Ask a Lawyer
By: Steven M. Williams
I sent new leases to all my residents, asking that they sign and return them. I have received signed leases back from most residents, but there are a few who have not signed and returned the leases. What can I do with respect to those residents who will not complete this task?
The Manufactured Housing Community Rights Act (MHCRA) states:
After receiving 60 days’ notice of the community owner’s or operator’s intent to offer a new lease, the manufactured home occupant shall have 30 days to either accept the new, renewed or extended rental agreement or to notify the manufactured home community owner or operator of intent to vacate within 30 days. . . . A manufactured home lessee who chooses not to enter into a new, renewed or extended rental agreement shall have 60 days from the date of notification of intent to vacate the manufactured home community to enter into contract to sell or to relocate the manufactured home.
If the residents do not sign and return the leases, you can treat that as notice that they do not accept the lease and that they intend to move out of the community. If they do not move, you can file eviction actions based on their failure to sign the new leases.
In the alternative, if the residents do not move out, you can deem them to have accepted the new lease terms, even though they did not sign the leases. This option does not appear in the MHCRA. However, with proper notice to the residents, most judges will agree that the new lease terms apply since the residents did not move out. I recommend sending a notice to the residents who did not return the signed leases that says this:
We have not received the new lease signed by you. Under the MHCRA, your failure to sign and return the lease can be deemed to be a notice by you that do not accept the new lease and that you intend to move out of the community. If you do not move out, we can file an eviction action to have you removed. In the alternative, we can treat your failure to move out as acceptance of the new lease terms. In this case, you will be bound by the new lease terms even without signing the new lease.
I understand that the Manufactured Home Community Rights Act prohibits increasing rents more than once in a 12-month period. Does this apply to the fees that my residents pay, such as for trash, water and sewer?
The answer depends on how these fees are characterized now. If the fees are part of the rent, then the 12-month restriction applies. However, if they are separate from the rent, then you can increase them when needed. You must be sure that you provide the proper 30- or 60-day notice (via 1st class mail and posting) before you can collect the increased fees.
I own several apartment buildings and have never had written leases with my tenants. I just bought a manufactured home community and do not want to have written leases with the tenants there. Most of them have been in the community for years and have never signed a lease. Can I keep the status quo and not have written leases with these tenants?
Pennsylvania law does not require that you have a written lease with your apartment tenants (although, I strongly recommend that you do). However, Section 4.1 of the Manufactured Housing Community Rights Act (MHCRA) requires that you have written leases with your manufactured home community tenants. The MHCRA also prohibits you from collecting rents from the manufactured home community tenants until you have a written lease with them. So, no, you cannot keep the status quo and should get your manufactured home community tenants on written leases immediately.
