AN ACT Relating to mobile home landlord-tenant relations; amending RCW 46.44.170; and adding new sections to chapter 59.20 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. Section 2, chapter 22, Laws of 1977 ex. sess. as amended by section 1, chapter 152, Laws of 1980 and RCW 46.44.170 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Any person moving a mobile home as defined in RCW 46.04.302 upon public highways of the state must obtain a special permit from the department of transportation and local authorities pursuant to RCW 46.44.090 and 46.44.093 and shall pay the proper fee as prescribed by RCW 46.44.0941 and 46.44.096.

(2) A special permit issued as provided in subsection (1) of this section for the movement of any mobile home shall not be valid until the county treasurer of the county in which the mobile home is located shall endorse or attach thereto his certificate that all property taxes due upon the mobile home being moved have been satisfied: PROVIDED, That endorsement or certification by the county treasurer is not required when a mobile home is to enter the state, is being moved to safe storage under the provisions of section 3 of this 1985 act, or is being moved from a manufacturer or distributor to a retail sales outlet or directly to the purchaser's designated location or between retail and sales outlets. It shall be the responsibility of the owner of the mobile home or his agent to obtain such endorsement from the county treasurer.

(3) Nothing herein should be construed as prohibiting the issuance of vehicle license plates for a mobile home, but no such plates shall be issued unless the mobile home for which such plates are sought has been listed for property tax purposes in the county in which it is principally located and the appropriate fee for such license has been paid.

(4) The department of transportation and local authorities are authorized to adopt reasonable rules for implementing the provisions of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) If a tenant defaults in rent but the landlord is not certain whether the tenant intends to continue tenancy, the landlord may safely assume the tenancy is abandoned if both of the following are done subsequent to default:

(a) The landlord gives written notice to a law enforcement officer that the landlord believes a mobile home is abandoned, stating the reasons for that belief. The law enforcement officer shall obtain the last known names and addresses of registered and legal owners of the mobile home as the names and addresses appear on the records of the department of licensing, and shall supply the information to the landlord without charge; and

(b) The landlord sends by first class and certified mail, return receipt requested, a notice of intent to declare the abandonment to the last known address of the tenant, and registered owner of the mobile home, if different, and no reply is received within four weeks of the mailing of the notice. This notice shall state that if no reply is received within four weeks that the landlord shall determine the tenancy, mobile home, or any other property of the tenant abandoned and subject to sale.

(2) Removal of the mobile home by the tenant, along with default in rent, shall be sufficient to indicate a tenant's intention not to continue tenancy, unless the landlord has actual knowledge of the tenant's contrary intention.

(3) This section is intended to provide landlords assurance that a determination of abandonment is proper in the circumstances, and is not intended to be exclusive or in any way limit the circumstances which may reasonably indicate a tenant's intention not to continue tenancy.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Upon abandonment, the landlord may immediately enter and take possession of any property of the tenant found on the premises and remove the same to and store the same in a reasonably secure place.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Every person performing labor, furnishing material, or renting, leasing, or otherwise supplying equipment to take possession of, move, store and safeguard property which has been abandoned by a tenant has a lien upon the same for the labor performed, material furnished, or equipment furnished. No notice of such lien is required. Foreclosure shall be by the sale provisions of sections 5 through 7 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) A notice must be mailed by the landlord by first class and certified mail, return receipt requested, within three days after taking possession of the tenant's property to the last known address of the tenant and to the last known addresses of the registered and legal owners supplied to the landlord by the law enforcement officer, if different.

(2) The notice shall state:

(a) The tenant's name and owner's name if different;

(b) That the landlord is holding in safe storage property of the tenant;

(d) The location of the property;

(e) The name and address of the landlord;

(f) That, if the tenant does not reclaim the tenant's property within sixty days after the specified date of default in rent or thirty days after the date this notice is sent, whichever is later, the landlord intends to sell the property stored and apply the proceeds as specified in section 7 of this act; and

(g) The conditions on which the tenant or secured party could reclaim the property as specified in section 7 of this act, with the amounts set out as much as is reasonably practical.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) The landlord may sell or otherwise dispose of any or all of the property taken possession of and stored by the landlord after the latest of the following:

(a) Sixty days from the default in rent;

(b) Thirty days after mailing of the notice prescribed in section 8 of this act;

(d) Ten days' notice to any secured creditors of the tenant known to the landlord to have security interests in the tenant's property stored by the landlord or discoverable by an information request under RCW 62A.9-407 sent to the department of licensing.

(2) Reasonable efforts to locate the tenants may include, but are not required to include nor limited to including, requesting the whereabouts of the tenants from the tenant's neighbors, known friends, known relatives, and secured creditors known to the landlord or discoverable by an information request under RCW 62A.9-407 sent to the department of licensing.

(3) The property may be sold in its condition "as is" or following any commercially reasonable preparation for sale. Disposition of the property may be by public or private proceedings and may be as a unit or in parcels and at any time and place and on any terms, but every aspect of the disposition including the method, manner, time, place, and terms must be commercially reasonable. Unless the property is a type customarily sold in a recognized market, reasonable notification of the time and place of any public sale or of the time after which any private sale or other intended disposition is to be made shall be sent by the landlord to the tenant if the tenant has replied to the notice sent required in section 2 of this act, and to any person who has a security interest in the property and who has duly filed a financial statement indexed in the name of the tenant in this state, or who is known by the landlord to have a security interest in the tenant's property stored by the landlord. The landlord may buy at any public sale and, if the property is of a type customarily sold in a recognized market or is of a type which is the subject of widely distributed standard price quotations, the landlord may buy at private sale.

