Question: Can the park owner or manager move lot lines without permission from residents whose spaces are affected?
Background: There were many calls over the years regarding lot line violations. A resident called one day to report that the park owner moved a lot line that sliced the width of his driveway by half to accommodate the next door neighbor lady’s vegetable garden. The manager agreed to move the lot line for the neighbor with the garden because he said that she was a new tenant and her monthly rent rate was higher.
In another case, a man called to complain that the manager had moved the lot lines, which reduced the size of his lot, in order to accommodate a doublewide being installed next door. I told him to look at his original lease to verify where the actual lines were. He said he never saved a copy of his lease.
In one case where a resident had a copy of the park’s plot map, the manager told him that the map was out-of-date. The resident asked to see the “new” one. The manager said he didn’t know where it was. I also spoke with residents who were living in parks that were so old that plot maps where never established and enforcement was based on one person’s word against the other’s.
Answer: Before moving a lot line, the management must obtain a permit (H&S Code Sec. 18610.5) from the state Department of Housing and Community Development and verify that the park has obtained the consent of homeowners affected by the lot line change. However, in some older parks there are no markers or defined lot lines and no plot maps indicating where the lot lines should be. In cases where there is no documented evidence of original lot lines, HCD may not be able to determine that the lot line has been moved and that a permit is required. The issue then becomes a legal matter between the park management and the affected homeowners.
--Stephanie Reid, formerly on staff with the Senate Select Committee for Manufactured Homes and Communities
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