September 30, 1998 

To: Members of the Legislature & interested parties

From: Senate Select Committee on Mobile and Manufactured Homes 

Subject: Final Summary of 1998 Mobilehome Bills 

_______________________________________________________________________ 

Attached is a final summary of bills dealing with mobilehomes, manufactured housing, mobilehome parks, recreational vehicles, and related bills from the 1998 half of the recently completed 1997-98 session of the California Legislature. The list is divided into two sections, bills which were passed by the Legislature and sent to the Governor; and bills which died. 

Please feel free to copy this list for constituent use. If you have any questions concerning specific mobilehome bills or issues, please call John Tennyson, the committee consultant at 324-4282.  

The fastest way to get copies of the actual bills, bill analyses, and voting records is from the Senate Web Site. You can also order free single copies of printed bills by writing directly to: Bill Room, State Capitol, Room B-32, Sacramento, CA 95814-4906.

MOBILE & MANUFACTURED HOMES 1998 BILL SUMMARY

BILLS WHICH PASSED REGARDING:

Renters' Tax Credit - AB 2797

Senior Citizen Property Tax Assistance - AB 2797

Mobilehome Park Inspection Program - SB 485

Termination of Tenancy - AB 1888, SB 2095

Mobilehome Sales & Disclosure - SB 1988

Mobilehome Park Property Taxation - AB 2384

Emergency Response - SB 1987

Recreational Vehicles - AB 1984

Miscellaneous - SB 1362

BILLS WHICH DIED REGARDING:

Rent Control - SCA 2, SB 1954

Pets - AB 2020

Repair of Park Trees and Driveways - AB 1227

Mobilehome Park Utilities - SB 524, AB 2016

Mobilehome Subdivisions - AB 473

Financing Mobilehome Park Conversions - SB 801

Legend

Background: In the wake of tax relief afforded property owners when voters approved Proposition 13 in 1978, the Legislature soon thereafter enacted the Renters' Tax Credit to provide some tax relief to renters as well. Over the years, the credit, taken as an offset on California income taxes, was expanded. In 1992, the last year the Renters' Tax Credit was available, the credit was $60 for single persons with an adjusted gross income of $20,000 and $120 for couples with an adjusted gross income of $40,000. Due to the state budget 'crisis', the credit was suspended from the 1993 through the 1997 income years but was scheduled to be reinstated during 1998.

AB 2797 (Cardoza & Budget Committee)

As part of the 1998-99 budget agreement, reinstates the Renters' Tax Credit at $60 for single persons with an adjusted gross income of $25,000 and $120 for couples with an adjusted gross income of $50,000. The income limits will be adjusted upward annually for inflation starting in 1999. However, the credit will no longer be refundable for those who's income taxes do not exceed the credit. The credit will be available as an offset on 1998 income tax returns filed in 1999 for all California renters, including mobilehome owners renting spaces in mobilehome parks.

STATUS: Passed (Senate 37-1, Assembly 75-1) & signed, Chapter 322, Statutes, 1998

Sponsor: Joint Legislative Budget Committee

Support: Unknown

Opposition: Unknown

Background: The Gonsalves-Deukmejian-Petris Senior Citizens Property Tax Assistance Law provides property tax and renters tax relief to seniors over 62 and the

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 2

totally disabled with annual household incomes less than $13,200 in inverse proportion to their income. The program has not had an adjustment to the income cap since 1989.

AB 2797 (Cardoza & Budget Committee)

As part of the 1998-99 budget agreement, increases program eligibility by increasing the annual household income cap to $33,360 for the 1999 calendar year, making corresponding changes in income brackets, and providing for indexing to keep up with inflation. Claimants, including mobilehome owners renting spaces in mobilehome parks, may file for either property tax relief (if their home is subject to property taxes) or rent relief between May 15, 1999 and August 31, 1999 with the state Franchise Tax Board. Checks will be mailed after July 30, 1999.

