Office of Mobile and Manufactured Home Relocation Assistance.
The Office of Mobile and Manufactured Home Relocation Assistance (Office), in the Department of Commerce (Department), provides general assistance to mobile and manufactured home resident organizations, tenant organizations, and community owners.  Among its duties, the Office provides technical assistance to tenants who are participating in the conversion of a mobile home park to resident ownership and provides financial assistance to homeowners under the Mobile Home Relocation Assistance Program (Program) when mobile home parks close.

Mobile Home Relocation Assistance Program.
The Program provides monetary assistance on a first-come, first-served basis to low-income persons owning mobile homes located in mobile home parks that are scheduled for closure or conversion to another use.  Tenants residing in parks that are closed because of park owner fraud or health and safety concerns are given priority to available funds.  Payments are made by the Office upon verification of eligibility and subject to the availability of funds.  To be eligible for relocation assistance:

• the tenant must reside in the mobile home park at the time a closure notice is issued; and
• the tenant's household income must be no greater than 80 percent of the median family income for the county where the mobile or manufactured home is located.

Eligible tenants may receive financial assistance up to $17,000 for a multisection home and $11,000 for a single-section home, which is distributed in two payments.  An initial payment of up to $12,000 for a multisection home and up to $8,000 for a single-section home may be used to relocate the home or secure alternative housing.  To receive the remainder of the assistance, tenants are required, within 90 days of receiving the initial cash assistance, to:

• transfer title of the manufactured/mobile home to the park owner;
• relocate the home; or
• demolish and dispose of the home.

If the tenant does not relocate or demolish and dispose of the home within 90 days of receiving assistance, the park owner may seek reimbursement from the Relocation Assistance Fund for costs incurred for demolition and disposal of the home in the amount of $4,000 for a multisection home and $2,500 for a single-section home.

If a tenant receives relocation assistance from a source other than the Program, the assistance provided under the Program must be reduced to ensure no tenant receives, from all sources combined, more than the maximum amounts of assistance to which they are entitled under the Program. 

The time period in which tenants have to transfer title to the park owner, relocate the home, or demolish and dispose of the home to receive the remainder of the eligible assistance is extended from within 90 days of the tenant receiving the initial cash assistance to until the park closure date.  Tenants who remove their home on or before the park closure date and reinstall the home in another location within 12 months after the closure date are also eligible to receive the remainder of the eligible assistance.

The definition of relocate is expanded to include removing a manufactured/mobile home from a manufactured/mobile home park being closed by selling or gifting the home to a third party and securing other housing.  Under the new definition, a third party means a person or persons who purchase or are gifted a tenants home, with the condition that they are responsible for removing the home on or prior to the park closure date and relocating the home either by removing it and reinstalling it in another location, or removing it by demolishing and disposing of it.  Third parties are not entitled to relocation assistance related to relocation of the purchased or gifted home.

A tenant receiving compensation from a landlord upon termination of a tenancy for change of use of the mobile home park is still eligible to receive the maximum amount of assistance through the Program.

(In support) Relocation assistance is to help people who have invested in homes located in a mobile home park.  These homeowners cannot always maintain their investment when a park is closed.  The current timing of the Relocation Assistance Program does not allow tenants to take full advantage of the program.  A 90-day deadline is just too difficult for tenants to meet, particularly if they are removing and reinstalling their home.  Providing financial assistance is one way to help people maintain their investment and prevent homelessness.

(Opposed) None.