WATER RATE CALCULATION CHANGE IN LAW ALERT, FALLOUT FROM
AB 1061 (LEE)
The recently enacted AB 1061 (2021) amended Civil Code §798.40
for those mobile home parks (MHPs) that provide water to
submetered tenants and bill for water separately from rent. All
master-metered MHP customers served by a municipality or a mutual
water company are subject to this law. (AB 1061 does not apply to
master-metered (MM) MHPs supplying water to submetered tenants
when that MM MHP purchases its supply from a CPUC-regulated water
company.)
UPDATE ON MANAGEMENT MEETING BILL, MEASURE TO REMOVE RENT
CONTROL EXEMPTION
WMA continues to actively engage in discussions with key
legislators to address remaining concerns regarding AB 2031
(Lee), the park management meeting requirement bill as well as SB
940 (Laird), which removes the rent control exemption for the new
construction of spaces in local rent control ordinances.
Both bills are poised to be brought up on the Assembly and Senate
floors, respectively.
NEWLY SIGNED LEGISLATION EXTENDS EVICTION MORATORIUM
THROUGH JUNE 30, 2022
The Legislature passed and the Lieutenant Governor signed a
COVID-19 eviction moratorium through June 30, 2022, but only for
tenants whose applications for rental assistance have been
submitted on or before March 31, 2022.
BILL TO EXTEND EVICTION MORATORIUM FAST-MOVING THROUGH
LEGISLATURE
As members are aware, the eviction moratorium is currently set to
expire this Thursday, March 31, 2022. However, newly amended
legislation would extend this rent relief protection by an
additional three months.
DON’T WAIT! HELP WMA DEFEAT HARMFUL MANAGER TRAINING
BILL
WMA needs your help! SB 869 (Leyva), the state-led, manager
training and certification bill, will be heard in the Senate
Housing Committee tomorrow. As currently drafted, SB 869 would
require on-site park managers to complete 18 hours of mandatory
training per year. It is not too late to make your voice heard
and let your state senator know that this bill is a solution in
search of a problem and is NOT NECESSARY.
WMA LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE ADOPTS FORMAL BILL POSITIONS ON
NOTABLE LEGISLATION
The WMA Legislative Committee reviewed all notable legislation
that directly affects the industry and recommended adopting
formal positions on those key bills that have been introduced for
2022. The corresponding legislative bill chart shows the
formal positions that WMA has taken on those critical measures.
Beginning in April, this chart will be featured monthly in the
WMA Reporter.
WMA SPONSORS LEGISLATION ADDRESSING RESIDENT VIOLATIONS,
PERMITS TO OPERATE (PTO)
Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua (Democrat, Stockton) recently
introduced AB 2002 on behalf of WMA. This bill addresses the
procedure by which the Housing and Community Development
Department (HCD) or responsible Local Enforcement Agency (LEA)
issue citations that may cause a park to lose its Permit to
Operate (PTO) when resident violations go uncorrected.
UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE BILL, OTHERS FAIL TO PASS STATE
LEGISLATURE
Numerous controversial, two-year bills failed to pass the
legislature by January 31 and are dead for the legislative
session, including AB 1400 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra, a San
Jose Democrat. The “Guaranteed Health Care For All” bill would
have established universal health care in California. Democrats
lacked the votes needed to pass the measure. The bill drew
opposition from business groups citing the estimated costs – and
potential tax increases on businesses – needed to fund the
system.
Monday was the deadline to pass all two-year or bills carried
over from last year. Those remaining bills – 214 in total -
that failed to meet Monday’s deadline are now dead for the
legislative session. February 18 is the bill introduction
deadline. WMA staff has begun identifying newly introduced
measures of interest and the WMA Legislative Committee will
subsequently adopt formal positions on all key, statewide
legislation.
Bill introduction remains steady as we approach January 31, the
legislative deadline for all two-year or holdover bills to pass,
or they are considered dead for the
session.
SPECIAL PRIMARY ELECTIONS SCHEDULED TO FILL FOUR ASSEMBLY
VACANCIES
Members, don’t wait! Register today for the final MCM Webinar of
2021. Featured topics include moving past the COVID Tenant Relief
Act requirements; customer relations; amenities, and much more.
Registration information can be found at wma.org/event-registration.
This October* your electric bill will include a credit identified
as the “California Climate Credit.” Your household and millions
of others throughout the state will receive this credit on your
utility bills.
The California Climate Credit is part of California’s efforts to
fight climate change. This credit is from a state program that
requires power plants, natural gas providers, and other large
industries that emit greenhouse gases to buy carbon pollution
permits. The credit on your bill is your share of the payments
from the State’s program.
