The Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act (MHLTA) governs the legal duties, rights, and remedies related to any rental agreement between a landlord and a tenant for a manufactured/mobile home lot within a manufactured/mobile home community where the tenant has no ownership interest in the property or in the association that owns the property.
Manufactured/mobile home tenants are allowed to share their homes with certain live-in care providers. A live-in care provider must be over eighteen years of age and must provide live-in home health care or hospice care to the tenant under an approved plan of treatment ordered by the tenant's physician. A live-in care provider is not considered a tenant, but must comply with the manufactured/mobile home community's rules, the rental agreement, and the MHLTA. The landlord may not charge a guest fee for the live-in care provider.
Under the MHLTA, landlords and rental agreements may not prohibit a tenant who is age 55 or older from having at least one roommate, including a roommate who shares the home with the tenant as part of a homesharing arrangement that involves an exchange of services such as cooking, housework, or gardening for room and board or some financial consideration such as rent, as long as the roommate's residence in the community does not violate any age restrictions that apply to the community.?
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A landlord has a duty to provide each tenant with written notice that tenants who are age 55 or older may have at least one roommate.? The notice must be provided by the landlord to each tenant when the lease or rental agreement is signed or renewed.
(In support) The rent for manufactured/mobile home land leases is going up drastically statewide.? Some tenants have seen their rents go up by three times in the past two years.? This bill will provide some financial relief for seniors who are retired on fixed incomes and working people who are on limited incomes.? These are people who bought their homes and are paying rent on the land lease on top of a mortgage.
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This bill will help seniors with companionship as well as financial relief.? Loneliness and isolation are increasing rapidly among single seniors.? The stress of loneliness, coupled with financial insecurity, creates physical and mental health issues.??
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Existing law allows manufactured/mobile homeowners to share their homes with live-in caregivers.? Allowing homesharing under the bill would not alter that dynamic.
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The bill should be expanded to allow homesharing by all manufactured/mobile homeowners, not just seniors.
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(Opposed) None.
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(Other)? The bill should include explicit authority for background checks on roommates.? Background checks are for the benefit of the entire manufactured/mobile home community.? It is hard to evict people who are taking advantage of seniors.
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The bill should also ensure that no tenancy rights are created for a roommate unless the roommate is added to the lease, and should ensure that the park can charge more fees if there are more occupants.
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The MHLTA already provides manufactured/mobile community residents with the right to a live-in care provider, and occupants are defined and referenced throughout the MHLTA.? There are many care providers in these communities right now that are already providing valuable assistance to residents.? The new language in the bill contradicts some of the existing language in the MHLTA related to caregivers and occupants, and it is unclear what the bill is trying to achieve.
(In support) Representative Carolyn Eslick, prime sponsor; Ishbel Dickens, Assoc. of Manufactured Home Owners; Christine Walker, Parkwood Neighborhood Alliance; and Karen Erickson, Glenwood Mobile Estates Alliance.