Under the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act (MHLTA), within 14 days after the date on which any advertisement, multiple listing, or public notice advertises that a manufactured/mobile home community (MHC) is for sale, a landlord must provide a written notice of sale of an MHC by certified mail or personal delivery to:
The notice must include a statement that the landlord intends to sell the MHC and the contact information of the landlord or landlord's agent who is responsible for communicating with a qualified tenant organization or eligible organization regarding the sale of the property.
A landlord intending to sell an MHC is encouraged to negotiate in good faith with qualified tenant organizations and eligible organizations, such as local governments, local housing authorities, nonprofit community organizations, tribes, and nonprofit housing assistance organizations.
Notice of Opportunity to Purchase.
In addition to requirements related to the notice of sale, a landlord must provide a written notice of opportunity to purchase a mobile home community (MHC) to each tenant, the Department of Commerce (Commerce), and the Housing Finance Commission by certified mail or personal delivery within 14 days after the date any advertisement, listing, or public notice is first made that the MHC, or property on which it sits, is for sale or lease.
A notice of opportunity to purchase must include:
If written notice of intent expressing intent to consider purchase or lease of the MHC from the qualified tenant organization or eligible organization is provided to the landlord within 45 days, the landlord must wait 90 days before making a final unconditional acceptance of an offer to purchase or lease the MHC from a person or entity other than the qualified tenant organization or eligible organization. If the notice of intent is not provided to the landlord within 45 days, the landlord is not subject to the 90-day waiting period.
A qualified tenant organization or eligible organization's written notice of intent to the landlord must identify two people representing the tenant organization or eligible organization and the following:
The interested organization may also request on the notice certain property documents to determine an offer price.
Notice of opportunity to purchase is not required with respect to a sale or lease of an MHC or the property on which it sits if the transaction is:
A landlord is required, rather than encouraged, to negotiate in good faith with qualified tenant organizations and eligible organizations when selling or leasing an MHC or the property on which it sits. Likewise, qualified tenant organizations and eligible organizations that submit a notice of intent to purchase or lease an MHC or the property on which it sits must negotiate in good faith with the landlord. Eligible organizations are expanded to include community land trusts and resident nonprofit cooperatives.
Commerce must maintain a registry of all eligible organizations submitting a written request to receive notices of opportunity to purchase or lease an MHC, including the name and mailing address of the eligible organization and a statement the organization wishes to purchase or lease the MHC. Commerce must provide the eligible organizations with such notices received from landlords, as well as provide copies of the registry upon request.
A landlord who sells or leases an MHC and willfully fails to comply with the notice, waiting period, or good faith negotiation requirements is liable to the state for a civil penalty of $10,000. The Attorney General may bring a civil action in the name of the state against the landlord.
The substitute bill requires the qualified tenant organization or eligible organization to provide written notice of intent to the landlord when considering purchasing or leasing the manufactured/mobile home community. There are new requirements that the written notice identify two representatives of the organization and their contact information.
(In support) This bill will help residents who live in manufactured/mobile home parks. It allows nonprofit organizations to partner with residents to purchase the property. It is catastrophic when tenants are asked to leave their community. This bill gives the opportunity to tenants to purchase the park when the landlord wants to retire or move on, and the landlord will get a fair market price. More than 20 parks closed in the early 2000s. This bill will help preserve home ownership.
From the perspective of a park resident, more homeowners would love to be able to purchase a park. This bill has incentives that are a great start. The penalty should be increased to $100,000 if a park owner sells without providing notice as described in this bill. This bill makes it easier for homeowners to organize and join with organizations to purchase communities. The bill allows nonprofit organizations the first opportunity to make an offer to purchase a community and to organize together.
(Opposed) The 45-day and 90-day waiting requirements create problems for the transfer of the property. These requirements are burdensome to the park owner who wishes to sell the community. This bill will hurt the industry and stops the transfer of property. This bill disincentives potential park owners from purchasing properties. The language in this bill is vague for the notice of intent requirement. This bill will create a false alarm when a park is being sold but is not closing.
This bill hurts affordable housing. It unfairly discriminates against one type of housing. There is no definition of what constitutes a "bona fide offer." The waiting periods in the bill will interfere with having a good faith buyer who is ready to move forward with a purchase. The good faith negotiation requirement is problematic because that is a subjective standard and it would be open to litigation.
(Other) It is unclear if the intention was for the funding for the Department of Commerce to come from the general fund. If not, there should be an amendment.
The second substitute sets out the form by which the notice of opportunity to purchase must be substantially provided, and requires that the notice must include a signed, notarized affidavit affirming the accuracy of the advertised or listed selling price of the manufactured/mobile home community.
(In support) Manufactured homes are a valuable source of affordable housing as an alternative to traditional homeownership. Under current state policy, nonprofits and housing authorities can assist in preserving manufactured home and mobile parks and preventing their closure. In doing so, tenants receive assistance in purchasing the land under their homes. The policies proposed in the bill would give organizations and tenants time to intervene before a park is sold and potentially closes. The bill would help preserve affordable housing for current and future tenants. The bill will have little impact on most landlords of manufactured and mobile home parks. The only landlords who will be impacted are those who intend to sell their parks.
(Opposed) The bill would make selling and purchasing property more difficult for current and future manufactured home park owners and would effectively take property rights from park owners without compensation. The sale of a manufactured home park does not mean the park will be closed. Most potential park purchasers have very tight timelines in which to complete a sale due to concerns regarding capital gain taxes. The length of time during which a group of tenant organizations or other organizations may prevent a sale from moving forward is excessive. There is a risk that multiple groups could file notices of intent in succession, which could then further delay the process. If sales are delayed, this will deter potential purchasers, especially those with more capital to invest in the park. Many parks have many years of deferred maintenance and will require significant capital investment to complete infrastructure updates. Park residents may lack the knowledge and capital to deal with that maintenance.
Park owners would prefer a process that relies on incentivizing working voluntarily with park residents on transferring land, rather than punishing owners. The proposed penalties for park owners are discriminatory compared to other real estate transactions. Current law already allows for residents to purchase park land, and this has taken place multiple times. The bill would create a new process that is not based on data.
(Other) The Department of Commerce (Commerce) currently facilitates the preservation of affordable housing, including providing relocation assistance to residents of manufactured and mobile homes. The new duties created in the bill would align with Commerce's current work. Commerce would require general fund resources to meet the requirements of the bill, as it would not be an allowable use of the Mobile Home Park Relocation Account.