One of the side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is that in so
many instances, activity just paused. An example of such an
instance was the County Rent Registry of mobilehome spaces, as
per the recently passed mobilehome rent control ordinance.
The Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business
Affairs announced the launch of its online Rent Registry on
October 1, 2021. Parkowners must pay a fee of $90 per space, and
they are allowed to pass through 50 percent ($45) per space to
park residents.
This webinar will focus on changes to the Mobilehome Residency
Law (MRL), as well as other changes in state law and regulations,
and how these changes will affect community operations in 2022.
Additional details coming soon.
Best Practices: Post-COVID Day-to-Day Management of a Mobilehome ParkNovember 16, 2021 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Members, don’t wait! Register today for the final MCM Webinar of
2021. Featured topics include moving past the COVID Tenant Relief
Act requirements; customer relations; amenities, and much more.
Registration information can be found at wma.org/event-registration.
For an annual subscription of only $95, members have unlimited
access to WMA’s complete lineup of forms that are custom designed
to help you manage your communities. Over 80 forms are
available for both resident – owned homes and community-owned
rentals.
For more information and to get your subscription started, please
go to wma.org/forms-online.
Civil Code Section 798.15 requires management to either provide
all homeowners with a copy of the new Civil Code by February 1 of
each year, or provide a written notice to all homeowners that
there has been a change to the Civil Code and that the homeowner
may obtain a copy of that code from management at no charge.
Management must also provide a copy of the Rights and
Responsibilities notices by February 1 of each year.
UPDATED: After submission of the article, the City of Santa
Ana has conducted a first reading on a rent control ordinance on
apartments and mobilehome parks within the city. We will provide
more timely, detailed updates.
Community organizers and activists continue to demand rent
control for Santa Ana. Readers may remember they had tried two
times previously to collect enough signatures to place the matter
before voters and failed both times to meet the signature
threshold before the deadline.
Last Friday signaled the end of another tumultuous legislative
session amidst the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and
wildfires that have ravaged the state. Before adjourning, members
engaged in rigorous debate before advancing legislation on
various issues ranging from police reform to wildfire mitigation.
Assembly Bill 861 (Bennett), the subleasing bill, remains poised
to be soon brought up on the Senate floor.
Recent amendments to AB 861 (Bennett) exempt mobilehome parks
owned by non-profit entities from the bill’s provisions. WMA
remains opposed and maintains that this is an issue in search of
a problem since the proponents have at no time provided concrete
examples justifying the need for statewide legislation.
SUBLEASING BILL STILL AWAITING ACTION ON SENATE
FLOOR
Assembly Bill 861 (Bennett) continues to await action on the
Senate Floor. WMA opposes this measure that would prevent
parkowners from leasing out homes they own in their parks unless
they allow other tenants to sublease their homes.
Amendments to this legislation are expected to exempt certain
parks operating as non-profit entities; however, the bill has not
yet been amended.
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL BILL MOVES BACK TO STATE
ASSEMBLY
This unique continued education opportunity is designed to
introduce individuals to the Manufactured Housing Community
industry. The course is open-ended and can be taken at any time
at the individual’s convenience.
There are five two-hour courses which should be taken in the
following order:
– Introduction into the Mobilehome Residency Law, Title 25,
Chapter 2, and the Mobilehome Parks Act
– The Role of Management
– Infrastructure/Maintenance
– Rules
– Fair Housing
We are excited to see you in person at this year’s WMA Convention
and Expo! Hotel rooms are booking up fast so make sure to send in
your Convention registration too. We will run a comparison list
close to the deadline date for hotel reservations to see who has
reserved a room and whose registration we do not yet have. Your
guest room may be canceled if we reach the room block and if we
do not have your registration.
The corresponding article by Doug Johnson highlights the ongoing
threat that wildfires and other natural disasters pose for
manufactured housing communities throughout the state and the
need to be prepared in the event of an emergency.
Since 2005, the WMA Foundation has been providing disaster relief
funds to residents living in manufactured housing communities in
California and made numerous contributions to victims of the
Paradise fire in 2018.
Fire safety in California’s mobilehome communities is becoming
vitally important every year as we experience increasingly hotter
summers, dryer winters, and severely diminished snowpacks.
Multi-year drought conditions have turned forests, fields, and
brushlands into tinderboxes. The tallest in the United States,
Oroville Dam, is currently recording the lowest water levels
since it opened in 1968. As this article is being written, the
Dixie Fire, Caldor Fire, Cache Fire — and many others — rampage
out of control across Northern California, threatening scores of
mobilehome parks.
