READ FIRST TIME 02/12/08.   

     AN ACT Relating to the preservation of manufactured/mobile home communities; amending RCW 82.45.010 and 59.22.050; adding a new chapter to Title 59 RCW; and repealing RCW 59.23.005, 59.23.010, 59.23.015, 59.23.020, 59.23.025, 59.23.030, 59.23.035, and 59.23.040.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that:
     (a) Manufactured/mobile home communities provide a significant source of homeownership opportunities for Washington residents. However, the increasing closure and conversion of manufactured/mobile home communities to other uses, combined with increasing manufactured/mobile home lot rents, low vacancy rates in existing manufactured/mobile home communities, and the extremely high cost of moving homes when manufactured/mobile home communities close, increasingly make manufactured/mobile home community living insecure for manufactured/mobile home tenants.
     (b) Many tenants who reside in manufactured/mobile home communities are low-income households and senior citizens and are, therefore, those residents most in need of reasonable security in the siting of their manufactured/mobile homes because of the adverse impacts on the health, safety, and welfare of tenants forced to move due to closure, change of use, or discontinuance of manufactured/mobile home communities.
     (c) The preservation of manufactured/mobile home communities:
     (i) Is a more economical alternative than providing new replacement housing units for tenants who are displaced from closing manufactured/mobile home communities;
     (ii) Is a strategy by which all local governments can meet the affordable housing needs of their residents;
     (iii) Is a strategy by which local governments planning under RCW 36.70A.040 may meet the housing element of their comprehensive plans as it relates to the provision of housing affordable to all economic sectors; and
     (iv) Should be a goal of all housing authorities and local governments.
     (d) The loss of manufactured/mobile home communities should not result in a net loss of affordable housing, thus compromising the ability of local governments to meet the affordable housing needs of its residents and the ability of these local governments planning under RCW 36.70A.040 to meet affordable housing goals under chapter 36.70A RCW.
     (e) The closure of manufactured/mobile home communities has serious environmental, safety, and financial impacts, including:
     (i) Homes that cannot be moved to other locations add to Washington's landfills;
     (ii) Homes that are abandoned might attract crime; and
     (iii) Vacant homes that will not be reoccupied need to be tested for asbestos and lead, and these toxic materials need to be removed prior to demolition.
     (f) The self-governance aspect of tenants owning manufactured/mobile home communities results in a lesser usage of police resources as tenants experience fewer societal conflicts when they own the real estate as well as their homes.
     (g) Housing authorities, by their creation and purpose, are the public body corporate and politic of the city or county responsible for addressing the availability of safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations available to persons of low income, senior citizens, and others.
     (2) It is the intent of the legislature to encourage and facilitate the preservation of existing manufactured/mobile home communities in the event of voluntary sales of manufactured/mobile home communities and, to the extent necessary and possible, to involve manufactured/mobile home community tenants or an eligible organization representing the interests of tenants, such as a nonprofit organization, housing authority, or local government, in the preservation of manufactured/mobile home communities.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Abandoned" as it relates to a manufactured/mobile home or park model owned by a tenant in a manufactured/mobile home park, manufactured/mobile home park cooperative, or manufacture/mobile home park subdivision or tenancy in a manufactured/mobile home lot, means the tenant has defaulted in rent and by absence and by words or actions reasonably indicates the intention not to continue tenancy.
     (2) "Delivery," with respect to notices discussed in this chapter, means the date on which a notice was mailed or personally delivered.
     (3) "Eligible organization" includes local governments, local housing authorities, nonprofit community or neighborhood-based organizations, federally recognized Indian tribes in the state of Washington, and regional or statewide nonprofit housing assistance organizations.
     (4) "Housing authority" or "authority" means any of the public body corporate and politic created in RCW 35.82.030.
     (5) "Housing project" has the same meaning as in RCW 35.82.020.
     (6) "Landlord" means the owner of a manufactured/mobile home community and includes the agents of a landlord.
     (7) "Local government" means a town government, city government, code city government, or county government in the state of Washington.
     (8) "Manufactured home" means a single-family dwelling built according to the United States department of housing and urban development manufactured home construction and safety standards act, which is a national preemptive building code. A manufactured home also: (a) Includes plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems; (b) is built on a permanent chassis; and (c) can be transported in one or more sections with each section at least eight feet wide and forty feet long when transported, or when installed on the site is three hundred twenty square feet or greater.
     (9) "Mobile home" means a factory-built dwelling built before June 15, 1976, to standards other than the United States department of housing and urban development code, and acceptable under applicable state codes in effect at the time of construction or introduction of the home into the state. Mobile homes have not been built since the introduction of the United States department of housing and urban development manufactured home construction and safety act.
     (10) "Manufactured/mobile home" means either a manufactured home or a mobile home.
     (11) "Manufactured/mobile home community" means any real property that is rented or held out for rent to others for the placement of two or more manufactured/mobile homes or park models for the primary purpose of production of income, except where the real property is rented or held out for rent for seasonal recreational purpose only and is not intended for year-round occupancy.