STATUS: Passed (Senate 37-1, Assembly 75-1) & signed, Chapter 322, Statutes, 1998

Sponsor: Joint Legislative Budget Committee

Support: Unknown

Opposition: Unknown

Background: The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has jurisdiction in administering state health and safety laws for over 5,070 mobilehome parks, housing approximately 600,000 residents, in California. Prior to 1992, inspection of state code standards for these parks was accomplished by state and local government enforcement agencies on a mostly complaint basis, with inspection focused only on the specific complaint(s). There were no cyclical or complete inspections of mobilehome parks. AB 925 (O’Connell - 1990) established a regular park inspection program, where every mobilehome park and the exterior of the homes in the parks would be inspected for health and safety code violations at least once during a 5 year period, with the program sunsetting in 1997. A $4 per space per year fee to support the program was also enacted, with $2 paid by park owner and $2 passed through to the homeowner. Later, due to the delays in implementation, the program was extended to a 7 year cycle ending on January 1, 1999. For the past year, mobilehome park owners, mobilehome owners and HCD have been debating whether the inspection program should be extended, changed or even continued. Two hearings of the Senate Select Committee on Mobile and Manufactured Homes have been held on this issue, as well as numerous informal meetings among the parties.

SB 485 (Craven) - 1 Year Extension of Park Inspection Program

Extends the Park Inspection Program, including the $4 per space fees to support it, for an additional one-year cycle, sunsetting on January 1, 2000. The bill also requires the

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 3

Department of Housing (HCD) to render a report to the Legislature by May 1, 1999 on the status of the program after completion of the first seven year cycle (1992-1998).

STATUS: Passed (Senate 29-3, Assembly 66-2) & signed, Chapter 773, Statutes, 1998

Sponsor: Senator Bill Craven

Support: CMRAA, GSMOL, WMA

Opposition: Unknown

Background: The Mobilehome Residency Law provides that a mobilehome owner’s tenancy can only be terminated for cause, such as failure to pay the rent and charges, violation of the law, conviction of prostitution or felony drugs offenses on the premises, or failure to abide by reasonable park rules and regulations, among other specified reasons. If the homeowner fails to pay the rent or charges within 5 days of the due date, the homeowner is given a 3-day notice to pay or vacate the tenancy, with a copy mailed to any legal owner or lienholder within 10 days after notice to the homeowner. The homeowner may cure the default within 3 days and a legal owner or lienholder may cure the default within 30 days after mailing of the notice, but if the 3-day notice has been given on 3 or more occasions within a 12-month period, the 3rd time there is no right to cure, and management may terminate the tenancy and proceed to eviction after a 60-day notice to remove the home from the park. The legal owner or lienholder receives a copy of the 60-day notice and is thereafter responsible to pay all back rent and charges and keep up the current rent payments in order to be able to sell the home in place to another party. Otherwise, the park owner may eventually file a warehouseman’s lien on the home in order to sell it for satisfaction of the back rent, charges, and "storage" costs.

AB 1888 (Honda) - Lienholder Cure after 60-day Notice

Provides that where the park owner has not sent a 3-day notice to the lienholder, junior lienholder, or registered owner, and the lienholder, junior lienholder or registered owner is not a financial institution and has not cured a default of the homeowner within the preceding 12-month period, any one of them may cure the homeowner's default within 30 days of the mailing of the 60 day notice. This bill addresses a problem where the legal owner of a mobilehome (a individual who had sold her mobilehome in a park to another homeowner and carried the loan) did not receive notice of the homeowner's default in rent payments and wasn't able to cure the default in order to prevent losing her equity. STATUS: Passed (Senate 23-12, Assembly 44-27) & signed, Chapter 427,

Statutes, 1998

Sponsor: CMRAA

Opposition: Unknown

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 4

SB 2095 (Polanco) - Warehouseman's Lien/ Escrow Notice

Makes several technical and other changes affecting termination of a homeowner's tenancy and one change regarding dealer escrow notices.

1) Rules & regulations: Currently, a mobilehome owner who resides in a park is subject to the requirements of the rental agreement and rules and regulations of the park incorporated into the rental agreement. SB 2095 clarifies that a resident who remains in the park after notice of termination of tenancy is still subject to the Residency Law and park rules and regulations, including rules relating to maintaining the space, and that no lawful act by the park management to enforce the rules shall be deemed to waive or affect the notice to terminate and remove the home from the park.

