Question: Can
a park prevent a resident from living in a mobilehome they inherited?
Background:
A recently widowed resident called because the park
manager had given her a 60-day move-out notice. She and her husband had
lived in the same park for decades, however, the husband had just recently
passed away. The park manager asked the widow to leave because she had
never been a registered tenant. She explained that she often asked
her husband throughout the years to add her name on the residency list, and he
always said he would get around to it, but it never happened. Now
she was technically a “trespasser” in the park that she lived in for
years. I kindly told the widow that she should try to make a
clear case (showing her name on utility bills, etc.) that her husband had
intended to add her to the park residency list but that his negligence was
innocent and not calculated. I wished I had had a better answer for
her.
Often I
received calls from caregivers who inherited their MH from their now-deceased
patient, but faced eviction by the park because they were never registered
tenants. The deceased MH owner, having left a most generous gift of
a home for their caregiver, caused a nightmare by not considering that the
caregiver needed full residency rights in order to stay there. There were
a few cases like this where the details were even more
complicated. The deceased person’s family would come to claim their
inherited MH only to find the caregiver permanently settled in. This
caused a three-way fight between the caregiver who believed the home was their
own, the surviving family who wanted to claim their inheritance, and the park
manager who was being forced to take sides. All because the
deceased MH owner did not make their intentions clear and legal when there were
alive.
A woman
called me from Arizona asking me to get involved in a dispute she was having
with a park manager in San Diego. Her elderly mother
had recently passed away, and instead of removing or selling the home, she
wanted to place her adult son in the home. The park was refusing to
allow her son to live there. And although the caller alluded to
behavior problems that the son suffered, she believed that since the home was
hers (by inheritance) that she could place anyone she wanted in her
home. She was not happy in the least when I told her that the park
had the authority to deny residency to persons whom they feel do not have the
personal income to pay the monthly rent, and who may have a proven
background of disruptive behavior towards other tenants. On top of
this problem, the woman was annoyed that she was paying rent on her
unoccupied MH. This Arizona woman hung up quite angry with
me.
Answer: Yes,
unless the resident qualifies for residency and has signed a rental agreement.
Upon death of a homeowner, heirs cannot simply assume they can move into the
decedent’s home or continue to live there if they are not already a party to
the rental agreement. Despite the fact that an heir takes title to the
mobilehome, the park management has the right to require an heir, or person who
had been living with the resident, to newly apply for residency in the park. If
the management rejects the heir’s residency because the heir cannot comply with
the rules or doesn’t have the income to pay the rent and charges, the heir can
be required to move out. The heir has the right to resell the inherited
mobilehome in place in the park (Civ. 798.78(a)), assuming it meets health and
safety code requirements (Civ. 798.78(b)), but must continue to pay the monthly
space rent until the home is sold in order to maintain the right to sell it in
place in the park. Otherwise, the park may terminate the tenancy and require
the home to be moved from the park within 60 days of the notice of termination.
(Civ. 798.73)
This Byte comes from Stephanie Reid, formerly on staff with the Senate Select Committee for Manufactured Homes.
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