     (12) "Manufactured/mobile home lot" or "lot" means a portion of a manufactured/mobile home community designated as the location of a manufactured/mobile home or park model and its accessory buildings, and intended for the exclusive use as a primary residence by the occupants of that manufactured/mobile home or park model.
     (13) "Manufactured/mobile home cooperative" means real property consisting of common areas and two or more lots held out for placement of manufactured/mobile homes or park models in which both the individual lots and the common areas are owned by an association of shareholders that leases or otherwise extends the right to occupy individual lots to its own members.
     (14) "Manufactured/mobile home community subdivision" means real property, whether it is called a subdivision, condominium, or planned unit development, consisting of common areas and two or more lots held for placement of manufactured/mobile homes or park models in which there is private ownership of the individual lots and common, undivided ownership of the common areas by owners of the individual lots.
     (15) "Notice of sale" means a notice required under section 4 of this act to be delivered to all tenants of a manufactured/mobile home community and other specified parties (a) within fourteen days after the date on which any advertisement, listing, or public notice advertises that a manufactured/mobile home community is for sale, or that an unconditional offer of sale is being considered and (b) at least ninety days before the transfer of ownership or title occurs.
     (16) "Park model" means a recreational vehicle intended for permanent or semipermanent installation and is used as a primary residence.
     (17) "Qualified tenant organization" means a formal organization of tenants within a manufactured/mobile home community, with the only requirement for membership consisting of being a tenant.     
     (18) "Qualified sale of a manufactured/mobile home community" means the sale of land and improvements comprising a manufactured/mobile home community that is transferred in a single purchase to a qualified tenant organization or to an eligible organization for the purpose of preserving the property as a manufactured/mobile home community.
     (19) "Recreational vehicle" has the same meaning as in RCW 59.20.030.
     (20) "Sale" has the same meaning as in RCW 82.45.010.
     (21) "Tenant" means a person who rents a manufactured/mobile home lot for a term of one month or longer and owns the manufactured/mobile home on the lot.

Sec. 3   RCW 82.45.010 and 2000 2nd sp.s. c 4 s 26 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) As used in this chapter, the term "sale" shall have its ordinary meaning and shall include any conveyance, grant, assignment, quitclaim, or transfer of the ownership of or title to real property, including standing timber, or any estate or interest therein for a valuable consideration, and any contract for such conveyance, grant, assignment, quitclaim, or transfer, and any lease with an option to purchase real property, including standing timber, or any estate or interest therein or other contract under which possession of the property is given to the purchaser, or any other person at the purchaser's direction, and title to the property is retained by the vendor as security for the payment of the purchase price. The term also includes the grant, assignment, quitclaim, sale, or transfer of improvements constructed upon leased land.
     (2) The term "sale" also includes the transfer or acquisition within any twelve-month period of a controlling interest in any entity with an interest in real property located in this state for a valuable consideration. For purposes of this subsection, all acquisitions of persons acting in concert shall be aggregated for purposes of determining whether a transfer or acquisition of a controlling interest has taken place. The department of revenue shall adopt standards by rule to determine when persons are acting in concert. In adopting a rule for this purpose, the department shall consider the following:
     (a) Persons shall be treated as acting in concert when they have a relationship with each other such that one person influences or controls the actions of another through common ownership; and
     (b) When persons are not commonly owned or controlled, they shall be treated as acting in concert only when the unity with which the purchasers have negotiated and will consummate the transfer of ownership interests supports a finding that they are acting as a single entity. If the acquisitions are completely independent, with each purchaser buying without regard to the identity of the other purchasers, then the acquisitions shall be considered separate acquisitions.
     (3) The term "sale" shall not include:
     (a) A transfer by gift, devise, or inheritance.
     (b) A transfer of any leasehold interest other than of the type mentioned above.
     (c) A cancellation or forfeiture of a vendee's interest in a contract for the sale of real property, whether or not such contract contains a forfeiture clause, or deed in lieu of foreclosure of a mortgage.
     (d) The partition of property by tenants in common by agreement or as the result of a court decree.
     (e) The assignment of property or interest in property from one spouse to the other in accordance with the terms of a decree of divorce or in fulfillment of a property settlement agreement.
     (f) The assignment or other transfer of a vendor's interest in a contract for the sale of real property, even though accompanied by a conveyance of the vendor's interest in the real property involved.
     (g) Transfers by appropriation or decree in condemnation proceedings brought by the United States, the state or any political subdivision thereof, or a municipal corporation.
     (h) A mortgage or other transfer of an interest in real property merely to secure a debt, or the assignment thereof.
     (i) Any transfer or conveyance made pursuant to a deed of trust or an order of sale by the court in any mortgage, deed of trust, or lien foreclosure proceeding or upon execution of a judgment, or deed in lieu of foreclosure to satisfy a mortgage or deed of trust.
     (j) A conveyance to the federal housing administration or veterans administration by an authorized mortgagee made pursuant to a contract of insurance or guaranty with the federal housing administration or veterans administration.