2) Warehouseman's lien: Upon termination of tenancy, current law permits legal owners or lienholders to keep the mobilehome in the park and sell it to a 3rd party if certain conditions, such as payment of all back rent and charges, are made, but if the legal owner does not notify the park of its intentions within 60 days, the park management may impose a warehouseman’s lien against the home and sell it for storage and other costs.

AB 2095 extends these provisions to include a registered owner of a mobilehome, who owns the home outright with no loans or liens, in order to permit the use of a warehouseman's lien, rather than the more costly abandonment, procedure. The bill provides that where a homeowner fails to comply with a notice of termination and is legally evicted or vacates the home, the warehouseman's lien shall be effective against the mobilehome after the date of judgment in an unlawful detainer action (eviction) or after

the date the home is physically vacated, whichever occurs first. AB 2095 also clarifies that HCD shall recognize evidence of a sale pursuant to a warehouseman's lien on a mobilehome by processing a new title to the home in the name of the new purchaser.

3) Escrow notice: Current law requires a dealer to provide certain escrow instructions and notices in the sale of a mobilehome located on a permanent foundation system. In 1997, the Legislature enacted a provision (SB 259 - Haynes) to allow mobilehomes to be installed on a permanent foundation as either a fixture or improvement to the real property or as a chattel. SB 2095 provides that the required dealer escrow notices relating to mobilehomes on foundation systems only apply in cases where the mobilehome is installed on a foundation system as a fixture or improvement to the real property. Those characterized as chattels will be subject to similar escrow requirements for personal property mobilehomes.

STATUS: Passed (Senate 37-0, Assembly 76-0), signed, Chapter 542, Statutes, 1998

Sponsor: WMA

Support: CMHI

Opposition: Unknown

Background: Current law provides that both dealers and real estate agents may serve as agents in the sale of mobilehomes, but real estate agents may sell only used homes. Dealers are licensed and regulated by the Department of Housing and Community

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 5

Development. Real estate agents are licensed and regulated by the Department of Real Estate. In 1985, the Legislature required that prior to close of escrow upon the sale of real property, the seller must provide the buyer with a transfer disclosure statement (TDS), revealing various conditions, including possible code violations, concerning the property. This requirement applies to mobile and manufactured homes permanently affixed to the land so as to be characterized as real property but did not originally apply to mobilehomes located in parks or otherwise considered to be personal property. SB 1704 (Craven, 1996) extended the disclosure requirement to used "personal property" mobile and manufactured homes on or after January 1, 1999. The bill also required the Senate and

the Assembly to establish a task force to recommend to the Legislature the specific form

which a transfer disclosure statement (TDS) for used mobilehomes should take, by the end of 1997. After three meetings, the task force recommended in its January 5, 1998 report adoption of a specific TDS and implementing statutes designed specifically for mobile and manufactured homes, but some parties objected to the SB 1704 task force recommendations, and a solution couldn't be achieved prior to close of the 1998 session.

Extends from January 1, 1999 to January 1, 2000 the effective date for implementation of mobilehome resales disclosure using a TDS for manufactured homes and mobilehomes.

STATUS: Passed (Senate 38-0, Assembly 75-2), signed, Chapter 693, Statutes, 1998

Sponsor: Senator Bill Craven

Support: CMRAA, CMHI, GSMOL, WMA

Opposition: Unknown

Background: Under Article XIIIa of the California Constitution (Proposition 13), unless there is a transfer of ownership or new construction, the assessed value (AV) of property subject to ad valorem property taxation is essentially frozen, plus 2% a year. Since 1985,

however, the Legislature has permitted rental mobilehome parks converted to resident ownership, with 51% or more resident participation, to qualify for a one-time exclusion from property tax reassessment at the time of the transfer of park ownership to the residents. This provision sunsets on January 1, 2000. The purpose of this provision is to make it more affordable for mobilehome owners living in parks, often seniors of low and moderate income, to convert their park to resident ownership.

AB 2384 (Aguiar) - Tax Exclusion Made Permanent

Deletes the January 1, 2000 sunset date on the one-time exclusion from property tax reassessment for rental mobilehome parks converted to resident ownership, extending the tax exclusion indefinitely.

