community's version of the state's landlord-tenant law, which sets forth provisions for lease practices of the land on which a mobile home owner will lease. MRL can only be enforced by the courts. Tenants (the homeowner) and landlords (park owners) must sue the opposite party in order to evict, seek enforcement or remedy violations of the MRL. The State Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD) does not have the authority to do so, according to the California State Senate's Committee on Manufactured Homes and Communities.
Terms and Length of Lease
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According to the MRL, the rental agreement must establish the lease terms either as a 12-month period, or a lesser or longer period, as long as both parties mutually agree. A month-to month lease may not differ from a 12-month or longer lease in terms of the rental amount, utility services or other reasonable services provided by the landlord, says the MRL. Lease agreements for 12 months or more may not include provisions for automatic extension or renewal of the agreement once the initial lease period has ended. In addition, no lease agreement may include a clause that waives any provisions of the MRL. Such a clause is considered void.
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Rent Control
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In California, there are more than 90 jurisdictions with mobile home park rent stabilization ordinances, also known as rent control. According to a report conducted at the University of Southern California (USC) which studied seven counties, rent-controlled mobile home parks have higher resale values. Tenants renting a mobile home from the homeowner are not governed by the MRL, says the Office of Fair Housing of Sonoma County. Instead, they must abide by California landlord and tenant-law, which governs single family houses, apartment and condominium leases. A rent-control ordinance limits the amount of a rent increase and limits the landlord's (homeowner's) legal reasons for eviction. No lease agreement can supersede rent control rules.
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References
- Photo Credit Camping â€" Mobilhome image by albillottet from Fotolia.com