WATER SUBMETER BILL CONCURRED IN ASSEMBLY, ENROLLED TO
GOVERNOR
On Monday, Assemblymember Alex Lee (Democrat, San Jose) presented
his water submetering bill, AB 1061, before colleagues on the
Assembly Floor. Prior to the floor session, we distributed
an alert to members outlining our concerns which remain
unresolved. AB 1061 should have been referred to the Water,
Parks, and Wildlife Committee since the bill deals with water
conveyance as a matter of
policy.
LEGISLATURE RETURNS FOLLOWING MONTH-LONG SUMMER
RECESS
Both legislative houses resumed business on Monday following a
month-long summer recess. August 27 is the deadline to pass all
fiscal bills to the Assembly and Senate floors. September 10 is
the deadline to pass ALL bills to the Governor and marks
the end of the legislative session.
ATTENTION PARKOWNERS: AB 832 INFORMATIONAL NOTICE
AVAILABLE ON WMA WEBSITE
AB 832 took effect on June 28, 2021 and extends the COVID-19
Tenant Relief Act (CTRA), California’s statewide eviction
moratorium, through September 30, 2021, and continues protections
for renters related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
AB 832 requires parkowners to serve an informational notice on
all residents who, as of July 1, 2021, have unpaid rent payments
due on or after March 1, 2020. This notice must be served by July
31, 2021.
At the California Department of Housing and Community
Development, we work to protect the health and safety of
residents living in mobilehome parks by inspecting all park
common areas, buildings, lots, exterior portions of manufactured
homes and mobilehomes, and accessory structures within the parks.
WMA is introducing a new educational opportunity for individuals
just starting a career as manufactured housing communities
professionals. The goal for this Bootcamp is to give those
entering the industry a basic understanding of the most important
aspects of community management. This course will consist of six,
two-hour webinars with an exam after each course. With a passing
grade, the individual will move forward to the next webinar.
The HCD Information Bulletin announces revisions to the Notice of
Manufactured Home, Mobilehome, or Commercial Modular Installed on
a Foundation System (HCD 433A), which will allow users to correct
legally recorded document errors, or to report removing a
manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular from a real
property foundation system for the purpose of real property
recordation and county taxation.
In a surprise move, the new liberal majority of the San Diego
Board of Supervisors passed a “Just Cause” eviction ordinance and
a rent increase moratorium on all rentals throughout the entire
county, including incorporated cities. It’s a bold shift in a
county that was once thought to be a landlords’ paradise.
We are pleased to announce that SB 64 by Senator Connie Leyva
(Democrat, Chino) is now a two-year bill and has been moved to
the Senate inactive file. SB 64 will not advance out of the
Senate this year. WMA could not have accomplished this without
the assistance of our members and their involvement with
VoterVoice, and WMA’s legislative team, which discussed the
bill’s deficiencies at length with legislative staff.
APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES AUTHORIZE BILLS THAT SPEND
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS
The Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees met last
Thursday, and billions of dollars will be added to the State
Budget. Given that the Governor has signaled a $75 Billion
surplus, this is not entirely surprising but disappointing,
nonetheless.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted upon a total of 357
measures. Of those, only 55 were held in committee. Similarly,
the Assembly Appropriations Committee voted upon 537 measures and
only held 121.
Last Friday, the Governor unveiled his May Revision to the State
Budget. The budget proposal now includes paying 100% of rent to
landlords that went unpaid due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
The state anticipates a $75 billion surplus and an additional $26
billion in federal aid. The full budget anticipates
spending over $267 billion, including state and federal funds.
TRIO OF INDUSTRY BILLS PASSES COMMITTEE, WMA PREPARES FOR
FLOOR FIGHT
On Monday, the Assembly Housing and Community Development
Committee held a hearing solely to consider three
industry-specific bills.
WMA remained unwavering throughout our discussions with the
respective authors, their staff, and the committee consultant.
WMA staff also voiced our opposition and specific areas of
concern during committee testimony.
Earlier this week, the Assembly noticed that there would be a
hearing of the Assembly Housing and Community Development
Committee on May 3. They will be hearing a trio of bills directly
affecting the mobilehome park industry: Assembly Bill 861
(Bennett) dealing with subleasing, AB 978 (Quirk-Silva), the rent
control bill, and the water submetering bill, AB 1061 (Lee).
We are in discussions with key legislators, staff, and policy
consultants surrounding our respective position on these bills.
ONLINE RENTAL REGISTRY BILL AMENDED, SET FOR APRIL 29
HEARING
AB 1188 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (Democrat, Oakland) was
substantially amended, and the Assembly Housing Committee will
hear the bill on April 29.