STATUS: Passed (Senate 35-0, Assembly 76-0), & signed, Chapter 139, Statutes, 1998

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 6

Sponsor: GSMOL

Support & Opposition: Unknown

Background: State Health and Safety Code standards for mobilehome parks require, among other things, that there shall be a responsible person "available" for operation and maintenance of a mobilehome park. Additionally, in every park with 50 or more spaces, the responsible person or his or her designee shall reside in the park and have knowledge

of emergency procedures relative to park owned common area facilities and utility systems. After the Northridge Earthquake, complaints were received from mobilehome owners in some parks concerning park managers or their designees who were unfamiliar with park utility systems, or not available to respond, in cases of emergency where there was a potential for gas leaks and fires. Additional complaints from residents of some parks continue to highlight problems where park managers have not responded, or are slow to respond, to emergencies involving common areas and utility systems.

Requires that in every mobilehome park there shall be a person available by telephonic means, including telephones, answering machines, cellular phones, answering services or pagers, or in person who shall be responsible for, and who shall reasonably respond in a timely manner to, emergencies concerning the operation and maintenance of the park.

The bill also authorizes park management to adopt an emergency preparedness plan to include procedures and plans compiled by the state Office of Emergency Services for mobilehome parks.

STATUS: Passed (Senate 26-11, Assembly 58-15), & signed, Chapter 667,

Statues, 1998

Sponsor: Senator Bill Craven

Support: CMRAA, GSMOL, Western Center on Law & Poverty, CRLA

Opposition: Unknown

Background: Recreational vehicles (RVs) are defined by state law as travel trailers, motor homes, truck campers, camping trailers, or park trailers designed for human habitation for recreational, emergency or other occupancy, built on a single chassis, generally containing no more than 400 square feet of floor space and no more than 12 feet wide or 40 feet long in the traveling mode. RVs often provide permanent housing for some people. In older mobilehome parks, RVs may be intermingled with mobilehomes. In 1982 and newer mobilehome parks, RVs must be located in a separate section of the

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 7

park from the mobilehomes. California is one of six states which require RVs to conform, in addition to construction standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), to regulations of and enforcement by the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Standards are enforced by periodic inspection of new RVs at their various manufacturing sites and of used RVs at dealer's lots before resale.

Deletes the authority of the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to enforce standards for the manufacture of recreational vehicles but would provide for industry and consumer self-enforcement by prohibiting the sale, rental or lease of recreational vehicles which don’t meet the standards of the American National Standards

Institute, as evidenced by a label or insignia attached by the manufacturer indicating compliance with those requirements.

STATUS: Passed (Senate 27-3, Assembly 74-0) & signed, Chapter 293, Statutes, 1998

Sponsor: Recreational Vehicle Manufacturers Association, California Travel Parks Assn

Opposition: Unknown.

Background: Every year relatively minor problems are discovered affecting housing, mobilehome, land use and redevelopment issues which do not warrant separate legislation. Often a legislative policy committee will respond by combining these minor and non-controversial subjects into a so-called annual housing "omnibus bill."

Makes 10 statutory changes, including 4 which affect mobile and manufactured homes:
1) Mobilehome purchase documents: repeals an obsolete cross-reference in the Mobilehome-Manufactured Housing Act to "contractor" for purposes of purchase documents which disclose the license number of contractors installing the mobilehome;

2) Dealer offices: repeals an obsolete code reference to a mobilehome dealer’s branch location. HCD authority to regulate dealer branch offices was repealed in 1986;

3) Recovery fund: deletes a code reference repealed 5 years ago found in a provision of the state’s Manufactured Home Recovery Fund, allowing HCD, after paying a purchaser who cannot collect a judgment against a dealer, to collect the judgment;

4) Building: to avoid confusion, repeals an outdated 1941 definition of "building" in the Mobilehome Parks Act which has been superseded by more specific definitions of "mobilehome accessory building or structure" (1963) and "permanent building" (1985).

STATUS: Passed (Senate 38-0, Assembly 75-0), signed, Chapter 689, Statutes, 1998

Sponsor: Senate Housing and Land Use Committee

Support: McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, LLP.

