S-4076

AN ACT Relating to investigation, mediation, and arbitration of disputed violations of the manufactured/mobile home landlord-tenant act; amending RCW 59.22.010, 59.22.020, 59.22.050, and 59.20.200; adding new sections to chapter 59.22 RCW; prescribing penalties; and making an appropriation.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 59.22.010 and 1995 c 399 s 154 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The legislature finds:

(a) That manufactured housing and mobile home parks provide a source of low-cost housing to the low income, elderly, poor, and ((~~infirmed~~)) infirm, without which they could not afford private housing; but rising costs of mobile home park development and operation, as well as turnover in ownership, ((~~has~~)) have resulted in mobile home park living becoming unaffordable to the low income, elderly, poor, and ((~~infirmed~~)) infirm, resulting in increased numbers of homeless persons, and persons who must look to public housing and public programs, increasing the burden on the state to meet the housing needs of its residents;

(b) That taking legal action against a landlord or tenant for violations of this chapter can be a costly and lengthy process, and that many people cannot afford to pursue this process;

(c) That state government can play a vital role in addressing the problems confronted by mobile home park residents by providing assistance which makes it possible for mobile home park residents to acquire the mobile home parks in which they reside and convert them to resident ownership and by providing assistance which makes it possible for manufactured/mobile home tenants and landlords to resolve disputes in a less costly manner; and

((~~(c)~~)) (d) That to accomplish ((~~this~~)) these purposes, information and technical support shall be made available through the department.

(2) Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature((,)):

(a) In order to maintain low-cost housing in mobile home parks to benefit the low income, elderly, poor, and ((~~infirmed~~)) infirm, to encourage and facilitate the conversion of mobile home parks to resident ownership, to protect low-income mobile home park residents from both physical and economic displacement, to obtain a high level of private financing for mobile home park conversions, and to help establish acceptance for resident-owned mobile home parks in the private market; and

(b) In order to provide a less costly and lengthy way for manufactured/mobile home tenants to resolve disputes, to authorize the office of manufactured housing to establish a program to resolve disputed violations of this chapter through mediation and arbitration.

Sec. 2. RCW 59.22.020 and 1995 c 399 s 155 are each amended to read as follows:

The following definitions shall apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(1) "Account" means the mobile home affairs account created under RCW 59.22.070.

(2) "Affordable" means that, where feasible, low-income residents should not pay more than thirty percent of their monthly income for housing costs.

(3) "Conversion costs" includes the cost of acquiring the mobile home park, the costs of planning and processing the conversion, the costs of any needed repairs or rehabilitation, and any expenditures required by a government agency or lender for the project.

(4) "Department" means the department of community, trade, and economic development.

(5) "Fee" means the mobile home title transfer fee imposed under RCW 59.22.080.

(6) "Fund" or "park purchase account" means the mobile home park purchase account created pursuant to RCW 59.22.030.

(7) "Housing costs" means the total cost of owning, occupying, and maintaining a mobile home and a lot or space in a mobile home park.

(8) "Individual interest in a mobile home park" means any interest which is fee ownership or a lesser interest which entitles the holder to occupy a lot or space in a mobile home park for a period of not less than either fifteen years or the life of the holder. Individual interests in a mobile home park include, but are not limited to, the following:

(a) Ownership of a lot or space in a mobile home park or subdivision;

(b) A membership or shares in a stock cooperative, or a limited equity housing cooperative; or

(c) Membership in a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation which owns, operates, or owns and operates the mobile home park.

(9) "Low-income resident" means an individual or household who resided in the mobile home park prior to application for a loan pursuant to this chapter and with an annual income at or below eighty percent of the median income for the county of standard metropolitan statistical area of residence. Net worth shall be considered in the calculation of income with the exception of the resident's mobile/manufactured home which is used as their primary residence.

(10) "Low-income spaces" means those spaces in a mobile home park operated by a resident organization which are occupied by low-income residents.

