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.
