Legal Corner: Managing mobile home tenant/landlord relationships

Scope

Mobile homes, manufactured housing, and factory-built housing (referred to collectively as “mobile homes”) are important and effective ways to meet Colorado’s affordable housing needs. In 2019, over 100,000 Coloradans lived in more than 900 mobile home parks across the state. However, data from the Department of Local Affairs Mobile Home Park Oversight Program (MHPOP) indicates that there are now only 762 registered parks. This decline in mobile home parks has coincided with sales of small operations to large investors, often leading to displacement of residents and redevelopment.

The relationship between a mobile home park owner/management company/landlord (“landlords”) with mobile homeowners and tenants (“tenants”) can be fraught. Among manufactured homeowners in 2016, 66% of the owners owned the land their home sat on as well as their home. However, the remaining 33% did not own the land their home sat on, requiring them to rent space from a park owner. This discrepancy in land ownership can lead to tense relationships. As Colorado land becomes more valuable over time, the tenants that do not own their land become particularly susceptible to housing insecurity. Management companies may desire to sell the land people rent, which has led to concerns regarding landlord management practices and activities that remove tenants from the rented land. To prevent this, state and municipal bodies have enacted protections guaranteeing certain rights to this vulnerable population.

State action

State law governs mobile homes, including the general relationship between landlords and tenants, with the Mobile Home Park Act (C.R.S. §§ 38-12-200.1 to -224). The act requires a written lease that sets out the terms of the agreement, as well as general frameworks for notice periods for rent increases, maintenance responsibilities, changes in ownership, and the rights of homeowner cooperatives. Since the act’s original passage in 1973, it has been amended over the past four decades to clarify and expand the original provisions. One of these changes prohibited the landlord from requiring tenants to take on maintenance responsibilities (SB1991-39), but the act had minimal other regulations covering the landlord/tenant relationship.

In 2018, the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) conducted a sunrise review on manufactured housing community owners and managers and found several pervasive issues of mismanagement and abuse. The report, coupled with the state-wide housing crunch and 2018 partisan shifts, led to larger scale changes to curb landlord abuse of mobile home tenants. Since 2018, the state legislature enacted three large bills (HB19-1309, HB20-1196, and HB22-1287). Among other things, these bills created the Mobile Home Park Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Program and empowered counties and municipalities to enact ordinances addressing the “safe and equitable operation” of mobile home parks, consistent with state law.  Several Colorado municipalities have taken further action to protect tenants and landlords.

Municipal action in Boulder

The City of Boulder began working on strategies to protect mobile homes in 2018, focusing on accountability, affordability, community, and viability. In 2021, the Boulder City Council approved several ordinances strengthening tenant protections. Boulder’s ordinances specify a tenant’s right to privacy from landlord interference and prohibit retaliatory or prohibitive behavior from management. Boulder made its municipal court the new hearing body for local enforcement.

One of Boulder’s ordinances stabilized pad rent, so landlords may not unreasonably increase the price of the land that the mobile home sits on (the “pad”) over time. The ordinance additionally mandates that the lot’s five-year history of rent increases, fees, and pet restrictions be provided to new tenants. All tenants must receive information about lot dimension changes with at least 60 days’ notice. Further, language access must be provided to non-English speakers. Boulder also passed an ordinance that prohibits landlords from interfering with the sale of tenant’s homes or requiring unreasonable upgrades to both the mobile home and accessory structures. Boulder offers resources specifically for manufactured community members, including tenants and landlords. A different ordinance provided clarity protecting the tenant’s right to sell without landlord interference. A centralized city webpage allows citizens to self-educate on the available city programs and resources when disputes arise.

Moving forward

If your locality wants to enact laws to protect mobile home residents and tenants from mismanagement and abuse, the first step should always be consulting with your municipal attorney. We recommend consulting with local stakeholders, in the form of mobile home residents, landlords, and management companies, to identify any gaps in local code that may be assisted with policy change. If your locality has certain resources and programs that are available but underutilized, it can be helpful to discern if the information is actually getting to the people that need it most. Following Boulder’s example and having a single webpage dedicated to these resources could serve as a useful starting point to cater to your local needs.

This column is not intended and should not be taken as legal advice. Municipal officials are always encouraged to consult with their own attorneys.