Question: Does the park manager have the right to tell me to
remove my belongings that are stored on my space?
Background:
A woman called me to ask what her rights were for storing her family heirlooms around and under the crawl space of her home. She said that since she always paid her rent on time, that she should be able to use her lot and home as it suited her. I told her that her “right” to store, stack or pile her possessions in clear violation of Title 25, puts the rest of the park in danger of fire. She hung up disappointed in my answer.
One day I received a call from a park resident who was upset because the park manager told him to either store his collection of household items inside his home, or remove the pile from the park. He couldn’t understand why the park manager was being so harsh. He explained to me that his “collection” consisted of items for a garage sale. Shortly after I talked to him, I received a phone call from a person who must have been the collector’s neighbor, but this neighbor had no sympathy for the collector. She explained to me that the collector conducted a perpetual garage sale on his space, and that the assorted stuff around his home was for sale at all times. At the very least, the collector’s “merchandise” was causing a headache for his neighbors.
Months later, I was with government officials on a walking tour of various mobilehome parks in an economically depressed area. The subject of this tour was health and safety, of which the code violations in this particular park were acute. Our small group of officials stopped to listen to the concerns of a few bold residents who approached us to plead for enforcement of a cleaner park. They complained of rats that darted from home to home, nested under piles of trash, and gnawed on electrical wires. As I was listening to the small crowd of residents, I noticed through the corner of my eye a resident who was sitting in a folding chair amongst piles of used food containers and open, bulging trash bags. He got up from his chair, flicked a lit cigarette butt on to his matchstick-dry lawn, and walked inside his home. I thought, “This is why we have Title 25.”
Answer: The park manager has an obligation to keep the park safe from fire. According to California Code of Regulations, Title 25 (health and safety requirements for mobilehome parks), Article 2, Section 1120, “Occupants shall keep the lot area and the area under, around, or on their unit and accessory buildings or structures free from an accumulation of refuse, rubbish, paper, leaves, brush or other combustible material,” and that park operators “...shall ensure that a collection system is provided and maintained, with covered containers, for the safe disposal of rubbish.”
Background:
A woman called me to ask what her rights were for storing her family heirlooms around and under the crawl space of her home. She said that since she always paid her rent on time, that she should be able to use her lot and home as it suited her. I told her that her “right” to store, stack or pile her possessions in clear violation of Title 25, puts the rest of the park in danger of fire. She hung up disappointed in my answer.
One day I received a call from a park resident who was upset because the park manager told him to either store his collection of household items inside his home, or remove the pile from the park. He couldn’t understand why the park manager was being so harsh. He explained to me that his “collection” consisted of items for a garage sale. Shortly after I talked to him, I received a phone call from a person who must have been the collector’s neighbor, but this neighbor had no sympathy for the collector. She explained to me that the collector conducted a perpetual garage sale on his space, and that the assorted stuff around his home was for sale at all times. At the very least, the collector’s “merchandise” was causing a headache for his neighbors.
Months later, I was with government officials on a walking tour of various mobilehome parks in an economically depressed area. The subject of this tour was health and safety, of which the code violations in this particular park were acute. Our small group of officials stopped to listen to the concerns of a few bold residents who approached us to plead for enforcement of a cleaner park. They complained of rats that darted from home to home, nested under piles of trash, and gnawed on electrical wires. As I was listening to the small crowd of residents, I noticed through the corner of my eye a resident who was sitting in a folding chair amongst piles of used food containers and open, bulging trash bags. He got up from his chair, flicked a lit cigarette butt on to his matchstick-dry lawn, and walked inside his home. I thought, “This is why we have Title 25.”
Answer: The park manager has an obligation to keep the park safe from fire. According to California Code of Regulations, Title 25 (health and safety requirements for mobilehome parks), Article 2, Section 1120, “Occupants shall keep the lot area and the area under, around, or on their unit and accessory buildings or structures free from an accumulation of refuse, rubbish, paper, leaves, brush or other combustible material,” and that park operators “...shall ensure that a collection system is provided and maintained, with covered containers, for the safe disposal of rubbish.”
--Stephanie
Reid, formerly on staff with the Senate Select Committee for Manufactured Homes
and Communities