Mobile Home Law In San Diego
Mobile Home Law
It can be difficult to find an attorney competent in mobile home law in San Diego. California’s laws regarding mobile home parks are found in several places, including:
- the Mobilehome Residency Laws
- Mobilehome Parks Act
- Title 25
- Rent control ordinances
- Other federal, state, and local laws.
These laws can also be affected by recent developments in law created by court decisions. Further, there are several different regulatory agencies that affect mobile home parks including Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Housing and Community Development (HCD), and other local regulatory agencies. Without a competent attorney with experience in San Diego mobile home law, both park tenants and park owners are at risk.
Tenant Rights and Advocacy
As a tenant in a mobile home park, you own and have a significant financial investment in your manufactured home. At the same time, you rent the space on which your home resides. Manufactured homes these days are not meant to be mobile like they were in the past. This can leave you at the mercy of mobile home park owners, who may fail to maintain the park in a way that harms your investment or who may attempt to sell the park, converting it into a usage that causes you to lose your investment in your home. The damages that you may incur from these activities is significantly more than the damages a renter would incur, and mobile home law in San Diego has protections for homeowners.
A few of the protections that the San Diego mobile home law affords owners require the park owner to meet with tenants to discuss disputes if the tenant submits meeting request in writing, and prohibit the owner from changing lot lines without first obtaining the tenant’s approval and satisfying other requirements.
Further, tenants need not tolerate uninhabitable or unlivable mobile home living conditions. If the park owner fails to comply with local and state laws regarding safety and conditions, or fails to respond to tenant complaints regarding unlivable conditions or other dangerous or harmful situations, the park owner could be liable. Uninhabitable or intolerable conditions include shutting off utilities without cause, failing to deal with reports of another tenant’s illegal activity, and failing to maintain common areas.
Mobile Home Park Owner/Operator Rights and Advocacy
At the same time, an owner or operator of a mobile home park can be confused for the very same reasons: since tenants own their homes, how much liability do you have in for the park, its facilities, and peoples’ homes? What is the extent of control you have over renters and in-park homeowners’ association rules?
While mobile home park owners and operators are afforded numerous rights in San Diego, such as the limited right to enter tenants’ lots, the right to force tenants to improve their lots to comply with state or local requirements, and the requirement that tenants obtain park owner/operator approval to construct accessory structures, there are a number of questions regarding park owner’s and tenant’s respective responsibilities, especially when disputes arise. Mobile home park owners and operators’ liabilities differ from those of landlords of rental properties. Mobile home park owners’ rights also differ from those of traditional landlords. Since these disputes are not the same as landlord-tenant disputes, an attorney with experience in mobile home law and advocacy is essential to protecting your rights and those of your tenants.
Owning and operating a mobile home park can be a profitable business that represents a significant financial investment. Having an attorney familiar with mobile home law in San Diego can ensure that you are respecting the rights of your tenants without damaging your business. The experienced and competent attorneys at the Law Offices of Steven Brian Davis can help you to understand your rights and those of your tenants.