As amended, AB 1188 (Wicks) requires HCD to retain data from
designated sources for at least ten years, including data on the
state rental assistance program, information submitted by
eligible grantees who received the federal funding, and data on
rental registries operated by local governments.
ONLINE RENTAL REGISTRY BILL WITHDRAWN FROM POLICY
COMMITTEE HEARING
Good news! AB 1188 was withdrawn from today’s Assembly Housing
Committee hearing agenda.
AB 1188 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (Democrat, Oakland) would
require local governments to establish their own online rental
registry portals by 2024. It would require landlords to register
and provide an exhaustive list of rental-related information.
Landlords would also be prohibited from raising rents or
terminating a tenancy if they fail to register.
AB 81 PASSED BY LEGISLATURE AND SIGNED BY GOVERNOR NEWSOM
ON FEBRUARY 23, 2021
Follow-up urgency legislation signed by Governor Newsom clarifies
what legislators and the governor had previously
promised: Landlords will be paid a full 80% of the rent owed
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previously signed legislation, SB 91, was not clear on this
point, providing that landlords would be paid “up to” 80%.
AB 81 clarifies this issue.
We are pleased to announce that Assemblymember Kelly Seyarto
(Republican, Riverside) has introduced AB 606 on WMA’s
behalf. AB 606 allows individuals to place 400 square feet
or less homes – also known as park models – on mobilehome park
spaces.
AB 606 re-defines “park trailers” and is an important technical
clarification that will require the Housing and Community
Development Department (HCD) to allow these homes to be placed in
currently regulated communities on a year-round basis.
What a week! WMA and CMPA lobbyists met jointly with numerous
legislators and their staff via phone call in anticipation of
both yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and upcoming
hearings.
AB 2782 (STONE) PASSES SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE WITH SB
999 (UMBERG) LANGUAGE
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the
anti-closure bill, AB 2782 (Stone). We want to share with members
the latest turn of events relative to this bill.
The month of August will cap off one of the most turbulent
sessions this state legislature has seen and the political antics
appear to be far from
over.
WMA PREPARES FOR FLOOR FLIGHT REGARDING SENATE BILL 915
(LEYVA)
The Legislature reconvened this week to a state of upheaval and
infighting between both houses, prompting several policy
committees to be postponed.
In these final weeks, lawmakers also intend to make changes to
the state’s labor laws – from workers’ compensation to paid sick
leave – to provide employer protections for those affected by
COVID-19.
Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins also announced that the Senate has
implemented procedures, which allow members to cast committee
votes remotely from their district offices if certain conditions
are met.
STATE LEGISLATURE ANNOUNCES BILL CALENDAR FOR REMAINING
YEAR
State lawmakers have announced a revised calendar for the
remainder of session. Both the Senate and the Assembly will be
returning to work in the State Capitol on July 27, but this is
certainly subject to change, as conditions remain fluid in
Sacramento. There are approximately 700 bills left
remaining (approximately 500 Assembly Bills remain and roughly
200 Senate Bills remain), and they must all be heard and voted on
by August 31.
LEGISLATURE ON HIATUS DUE TO GROWING COVID-19 CASES AMONG
LEGISLATORS, CAPITOL STAFF
Lawmakers were set to return from their summer recess this week;
however, in light of the emerging cases of COVID-19 among
lawmakers and capitol staff, both houses recently announced a
revised return date of July 27.
Senator Connie Leyva presented SB 915 on the Senate floor
yesterday. SB 915 passed by a vote of 29-11.
In anticipation of this vote coming up, we distributed a detailed
floor alert to all Senators and launched a VoterVoice campaign to
the membership. Our thanks to everyone who participated. We are
pleased with the overall response that the campaign
generated.
Throughout the course of the week, WMA’s Government Affairs team
continued to engage in discussions with legislative staff, sent a
targeted floor alert, and enlisted the WMA membership to “take
action” on SB 999 (Umberg) using the VoterVoice online campaign
platform. Thank you to all who have participated in this
effort using our VoterVoice platform or our traditional “Red
Alert” system.
WMA joins coalition opposed to Assembly Bill 1436
(Chiu)
“Between the stories I’ve heard from communities across our state
and the extensive studies conducted on the costs of housing, it
has become clear to me that we simply cannot achieve our
ambitious housing goals without working to reform fees that are
exclusionary and regressive,” said Assemblymember Grayson. “Today
my colleagues and I have put forward a package to dramatically
increase our housing supply, produce housing that is attainable
for working families at all income levels, and ensure that fees
being placed on new development are justified.”
California Democrats unveiled on Monday a package of eight
proposals that attempt to spur construction of new homes by
slashing some of the fees that local governments charge for
building permits.
