For purposes of this chapter:

(1) "Abandoned" as it relates to a mobile home, manufactured home, or park model owned by a tenant in a mobile home park, mobile home park cooperative, or mobile home park subdivision or tenancy in a 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) "Active duty" means service authorized by the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, or the governor for a period of more than 30 consecutive days;

(3) "Community land trust" means a private, nonprofit, community-governed, and/or membership corporation whose mission is to acquire, hold, develop, lease, and steward land for making homes, farmland, gardens, businesses, and other community assets permanently affordable for current and future generations. A community land trust's bylaws prescribe that the governing board is comprised of individuals who reside in the community land trust's service area, one-third of whom are currently, or could be, community land trust leaseholders;

(4) "Eligible organization" includes community land trusts, resident nonprofit cooperatives, 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, whose mission aligns with the long-term preservation of the manufactured/mobile home community;

(5) "Housing and low-income assistance organization" means an organization that provides tenants living in mobile home parks, manufactured housing communities, and manufactured/mobile home communities with information about their rights and other pertinent information;

(6) "Housing authority" or "authority" means any of the public body corporate and politic created in RCW 35.82.030;

(7) "Landlord" or "owner" means the owner of a mobile home park and includes the agents of the owner;

(8) "Local government" means a town government, city government, code city government, or county government in the state of Washington;

(9) "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 40 feet long when transported, or when installed on the site is three hundred twenty square feet or greater;

(10) "Manufactured/mobile home" means either a manufactured home or a mobile home;

(11) "Mobile home" means a factory-built dwelling built prior to 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;

(12) "Mobile home lot" means a portion of a mobile home park or manufactured housing community designated as the location of one mobile home, manufactured home, or park model and its accessory buildings, and intended for the exclusive use as a primary residence by the occupants of that mobile home, manufactured home, or park model;

(13) "Mobile home park cooperative" or "manufactured housing cooperative" means real property consisting of common areas and two or more lots held out for placement of mobile homes, manufactured homes, or park models in which both the individual lots and the common areas are owned by an association of shareholders which leases or otherwise extends the right to occupy individual lots to its own members;

(14) "Mobile home park subdivision" or "manufactured housing 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 mobile homes, manufactured 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) "Mobile home park," "manufactured housing community," or "manufactured/mobile home community" means any real property which is rented or held out for rent to others for the placement of two or more mobile homes, manufactured homes, or park models for the primary purpose of production of income, except where such real property is rented or held out for rent for seasonal recreational purpose only and is not intended for year-round occupancy;

(16) "Notice of opportunity to compete to purchase" means a notice required under RCW 59.20.325;

(17) "Notice of sale" means a notice required under RCW 59.20.300 to be delivered to all tenants of a manufactured/mobile home community and other specified parties within 14 days after the date on which any advertisement, listing, or public or private notice is first made advertising that a manufactured/mobile home community or the property on which it sits is for sale or lease. A delivered notice of opportunity to compete to purchase acts as a notice of sale;

(18) "Occupant" means any person, including a live-in care provider, other than a tenant, who occupies a mobile home, manufactured home, or park model and mobile home lot;

(19) "Orders" means written official military orders, or any written notification, certification, or verification from the service member's commanding officer, with respect to the service member's current or future military status;

(20) "Park model" means a recreational vehicle intended for permanent or semi-permanent installation and is used as a primary residence;

(21) "Permanent change of station" means: (a) Transfer to a unit located at another port or duty station; (b) change of a unit's home port or permanent duty station; (c) call to active duty for a period not less than 90 days; (d) separation; or (e) retirement;

(22) "Qualified sale of manufactured/mobile home community" means the sale, as defined in RCW 82.45.010, 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;

(23) "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. If a majority of the tenants, based on home sites within the manufactured/mobile home community, agree that they want to preserve the manufactured/mobile home community then they will appoint a spokesperson to represent the wishes of the qualified tenant organization to the landlord and the landlord's representative;

(24) "Recreational vehicle" means a travel trailer, motor home, truck camper, or camping trailer that is primarily designed and used as temporary living quarters, is either self-propelled or mounted on or drawn by another vehicle, is transient, is not occupied as a primary residence, and is not immobilized or permanently affixed to a mobile home lot;

(25) "Resident nonprofit cooperative" means a nonprofit cooperative corporation formed by a group of manufactured/mobile home community residents for the purpose of acquiring the manufactured/mobile home community in which they reside and converting the manufactured/mobile home community to a mobile home park cooperative or manufactured housing cooperative;

(26) "Service member" means an active member of the United States armed forces, a member of a military reserve component, or a member of the national guard who is either stationed in or a resident of Washington state;

(27) "Tenant" means any person, except a transient, who rents a mobile home lot;

(28) "Transient" means a person who rents a mobile home lot for a period of less than one month for purposes other than as a primary residence.

Findings—Intent—2023 c 40: "(1) The legislature finds that:

(a) Manufactured/mobile homes provide a significant source of homeownership opportunities for Washington state residents. However, the increasing number of closures and conversions to other uses of manufactured housing communities and mobile home parks, combined with low vacancy rates in existing parks and communities and the extremely high cost of moving homes when these parks and communities close, make this type of affordable housing option increasingly insecure for the tenants who reside in these parks and communities.

(b) Many tenants who reside in these parks and communities are senior citizens or low-income households and are, therefore, the residents most in need of reasonable security or permanency in the siting of their home because of the adverse impacts on the health, safety, and welfare of tenants forced to move due to closure or conversion to another use of the manufactured housing community or mobile home park.

(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 the manufactured/mobile home communities and, to the extent necessary and possible, involve manufactured/mobile home community tenants or an eligible organization, such as a nonprofit organization, housing authority, community land trust, resident nonprofit cooperative, or local government, in the preservation of manufactured/mobile home communities.

(3) The legislature further finds that when the sale of a manufactured/mobile home park to the community tenants or an eligible organization is not possible, a minimum notification period of two years before the closure or conversion of a community or park is a reasonable balancing of the rights and interests of both community and park owners and the manufactured/mobile home owners, unless the owners justly compensate the homeowners for the loss of their homes." [ 2023 c 40 s 1.]

Findings—Intent—Severability—2008 c 116: See notes following RCW 59.20.300.

Severability—1981 c 304: See note following RCW 26.16.030.

Severability—1979 ex.s. c 186: "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." [ 1979 ex.s. c 186 s 30.]