Opposition: Unknown

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 8

SCA 2 (O’Connell) - Constitutional Base for Local Control

Background: Mobilehome park rent increases, coupled with the fact that many residents of mobilehome parks are senior citizens on fixed incomes, has led to the enactment of local mobilehome rent control ordinances and unending controversy in some communities. There are approximately 100 California cities and counties which currently have such controls. In 1996, park owners sponsored a state initiative - Proposition 199, on the March, 1996 ballot, to prohibit local governments from enacting new rent controls and to impose restrictions on those jurisdictions which now have mobilehome rent control. Proposition 199 was defeated by the voters. Although the courts have generally upheld rent control ordinances which are not a taking of property as a legitimate local government police power, park owners have pursued legislation, local initiatives and referendums and pressed local governments with lawsuits challenging their rent control ordinances.

SCA 2, if approved by the voters, adding Section 8 to Article XX of the State Constitution, would have given local governments a 'leg up' by granting specific constitutional authority to local governments, including charter cities and counties, to enact, amend or repeal a mobilehome rent stabilization ordinance that provides a just and reasonable return on the park owner’s investment.

STATUS: Died on Senate Floor Inactive File
Sponsor: Senator Jack O'Connell

Support: American Association of Retired Persons, Congress of California Seniors,

GSMOL

Opposition: MPA, HCD, WMA

Background: Some park owners have bought up mobilehomes in their parks and rent them out, along with the space, like a conventional apartment. Unlike most residents of mobilehome parks, these tenants do not own their homes. Additionally, some local mobilehome rent control ordinances provide that if a sufficient percentage of park residents approve leases or rent schedules offered by the park owner, the park is exempt from the rent control ordinance. Park residents who own their mobilehomes are concerned that tenants without any home ownership interest, including those who are members of a "homeowner association," are being counted in order to exempt an entire park, including residents who own their mobilehomes, from local rent control.

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 9

SB 1954 would have required that a 'homeowner' as defined in the Mobilehome Residency Law, to not only have a tenancy in a mobilehome park under a rental agreement, but have either title to the mobilehome, be the registered or legal owner, or be a purchaser of the home. The bill would have excluded from the definition of "resident" cases where the mobilehome park owner has title, is the registered or legal owner, or is a purchaser of the mobilehome. Lastly, the bill would have provided that a mobilehome park rent control ordinance shall not include a person who rents a mobilehome.

STATUS: Dropped by the author

Sponsor: GSMOL

Support & Opposition: Unknown

AB 2020 (Thomson) - Seniors with Pets

Background: Current law provides that a senior who resides in publicly subsidized housing may keep no more than two pets, as defined, in residence. Under the Mobilehome Residency Law, park management may not impose a fee on a homeowner for keeping a pet in the park and if a rule prohibiting pets in the park is implemented, the new rule shall not prohibit residents from continuing to keep pets now residing in the park. However, when the pet dies, the resident cannot replace the pet. The management also may not prohibit residents from keeping guide, signal or service dogs in the park. Some studies have shown that senior citizens and the disabled, particularly single persons, benefit from the companionship of a pet.

AB 2020 would have provided that no lease or agreement entered into or renewed after January 1, 1999 shall prohibit a homeowner who is 55 or older or is disabled from keeping a pet if the homeowner enters into an agreement with the management to abide by reasonable rules limiting the number of animals in the residence and to have insurance for any damages or injuries caused by the pet, among other requirements. These provisions apply to a condominium project (CID) operating under the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, including resident-owned mobilehome parks but rental mobilehome parks were earlier amended out of the bill.

STATUS: Passed (Senate 22-9, Assembly 48-22) but vetoed by the Governor

Support: AARP, Animal Protective Institute, California Association of Realtors, Congress of California Seniors, Doris Day Animal League, State Humane Association

Opposition: California Association of Community Managers

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 10

AB 1227 (Granlund) - Park Owner Responsible

Background: The Mobilehome Residency Law provides that a homeowner in a mobilehome park shall not be charged a fee for other than rent, utilities and incidental reasonable charges for services actually rendered but also specifies that the park management may include reasonable landscaping requirements in the park rules and regulations and charge a homeowner a reasonable fee for the maintenance of the space upon which the mobilehome is located if the homeowner fails to maintain the space in accordance with the park rules. In a 1992 legal opinion, the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) took the position that the park owner/management is responsible for the maintenance (including removal) of trees on a mobilehome space which constitute a fixture to the land, unless responsibility is shifted to the homeowner through a lease or rental agreement. Who is responsible for paying to prune or remove large trees and damage which root systems cause to driveways and mobilehome foundations is a common problem in mobilehome parks. Some mobilehome owners believe parks have imposed expensive burdens on them by requiring them to pay for the trimming or removal of large trees located on their space which belong to the park.