(11) "Mobile home park" means a mobile home park, as defined in RCW 59.20.030((~~(4)~~)) (6), or a manufactured home park subdivision as defined by RCW 59.20.030((~~(6)~~)) (8) created by the conversion to resident ownership of a mobile home park.

(12) "Resident organization" means a group of mobile home park residents who have formed a nonprofit corporation, cooperative corporation, or other entity or organization for the purpose of acquiring the mobile home park in which they reside and converting the mobile home park to resident ownership. The membership of a resident organization shall include at least two-thirds of the households residing in the mobile home park at the time of application for assistance from the department.

(13) "Resident ownership" means, depending on the context, either the ownership, by a resident organization, as defined in this section, of an interest in a mobile home park which entitles the resident organization to control the operations of the mobile home park for a term of no less than fifteen years, or the ownership of individual interests in a mobile home park, or both.

(14) "Landlord" shall have the same meaning as it does in RCW 59.20.030.

(15) "Manufactured housing" means residences constructed on one or more chassis for transportation, and which bear an insignia issued by a state or federal regulatory agency indication compliance with all applicable construction standards of the United States department of housing and urban development.

(16) "Mobile home" shall have the same meaning as it does in RCW 46.04.302.

(17) "Mobile home lot" shall have the same meaning as it does in RCW 59.20.030.

(18) "Tenant" means a person who rents a mobile home lot for a term of one month or longer and owns the mobile home on the lot.

(19) "Office" means the office of manufactured housing.

Sec. 3. RCW 59.22.050 and 1991 c 327 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) In order to provide general assistance to mobile home resident organizations, park owners, and landlords and tenants, the department shall establish an office of ((~~mobile home affairs~~)) manufactured housing which will serve as the coordinating office within state government for matters relating to mobile homes or manufactured housing.

This office will provide an ombudsman service to mobile home park owners and mobile home tenants with respect to problems and disputes between park owners and park residents and to provide technical assistance to resident organizations or persons in the process of forming a resident organization pursuant to chapter 59.22 RCW. The office will keep records of its activities in this area.

(2) The office shall establish a program to resolve disputed violations of this chapter through mediation and arbitration as provided in section 5 of this act. The office may develop rules to implement the mediation and arbitration program provided in this act. The office shall disseminate information and promote the program to manufactured/mobile home tenants and landlords.

(3) The office shall perform all the consumer complaint and related functions of the state administrative agency that are required for purposes of complying with the regulations established by the federal department of housing and urban development for manufactured housing, including the preparation and submission of the state administrative plan.

((~~(3)~~)) (4) The office shall administer the mobile home relocation assistance program established in chapter 59.21 RCW, including verifying the eligibility of tenants for relocation assistance.

Sec. 4. RCW 59.20.200 and 1984 c 58 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

If at any time during the tenancy the landlord fails to carry out the duties required by RCW 59.20.130 or any other provision in this chapter that results in substantial endangerment or impairment of the health or safety of a tenant, the tenant may, in addition to pursuit of remedies otherwise provided the tenant by law, deliver written notice to the landlord, which notice shall specify the property involved, the name of the owner, if known, and the nature of the defective condition. For the purposes of this chapter, a reasonable time for the landlord to commence remedial action after receipt of such notice by the tenant shall be, except where circumstances are beyond the landlord's control;

(1) Not more than twenty-four hours, where the defective condition is imminently hazardous to life;

(2) Not more than forty-eight hours, where the landlord fails to provide water or heat;

(3) Subject to the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of this section, not more than seven days in the case of a repair under RCW 59.20.130(3);

(4) Not more than thirty days in all other cases.

In each instance the burden shall be on the landlord to see that remedial work under this section is completed with reasonable promptness.

Where circumstances beyond the landlord's control, including the availability of financing, prevent the landlord from complying with the time limitations set forth in this section, the landlord shall endeavor to remedy the defective condition with all reasonable speed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 59.22 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The department shall work with representatives of tenants in manufactured/mobile home parks, representatives of manufactured/mobile home park landlords, the administrator for the courts, the Washington state association of counties, the association of Washington cities, and other interested parties to develop a program for resolving disputed violations of chapter 59.20 RCW. The department and interested parties shall develop an agreed-upon program consistent with this section by June 30, 2003. If the department and interested parties cannot agree on a program by then, the department shall develop the program by December 31, 2003.