(4) The fact that a better price could have been obtained by a sale at a different time or in a different method from that selected by the landlord is not of itself sufficient to establish that the sale was not made in a commercially reasonable manner. If the landlord either sells the property in the usual manner in any recognized market therefor or if the landlord sells at the price current in such market at the time of the sale or if the landlord has otherwise sold in conformity with reasonable commercial practices among dealers in the type of property sold, the landlord has sold in a commercially reasonable manner. The principles stated in the two preceding sentences with respect to sales also apply as may be appropriate to other types of disposition.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Any proceeds from the sale may be applied in the following order:

(1) Any unpaid rent or charges specified in the rental agreement accrued up to the date of redemption; and

(2) The reasonable costs of taking possession, moving, storing, safeguarding, preparing the property for sale, the costs of arranging the sale and selling the tenant's property plus reasonable attorneys' fees and legal expenses incurred taking such actions.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. If a tenant abandons a tenancy, the landlord shall make a reasonable effort to mitigate the damages resulting from the abandonment and if such reasonable effort is made, is entitled to the following from the tenant:

(1) When the tenancy is month-to-month, the rent for the thirty days following the earlier of the date the landlord learns of the abandonment or the date the regular monthly rental payment was due, but was unpaid;

(2) When the tenancy is for a term longer than month-to-month, the rent for the remainder of the term, minus all rent received from the rerental of the lot at a fair rental if there were no other comparable lots vacant elsewhere in the mobile home park, plus all actual costs reasonably incurred by the landlord in rerenting the premises;

(3) For any length term, the reasonable costs of taking possession, moving, storing, safeguarding, preparing the property for sale, the costs of arranging the sale, plus reasonable attorneys' fees and legal expenses incurred taking such actions if not otherwise reimbursed by the provisions of section 7 of this act;

(4) Any other unpaid rent or charges specified in the rental agreement; and

(5) Any damages to the landlord's property caused by the tenant.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The remedies specified in sections 2 through 8 of this act are not exclusive and the parties retain the rights to all other actions or remedies otherwise specified in this chapter. If a mobile home park landlord sells a tenant's property as permitted by this chapter and the proceeds from the sale of those goods are insufficient to pay the landlord all that the tenant owes to the landlord, the tenant shall remain liable for the remainder owed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. If it is established that the landlord is not proceeding in accordance with the provisions of sections 5 through 7 of this act, disposition may be ordered or restrained on appropriate terms and conditions. If the disposition has occurred in violation of this chapter, the tenant or any person entitled to notice has a right to recover from the landlord any loss caused by a failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Any tenant injured by a violation of RCW 59.20.070, 59.20.130, or the provisions of the applicable rental agreement may bring an action in superior court, or to district court to have the court enjoin further violation, to recover actual damages sustained, or both, together with costs of suit including reasonable attorneys' fees. A claimant entitled to recover in an action brought under this section having proven as the basis of his or her claim a violation of the applicable rental agreement shall be awarded the greater of actual damages sustained or one hundred dollars, together with costs of suit including reasonable attorneys' fees. A claimant entitled to recover under this section having proven as the basis of his or her claim a violation of RCW 59.20.130 (1) through (5) shall be awarded the greater of actual damages sustained or one thousand dollars, together with costs of suit including reasonable attorneys' fees.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. (1) There is hereby established within the department of licensing the mobile home mediation office, which shall consist of a director and a sufficient number of qualified mediators and arbitrators and support staff to carry out the duties assigned to it by this chapter.

(2) Mediation prescribed by RCW 59.20.080 shall be conducted by the mobile home mediation office.

(3) Any other dispute arising from rights or duties created by this chapter may be mediated by the mobile home mediation office if the parties agree. The mediation shall not be binding unless the parties agree otherwise in writing. Where the parties have not agreed to be bound by the mediation or arbitration, a party is not foreclosed from seeking any available judicial remedy.

(4) The mobile home mediation office shall charge no fee to the parties for its service.

(5) The mobile home mediation office shall promulgate rules of procedures to govern its proceedings.

(6) The director of the mobile home mediation office shall have authority to issue subpoenas commanding the production of the books and records of any party if the mediator or arbitrator determines that such information is necessary to effect the resolution of the dispute. Any information acquired by subpoena shall be for the use of the mobile home mediation office only and shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter 42.17 RCW.

(7) If a party refuses to mediate any dispute upon the proper request of the other party, the party so refusing shall not be entitled to recover attorneys' fees in any action based on the same dispute.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. There is hereby created a special fund to be maintained by the state treasurer known as the mobile home trust fund. Proceeds of this fund shall be disbursed to the department of licensing to defray the cost of the operation and maintenance of the mobile home mediation office established by section 12 of this act, as appropriated by the legislature.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. Each mobile home park owner shall pay to the state treasurer on or before June 30 of each year an annual fee of one dollar for each mobile home space within any mobile home park he or she owns. If the fee is not paid by June 30, the mobile home park owner shall be assessed a penalty of ten percent of the amount due if the fee is paid by July 31. If the fee is not paid by July 31 the penalty assessed shall be twenty percent of the amount then due, and the penalty shall similarly increase by ten percent of the total amount due each month the assessment remains unpaid.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. Sections 2 through 14 of this act are each added to chapter 59.20 RCW.