AB 1227 would have provided that the park management shall be responsible for maintenance of all trees within the park, including removal, pruning, disposal of trimmings, and root damage to driveways and foundation systems, as well as maintenance of all driveways within the park, including asphalt, concrete repair, paving and sealing. The bill stipulated that its provisions would not apply to an existing rental agreement until the agreement expired or was renewed. The bill also would have prohibited a park resident from planting a tree within the park without first obtaining written permission

from the park management and provided that a homeowner may be charged for damage to trees or driveways caused by the homeowner's act or neglect. Lastly, the bill provided that reasonable landscaping requirements may be included in the park rules, but only if the park provided homeowners with refuse removal service or a waste receptacle sufficient to hold tree refuse, leaves or other landscaping materials.

STATUS: Passed Assembly (62-11), but died in Senate Local Government Committee

Sponsor: GSMOL

Support: AARP, Napa City Mobilehome Owners Assn., Sunnyvale Mobilehome Owners Advisory Council

Opposition: CMHI, MPA, WMA

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 11

SB 524 (Thompson) - Electrical Utilities Direct Access

Background: In mobilehome parks, utility service is normally provided by the park owner to individual mobilehome spaces through a mastermeter system, with the public utility providing gas or electricity to the mastermeter but not to individual park spaces.

Mastermeter customers (mobilehome parks) receive a discount on their rates in recognition of their costs of operating and maintaining the sub-meter system but must provide service to the park residents at a rate which is not greater than if the public utility served the residents directly. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) may act upon certain complaints where fees for park utility serviced exceed those which would be charged the homeowner if they were served by a regulated public utility. Under AB 1890 (Brulte, 1996), electrical service providers, including both investor-owned utilities and publicly-owned utilities, will be authorized to operate in a competitive market accessing electrical customers directly both inside and outside their current jurisdictions in 1998.

SB 524 dealt with the complicated issue of electrical restructuring as it affects mobilehomes parks. The bill would have authorized mobilehome parks which are master-meter customers of electric utilities to engage in direct transactions with electrical service suppliers and serve as aggregators of the electrical loads of residential users in their parks. Among its major provisions, SB 524 would have required parks to offer residential users the choice of two electric rates: 1) the rate paid by the park to the electrical supplier under direct access, or 2) the rate of the utility which normally serves the jurisdiction; provided for a cost-sharing arrangement between the park and those residents who elect the direct access rate; and permitted residents to change their electric user rate choice once a year. Originally, the bill was a WMA-GSMOL co-sponsored bill, but GSMOL later withdrew support.

STATUS: Passed Assembly (76-1) but dropped by the author

Sponsor: WMA

Support & Opposition: Unknown

Background: In less urbanized areas, propane gas (LPG), rather than natural gas, is often used for cooking and heat in mobilehome parks. Park owners normally purchase propane from a distributor, who delivers it to and fills the propane tank(s) in the park. LPG is unregulated and rates are not subject to PUC jurisdiction. There have been long-standing complaints from mobilehome owners in rural areas, who claim they are being overcharged by some park owners for LPG. Legislation placing a 110% over cost cap on the price which park owners can charge homeowners for LPG was passed by the Legislature in 1990 and 1991 but vetoed both times by the Governor.

AB 2016 provided that park owners who don't permit mobilehome owners to purchase LPG other than through the park owner would not be able to sell it at a cost exceeding the

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 12

actual price paid by the management, plus a separate monthly charge for the cost of procuring the gas and operating, maintaining, and improving the propane distribution system and any cost of insurance required for provision of LPG service.

