(1) After the effective date of this section, if a mobile home park is closed or converted to another use ((after December 31, 1995, eligible)), undergoes redevelopment of the park area, undergoes change within its age-restricted community use, or is closed or converted to rehabilitate and relocate a pre-HUD mobile home within the park, 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) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, assistance for closures occurring after ((December 31, 1995,)) the effective date of this section 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 twelve thousand dollars for a double-wide home and up to seven thousand five hundred dollars for a single-wide home. If such mobile home was ground set in the mobile home park, the tenant may collect up to two thousand five hundred dollars additionally for the cost of removing the home.

(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.

(5) A tenant who abandons his or her mobile home in a mobile home park subject to any circumstance listed in subsection (1) of this section may collect an amount equal to one-fourth of the maximum allowable moving expense for that home from the mobile home park relocation fund if the tenant (a) delivers to the landlord the current certificate of title to the home with the notarized endorsement of the owner of record together with complete releases of all liens that are shown on the certificate title and (b) pays all property taxes due on the home.

The legislature recognizes that it is quite costly to move a mobile home. Many mobile home tenants need financial assistance in order to move their mobile homes from a mobile home park. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a mechanism for assisting mobile home tenants to relocate to suitable alternative sites when the mobile home park in which they reside is closed or converted to another use, undergoes redevelopment of the park area, undergoes a change in its age-restricted community use, or is closed or converted to rehabilitate and relocate a pre-HUD mobile home within the park.


State of Washington	65th Legislature	2017 Regular Session