HOUSE BILL REPORT
SB 5076
BYSenators Bluechel and Warnke
Establishing a commission on mobile home rental space availability.
House Committe on Housing
Majority Report: Do pass with amendment. (6)
Signed by Representatives Nutley, Chair; Armstrong, Barnes, Sanders, Todd and J. Williams.
House Staff:Kenny Pittman (786-7392)
AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING APRIL 1, 1987
BACKGROUND:
The cost of renting mobile home park spaces has risen rapidly in recent years. Since a high percentage of these spaces are rented by senior citizens who have relatively low and fixed incomes, financial hardship has resulted.
SUMMARY:
BILL AS AMENDED: This measure establishes the Task Force on Mobile Home Rental Space Availability. The task force consists of twelve members appointed by the legislature and representative organizations. Task force composition consists of four legislative members, and two representatives each from cities, counties, the mobile home park owners and mobile home owners.
The task force shall conduct a comprehensive examination of the issue of mobile home space availability. In conducting its examination the task force will review data on the extent of rent increases on mobile home rental spaces, review local government regulations, including land use, for its impact on space availability, utilize existing data and expertise to the fullest extent possible and consult with other groups as it considers necessary.
The task force shall make recommendations, based on its examination, on policies to address the issue of mobile home rental space availability, and on the appropriate roles of state and local government and private sector on the issue of mobile home rental space availability.
The task force shall also develop a data base on mobile home rental space availability and affordability on a state-wide basis.
The Department of Community Development will provide administrative and clerical assistance to the task force as it carries out its duties.
The efforts of the task force will be coordinated with housing studies being conducted by the department. The preliminary report of the task force shall be submitted to the Housing Committee of the House of Representatives and the Commerce and Labor Committee of the Senate December 31, 1987 and the final report by December 31, 1988.
AMENDED BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL: The name of the commission on mobile home rental space availability is changed to the Task Force on Mobile Home Rental Space Availability.
The legislative membership on the task force is reduced from eight to four.
The Department of Community Development will provide administrative and clerical assistance to the task force as it carries out its duties.
The submittal of the preliminary report was changed from July 1, 1988 to December 31, 1987 and the final report changed from July 1, 1989 to December 31, 1988
The preliminary and final reports prepared by the task force will be made to the legislative committees instead of the legislature.
Fiscal Note: Requested April 1, 1987.
House Committee ‑ Testified For: Senator Alan Bluechel; D. W. Pedersen, Mobile Home Owners Association of America; John H. Lewis; Mobile Home Owners of America; Robert W. Gillis, Mobile Home Owners of America; Grace A. Brown; Sylvia Veal; Tiny Thronson; Jack Wheeler; Jan Johns, Mobile Home Owners of America; and Mel Gaumer, Mobile Home Owners of America.
House Committee - Testified Against: Stephen J. Kolcsey, Washington Mobile Park Owners Association.
House Committee - Testimony For: The rents in mobile home parks are increasing on a yearly basis. These increases seem excessive and hurt the tenants, particularly those on fixed incomes. Unlike the apartment renter who can move to a unit charging lower rents, moving the mobile home to another mobile home park is quite expensive ($2,000 to $5,000). This commission is needed to study the problem of inadequate mobile home rental spaces and increasing rents. The commission can then make recommendations on methods to address these problems.
House Committee - Testimony Against: There is no documentation of the problems being discussed. The establishment of a commission would be a duplication of the duties of the ombudsman that has been proposed. The ombudsman approach is the best vehicle to solve problems between mobile home park owners and tenants.