Ask a Lawyer

I own an old community that needs a lot of infrastructure work that I cannot afford. A developer has approached me to buy the land, but said that I have to close the community first. What is entailed in that?

While you have the right to “close” the community, you have various obligations under the Manufactured Home Community Rights Act. Here is a summary of the requirements involved with a community closure:

• Within 60 days of deciding to close the community, and no less than 180 days prior to the closure date, you must provide notice of the intended closure to the residents, the resident association (if there is one), the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and the municipality where the manufactured home community is located.
• Prior to leasing any lot, you must notify the prospective resident in writing of the scheduled closing date.
• If an offer to purchase the community is made by a resident association representing at least 25% of the manufactured home spaces or by a nonprofit corporation acting at the request of the residents of at least 25% of the spaces, you must negotiate in good faith for the sale of the community.
• You must pay relocation expenses to the owner of any manufactured home at an amount equivalent to the cost of relocation. Currently, these amounts a capped at $5,649.68 for a single-section manufactured home and $8,474.52 for a multi-section manufactured home.
• However, a homeowner is not required to remove the home from their land, and you may not charge the owner the costs of removing or disposing of it. If the owner is unable or unwilling to find a suitable replacement site, you must pay the owner $2,500 or the appraised value, whichever is greater, for the home.

As you can see, this process can be complicated. It should not be undertaken without legal guidance.

I have a resident who is refusing to sign her new lease for this year. She claims that as long as she is paying rent, she does not need to sign a new lease. Is she right?

No. The Manufactured Home Community Rights Act expressly recognizes your right to ask your residents to sign new leases periodically. Section 398.13 of the 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. No increased rent or fee lease charges shall be effective against a lessee prior to the 61st day after receiving the owner or operator notice. 

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. No increased rent fee or lease charge shall apply during this period. So long as the manufactured home community owner or operator complied with disclosure as provided in section 6 (the fee disclosure), the manufactured home lessee who does not enter into a new, extended or renewed rental agreement shall not be entitled to relocation costs. 

This section makes it clear that at your request, your residents are required to sign new leases. If your resident continues to refuse to sign her new lease, I suggest that you send her a letter confirming that she has chosen to terminate her lease and telling her that she must vacate within sixty days. If she then agrees to sign the new lease, you can (but are not required to) allow her to remain in the community. If she does not, then you can initiate an eviction action.