Mobilehome parks: emergency relief: coronavirus (COVID-19).

Existing law, the Mobilehome Residency Law, governs the terms and conditions of residency in mobilehome parks. Under existing law, the management of a mobilehome park may not terminate or refuse to renew a tenancy, except pursuant to certain procedures, and upon giving written notice to the homeowner of not less than 60 days. This law, among other things, defines "management" to mean the owner of a mobilehome park or an agent or representative authorized to act on the owner's behalf in connection with matters relating to a tenancy in the park. Existing law defines a "resident" as a homeowner or other person who lawfully occupies a mobilehome. This bill would prohibit the management of a mobilehome park from terminating or attempting to terminate the tenancy of a homeowner or resident who is impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as specified, on the grounds of failure of the homeowner or resident to comply with a reasonable rule or regulation of the park that is part of the rental agreement or failure to pay rent, utility charges, or reasonable incidental service charges during a declared state of emergency or local emergency related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and during a 120-day time period after the state of emergency or local emergency is terminated, unless necessary to protect the public health and safety. The bill would also prohibit, during this timeframe, the management of a mobilehome park from issuing certain notices relating to rent increases, termination of tenancy, or refusal to renew tenancy. The bill would also prohibit a court from issuing a summons on a complaint for unlawful detainer within this timeframe for failure of the homeowner or resident to comply with a reasonable rule or regulation of the park that is part of the rental agreement or failure to pay rent, utility charges, or reasonable incidental service charges, unless the court finds the action necessary to protect public health and safety. Existing law prohibits the management of a mobilehome park from terminating a tenancy unless for one of specified reasons, including, but not limited to, failure of the homeowner or resident to comply with a reasonable rule or regulation of the park that is part of the rental agreement, as specified, and failure to pay rent, utility charges, or reasonable incidental service charges for at least 5 days from the due date. Existing law requires, after the 5 days of failure to pay rent, utility charges, or reasonable incidental service charges elapses, the management of the mobilehome park to provide the homeowner with a 3-day notice to pay or vacate the tenancy, as prescribed. Under existing law, an act or omission of the homeowner or resident does not constitute a failure to comply with a reasonable rule or regulation of the park that is part of the rental agreement unless and until the management has given the homeowner written notice of the alleged rule or regulation violation and the homeowner or resident has failed to adhere to the rule or regulation within 7 days, except as specified. This bill would require a homeowner or resident who is impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as specified, to have 7 days from the date they receive a notice of a failure to comply with a reasonable rule or regulation of the park described above to notify the management in writing of their need to have additional time to comply with the notice. The bill, with exceptions, would require management that receives the described notice to grant the homeowner or resident the additional time requested to comply with the rule or regulation, but in no event more than one year. The bill would require a notice of a failure to comply with a reasonable rule or regulation of the park that is part of the rental agreement, as specified, issued during a declared state of emergency or local emergency related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and during a 120-day time period after the state of emergency or local emergency is terminated, to contain specified language describing these provisions, printed in at least 12-point boldface type at the top of the notice. This bill would authorize a homeowner or resident who is impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as specified, to notify management in writing at any time prior to the expiration of a 3-day notice demanding payment of past due rent, utilities, or reasonable incidental charges that they need additional time to make the payment due to hardship from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The bill would require management that received the above-described notice to grant the homeowner or resident one year from the expiration of the 3-day notice to make the payment, unless a different amount of time is mutually agreed upon by the homeowner or resident and the management. The bill would also require a notice for failure to pay rent, utility charges, or reasonable incidental service charges issued during the declared state of emergency or local emergency related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and during a 120-day time period after the termination thereof, to contain specified language describing these provisions, in at least 12-point boldface type at the top of the notice. Existing law authorizes the management of a mobilehome park to file a petition for an order to enjoin a continuing or recurring violation of a reasonable rule or regulation of the mobilehome park within the limited jurisdiction of the superior court of the county in which the mobilehome community is located. If a homeowner or resident who provides written notice to the management of the mobilehome park that the homeowner or resident is impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as specified, this bill would prohibit the management from seeking to enforce such an order or imposing rent increases or other charges in addition to what is included in the resident's base rent while the homeowner or resident is in compliance with the terms of a specified payment recovery plan. The bill would authorize a homeowner or resident who is prevented by management from exercising the rights provided here to bring a civil action and would authorize a court to order injunctive relief and other relief the court deems proper, as specified. The bill would require management to itemize on the homeowner's or resident's rental invoice any payments made and due under the repayment plan. The bill would also require management to apply any government funds received to offset rent, utilities, or other charges left unpaid due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as a credit against the outstanding balances of homeowners and residents impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic equally on a per person basis. The bill would also require a specified payment recovery period to be extended through the end of the 2021 calendar year if the homeowner or resident demonstrates that they have continued to suffer economic hardship due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.