Brief Summary of Bill

Authorizes manufactured/mobile home park tenants seeking relocation assistance from the Mobile and Manufactured Home Relocation Assistance Program (Relocation Assistance Program) to receive other funding for relocation purposes without reducing their eligibility for relocation assistance funds.
Requires that a manufactured/mobile home park tenant's combined relocation assistance from the Relocation Assistance Program and other sources not exceed the tenant's actual relocation expenses.
Authorizes qualifying manufactured/mobile home park tenants to use Relocation Assistance Program funds to secure housing that is not a manufactured home.

Background: The Office of Mobile/Manufactured Home Relocation Assistance (Office), in the Department of Commerce (Commerce), provides general assistance to mobile and manufactured home resident organizations, tenant organizations, and mobile and manufactured home community owners.

The Office provides financial assistance for displaced manufactured/mobile homeowners under the Relocation Assistance Program when mobile home parks close. The financial assistance is provided on a first-come, first-served basis to low-income persons owning mobile homes 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 be eligible for relocation assistance:

the tenant must reside in the mobile home park at the time a closure notice is issued;
the tenant's household income must be no more than 80 percent of the median family income for the county where the mobile or manufactured home is located; and
the tenant must maintain ownership and either relocate the home or demolish or dispose of it if it cannot be relocated.

Eligible mobile homeowners or tenants may receive reimbursement of relocation expenses up to $12,000 for a multi-section home and $7,500 for a single-section home. The Relocation Assistance Program is funded by a $100 fee on the issuance of a certificate of title for manufactured/mobile homes, which is deposited into the Mobile Home Park Relocation Fund.

If a person receives any payments for relocation, outside of funds provided by the Relocation Assistance Program, the funds from the Relocation Assistance Program are reduced by the amount of outside funding received. If the amount of assistance received from an outside source exceeds the maximum amount of assistance a person is eligible for under the Relocation Assistance Program, the person is not eligible for Relocation Assistance Program funds.

Summary of Bill: The definition of relocate is expanded to provide tenants the ability to use Relocation Assistance Program funds to secure other housing when their manufactured/mobile home has been demolished and disposed of.

Relocation assistance is no longer reduced by the amount of outside funding received, and recipients are not disqualified if they receive outside funding that exceeds the amount of relocation assistance for which they are eligible. However, a tenant's combined relocation assistance funds may not exceed the tenant's actual relocation expenses.

The Mobile Home Park Relocation Fund is renamed the Manufactured/Mobile Home Park Relocation Fund, and Commerce may use money from the fund for administrative expenses.

Relocation assistance application requirements are modified, including eliminating different application processes for different types of applicants.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony: PRO: The bill recognizes the unique challenges that owners of mobile and manufactured homes sometimes face. The bill provides more relocation options to tenants facing park closures, thereby easing the burden to those tenants. Relocation assistance can now be used as a down payment or rent on an apartment, providing more flexibility and options when tenants are looking for another place to live when a mobile home park closes. Tenants no longer have to buy a new manufactured/mobile home or move the existing home. We know that low-income housing is scarce enough and with housing prices continuing to rise around the state, this seems like a simple solution.