     (k) A transfer in compliance with the terms of any lease or contract upon which the tax as imposed by this chapter has been paid or where the lease or contract was entered into prior to the date this tax was first imposed.
     (l) The sale of any grave or lot in an established cemetery.
     (m) A sale by the United States, this state or any political subdivision thereof, or a municipal corporation of this state.
     (n) A sale to a regional transit authority or public corporation under RCW 81.112.320 under a sale/leaseback agreement under RCW 81.112.300.
     (o) A transfer of real property, however effected, if it consists of a mere change in identity or form of ownership of an entity where there is no change in the beneficial ownership. These include transfers to a corporation or partnership which is wholly owned by the transferor and/or the transferor's spouse or children: PROVIDED, That if thereafter such transferee corporation or partnership voluntarily transfers such real property, or such transferor, spouse, or children voluntarily transfer stock in the transferee corporation or interest in the transferee partnership capital, as the case may be, to other than (1) the transferor and/or the transferor's spouse or children, (2) a trust having the transferor and/or the transferor's spouse or children as the only beneficiaries at the time of the transfer to the trust, or (3) a corporation or partnership wholly owned by the original transferor and/or the transferor's spouse or children, within three years of the original transfer to which this exemption applies, and the tax on the subsequent transfer has not been paid within sixty days of becoming due, excise taxes shall become due and payable on the original transfer as otherwise provided by law.
     (p)(i) A transfer that for federal income tax purposes does not involve the recognition of gain or loss for entity formation, liquidation or dissolution, and reorganization, including but not limited to nonrecognition of gain or loss because of application of section 332, 337, 351, 368(a)(1), 721, or 731 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
     (ii) However, the transfer described in (p)(i) of this subsection cannot be preceded or followed within a twelve-month period by another transfer or series of transfers, that, when combined with the otherwise exempt transfer or transfers described in (p)(i) of this subsection, results in the transfer of a controlling interest in the entity for valuable consideration, and in which one or more persons previously holding a controlling interest in the entity receive cash or property in exchange for any interest the person or persons acting in concert hold in the entity. This subsection (3)(p)(ii) does not apply to that part of the transfer involving property received that is the real property interest that the person or persons originally contributed to the entity or when one or more persons who did not contribute real property or belong to the entity at a time when real property was purchased receive cash or personal property in exchange for that person or persons' interest in the entity. The real estate excise tax under this subsection (3)(p)(ii) is imposed upon the person or persons who previously held a controlling interest in the entity.
     (q) A qualified sale of a manufactured/mobile home community, as defined in section 2 of this act, that takes place on or after the effective date of this act but before December 31, 2018.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) A landlord must provide a written notice of sale by certified mail or personal delivery to:
     (a) Each tenant of the manufactured/mobile home community;
     (b) The officers of any known qualified tenant organization;
     (c) The office of manufactured housing;
     (d) The local government within whose jurisdiction all or part of the manufactured/mobile home community exists;
     (e) The housing authority within whose jurisdiction all or part of the manufactured/mobile home community exists; and
     (f) The Washington state housing finance commission.
     (2) A notice of sale must include:
     (a) A statement that the landlord intends to sell the manufactured/mobile home community; and
     (b) The contact information of the landlord or landlord's agent who is responsible for communicating with the qualified tenant organization or eligible organization regarding the sale of the property.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A landlord intending to sell a manufactured/mobile home community is encouraged to negotiate in good faith with qualified tenant organizations and eligible organizations.

Sec. 6   RCW 59.22.050 and 2007 c 432 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In order to provide general assistance to manufactured/mobile home resident organizations, qualified tenant organizations, manufactured/mobile home community or park owners, and landlords and tenants, the department shall establish an office of ((mobile home affairs)) 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)), either directly or through contracted services, technical assistance to qualified tenant organizations as defined in section 2 of this act and 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 administer the mobile home relocation assistance program established in chapter 59.21 RCW, including verifying the eligibility of tenants for relocation assistance.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:
     (1) RCW 59.23.005 (Findings -- Intent) and 1993 c 66 s 1;
     (2) RCW 59.23.010 (Obligation of good faith) and 1993 c 66 s 2;
     (3) RCW 59.23.015 (Application of chapter -- Definition of "notice") and 1993 c 66 s 3;
     (4) RCW 59.23.020 (Definitions) and 1993 c 66 s 4;
     (5) RCW 59.23.025 (Notice to qualified tenant organization of sale of mobile home park -- Time frame for negotiations -- Terms -- Transfer or sale to relatives) and 1993 c 66 s 5;
     (6) RCW 59.23.030 (Improper notice by mobile home park owner -- Sale may be set aside -- Attorneys' fees) and 1993 c 66 s 6;
     (7) RCW 59.23.035 (Notice to mobile home park owner of sale of tenant's mobile home -- Time frame for negotiations -- Terms -- Transfer or sale to relatives) and 1993 c 66 s 7; and
     (8) RCW 59.23.040 (Improper notice by mobile home owner -- Sale may be set aside -- Attorneys' fees) and 1993 c 66 s 8.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   Sections 1, 2, 4, and 5 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 59 RCW.