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RPL 233 Definition of a Mobile Home Park

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RPL 233 Definition of a Mobile Home Park

Postby SoBad » Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:44 am

Greetings,
I am new to this forum, so if I'm in the wrong area, please direct me to the correct group.

My interest is in Real Property Law 233 which applies to Tenant Rights and Mobile Home Parks. Section 233 defines a mobile home park as; "A manufactured home park means a contiguous parcel of privately owned land which is used for the accommodation of three or more manufactured homes occupied for year-round living."

In areas of NYS, that have recreational activities, there are many seasonal parks that call themselves "Mobile Home Parks" but do not satisfy the entire definition of Section 233, because they do not have three or more manufactured homes "occupied for year-round living." These campgrounds/mobile home parks/summer resorts often operate 6 months out of the year during the spring, summer and fall. Many of these so called Mobile Home Parks have owner owned units permanently situated on leased land from the 'park owner' and have a yearly lease that is typically renewed on the first of the year. If you've ever owned a unit like this or known of someone who has, you've no doubt heard the stories about park owners who run rough-shod over the tenants, completely ignoring any 'tenant rights' such as those found in Section 233. Not all, but many of these park landlord's typical response to any objection to their disregard for any tenant rights is "If you don't like it leave." One might think that this type of abuse would be self correcting with the park owner going out of business. The truth is, there is an ample abundance of people waiting to acquire a retreat from their normal everyday life that these landlords get away with the abuse. To add insult to injury the park owner, knowing he has a somewhat captive audience, will ofteh charge a fee/percentage of the sale of the personal property. This can exceed 5%-10% of the sale price of the personal property, which can typically be thousands of dollars gleaned from the sale of the Real Property that the land owner doesn't have any financial interest in.

Fortunately these parks fall under NYS Health Regulations, so water, sewer and waste disposal have some tenant protections in place.

I have several questions I'd like to see some conversation on:

1. If these seasonal operations are registered in NYS as Mobile Home Parks, for the purposes of satisfying NYS Health Regulations. It would seem to me that a Mobile Home Park is a Mobile Home Park and should also fall under the regulations set forth in Section 233 regardless of the lack of full time occupation of 3 mobile homes. The law calls it Estopel - You can't have it both ways.
2. Has, or is, NYS considering refining the definition of a Mobile Home Park to include the seasonal parks, as I've described above, in order to provide some reasonable Tenant Rights to people who lease the land from a landlord?
3. Are there any other laws that apply to these seasonal parks that provide Tenant Rights to the Real Property owner and not just the Land Owner?

Looking forward to hearing any opinions on this issue.
SoBad
 
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Re: RPL 233 Definition of a Mobile Home Park

Postby TenantNet » Wed Aug 05, 2015 4:11 am

In 20 years I don't recall any other question on mobile-home parks. Not familiar with RPL 233. Would DHCR have any jurisdiction in any of these areas? Might be worth checking.

I can understand the difference btween a park for permanent mobile homes and what is more-or-less a RV/campground style park. Perhaps the best example is KOA. See https://goo.gl/ZyxbGd

I don't go to such places on a regular basis, but about ten years ago, in a different state, we stayed a few nights at such a place (they also have small cabins). They often have bathrooms in a central area.

In any case, one area of the campgrounds had semi-permanent lots for rent. They call them Extended Stays or Seasonal Sites. I imagine one could bring your own large RV or rent one of the units that more or less appears to be a real house.

As to the legal nature of the rental, I don't know and that's beyond the scope of this forum. But whatever contract or lease is had, at a minimum that would spell out some of the terms and rights/responsibilities of both parties.

Perhaps the practical enforcement of any rights in NYS might be light. I did find this one page on DHCR: http://www.nyshcr.org/publications/hous ... hpinfo.htm

Unfortunately in a place that seems more of a KOA campground, it might not fit the criteria. That's not to say it can't, but it would likely take litigation to expand the definitions.
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Re: RPL 233 Definition of a Mobile Home Park

Postby TenantNet » Wed Aug 05, 2015 4:17 am

It might also be useful to see how the issue is handled elsewhere. I just found

http://www.northcoastjournal.com/Blogth ... -over-rent

and
http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news ... ol-dispute

Why not contact tenant groups in other areas that are dealing with this and see what they are doing?
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Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant
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