BILL REQ. #:  Z-0173.2 

Read first time 01/12/2005.   Referred to Committee on Housing.

     AN ACT Relating to allowing reimbursement limits under the mobile home relocation assistance act to be set by rule; and amending RCW 59.21.021.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 59.21.021 and 2002 c 257 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) If a mobile home park is closed or converted to another use after December 31, 1995, eligible tenants shall be entitled to assistance on a first-come, first-serve basis. The department shall give priority for distribution of relocation assistance to tenants residing in parks that are closed as a result of park-owner fraud or as a result of health and safety concerns as determined by the local board of health. Payments shall be made upon the department's verification of eligibility, subject to the availability of remaining funds. Eligibility for relocation assistance funds is limited to low-income households. As used in this section, "low-income household" means a single person, family, or unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is less than eighty percent of the median family income, adjusted for household size, for the county where the mobile or manufactured home is located.
     (2) Assistance for closures occurring after December 31, 1995, is limited to persons who maintain ownership of and relocate their mobile home or who dispose of a home not relocatable to a new site.
     (3) Persons who removed and disposed of their mobile home or maintained ownership of and relocated their mobile homes are entitled to reimbursement of actual relocation expenses ((up to seven thousand dollars for a double-wide home and up to three thousand five hundred dollars for a single-wide home)) as provided by rules adopted by the department.
     (4) Any individual or organization may apply to receive funds from the mobile home park relocation fund, for use in combination with funds from public or private sources, toward relocation of tenants eligible under this section. Funds received from the mobile home park relocation fund shall only be used for relocation assistance expenses or other mobile/manufactured home ownership expenses, that include down payment assistance, if the owners are not planning to relocate their mobile home as long as their original home is removed from the park.