(2) The program shall provide mediation and arbitration services consistent with chapter 59.20 RCW at no cost to the disputants of an alleged violation of chapter 59.20 RCW.

(3) The program shall provide for expedient investigations of those violations of chapter 59.20 RCW that result in substantial endangerment or impairment of the health or safety of a tenant.

(4) The program shall first provide the option for mediation services to the disputants to resolve an alleged violation of chapter 59.20 RCW. To ensure disputes are resolved efficiently, the program shall require mandatory, binding arbitration in the event either of the disputing parties chooses not to participate in mediation or the parties cannot resolve their dispute with the assistance of a mediator. The arbitrator's decision shall set a deadline for compliance with the decision and a hearing for determining compliance subsequent to the deadline. If a tenant prevails in arbitration and the arbitrator finds that a landlord has willfully failed to comply with the arbitration decision by the deadline, the tenant may file the arbitrator's decision and a lien against the title of the manufactured/mobile home park for the amount of any monetary amount awarded in the decision with the clerk of the superior court.

(5) Tenants and landlords disputing a violation of chapter 59.20 RCW may participate in the program established in this section. Tenants have the right to require a landlord to participate in the program.

(6) Notwithstanding subsection (5) of this section, tenants participating in the program have the right at any time to bring their complaint directly to superior court, bypassing the program, consistent with chapter 59.20 RCW.

(7) The department shall provide a status report on the mediation and arbitration program created under this section by December 1, 2004, and a final report by December 1, 2005, to the legislature. The reports shall include at a minimum the number of disputants participating in the program, how disputes were resolved, the time it took to resolve disputes, the revenues generated by fees imposed under section 7 of this act, and the costs expended to administer the program.

(8) This section does not limit the right of landlords or tenants to take legal action against another party as provided in chapter 59.20 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 59.22 RCW to read as follows:

The manufactured/mobile home mediation and arbitration account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All fees collected under section 7 of this act must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for the administrative costs associated with the mediation and arbitration program created in section 5 of this act. Only the director or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 59.22 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Each owner of a manufactured/mobile home park shall register with the office and provide information on the ownership, location, and number of lots in the manufactured/mobile home park. Each owner of a manufactured/mobile home park either registered or determined by the office to be an owner of a manufactured/mobile home park shall pay to the office an annual fee to fund the administrative costs of the mediation and arbitration program established by section 5 of this act. The fee shall be determined annually by the office, and may not exceed ten dollars for each lot within a park. The office shall send notice of the amount of the fee and a date payment is due to all manufactured/mobile home park owners known to the office. The owner may collect the cost of the fee from the tenants consistent with the per lot fee determined by the office. If an owner does not pay the fee within thirty days of the due date indicated in the notice, the owner's tenants may pay the fee directly to the office, and may file a lien against the title of the manufactured/mobile home park for the amount of the fee with the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the manufactured/mobile home park is located. The lien may be filed regardless of whether the landlord has already collected the cost of the fee from the tenants.

(2) All fees collected by the office under subsection (1) of this section must be deposited into the manufactured/mobile home mediation and arbitration account.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The sum of forty-nine thousand nine hundred dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003, from the general fund to the manufactured/mobile home mediation and arbitration account under section 6 of this act for the administration costs of the mediation and arbitration program under section 5 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. A new section is added to chapter 59.22 RCW to read as follows:

Any time the director determines that expenditures to implement the mediation and arbitration program under section 5 of this act exceed revenues from the fees collected under section 7 of this act, the director may suspend administration of the mediation and arbitration program under section 5 of this act by the office. Administration of the mediation and arbitration program remains suspended until the director determines that sufficient revenues have been generated by the fees collected under section 7 of this act to administer the program.