STATUS: Passed (Senate 22-11, Assembly 45-31), vetoed by the Governor

Sponsor: California Senior Legislature

Support: GSMOL

Opposition: MPA, WMA

Background: Articles 1 - 8 of the Mobilehome Residency Law govern the relationship between the management of a rental mobilehome park and the mobilehome owners and

residents who live there. Article 9 of the Residency Law governs the relationship between the management and the residents of a subdivision, cooperative, or condominium for mobilehomes or a resident-owned mobilehome park. These articles provide that the management of a rental mobilehome park, or a subdivision, cooperative, or condominium for mobilehomes or a resident-owned park may require a purchaser to comply with any rule or regulation limiting residency to seniors which is in compliance with federal law (Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act). There are approximately 300

community services districts (CSDs) in California which provide a variety of local governmental services in unincorporated areas, such as police or fire protection, enhanced library or park facilities, or street maintenance and lighting, among others. CSDs are not authorized to manage a mobilehome subdivision.

AB 473 was designed to deal with a special situation involving the Heather Glen Mobilehome Subdivision in Placer County, where the subdivision streets and other facilities are operated and maintained by the Heather Glen CSD, a public district. The bill would have enacted a special statute to deem the governing board of the Heather Glen Community Services District in Placer County the management of the Heather Glen subdivision for mobilehomes for purposes of enforcing the establishment of regulations that limit residency in the subdivision to older persons in accordance with federal law.

STATUS: Passed the Assembly (60-10), dropped by author to use for another purpose

Sponsor: Heather Glen Estates

Opposition: Western Center on Law and Poverty

SB 801 (Craven) - Redevelopment Agency Assistance in Purchasing Parks

Background: Local redevelopment agencies are authorized by state law to preserve affordable housing, including a community’s supply of mobilehomes. SB 1413 (Craven,

‘98 Final Bill Summary, Page 13

1994) validated what some local agencies were already doing by clarifying that a redevelopment agency, housing authority or city or county was authorized to issue bonds,

the proceeds of which can be loaned to a non-profit "501(c)(3)" housing corporation to purchase a mobilehome park to be run as a non-profit or cooperatively owned park. In the purchase of such parks, SB 1413 also created a specific rent formula differentiating residents of mobilehome parks who pay rent but own their mobilehomes outright from those who pay a mortgage on their home as well as rent. The formula provides that very low income persons with a mortgage may be required to pay space rent up to 15% of 50% of area median income, as opposed to those without a mortgage, who may be required to pay a space rent up to 30% of 50% of median area income. Current redevelopment law also provides that when low and moderate income housing is taken off the market as the result of a redevelopment project, that a required number of affordable replacement housing units be made available for persons in the same income levels as those persons displaced from the units destroyed or removed. Redevelopment agencies may satisfy these requirements by acquiring or making available "multifamily units" with long-term affordable covenants restricting rents or purchase costs of the units.

SB 801 would have changed mobilehome park rent formulas for parks purchased by non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations and extended such formulas to redevelopment set-aside funds used for the purchase of mobilehome parks. The new formulas would have eliminated the distinction between residents with or without mortgages and instead provided that affordable rent (including utilities, property taxes or VLF fees, homeowners' fees, insurance and assessments) would not exceed 50% of 30% of 50% of area median income for very low income households or 67% of 30% of 60% of area median income for lower or moderate income households. For purposes of satisfying affordable housing replacement requirements for redevelopment agencies, SB 801 would have also included mobilehomes and spaces occupied by mobilehomes as "multifamily units." The bill passed the Senate, but the sponsor later withdrew support for the bill.

STATUS: Passed Senate (37-0), dropped by author in Assembly Housing Committee

Sponsor: California Redevelopment Association

Support & Opposition: Unknown

AARP: American Association of Retired Persons (senior citizen advocates)

CMHI: California Manufactured Housing Institute (dealers, manufacturers)

CMRAA: California Mobilehome Resource & Action Association (mobilehome owners)

CRLA: California Rural Legal Assistance (low-income housing advocates)

GSMOL: Golden State Mobilehome Owners League (mobilehome owners)

HCD: California Department of Housing and Community Development

MPA: California Mobilehome Parkowners Alliance (park owners)

WMA: Western Mobilehome Association (park owners)