Legislature Was Busy Introducing 2,632 Bills – The Most Since 2007

Last Friday was the bill introduction deadline for the California State Legislature, and there were 2,632 bills and 11 Constitutional Amendments introduced which is the highest number since 2007.

WMA has identified at least 18 bills as high priority for the manufactured housing industry.  Among the highest priority include:

Assembly Bill 1035 (Muratsuchi, D-Torrance) – HIGEST PRIORITY

This bill is the most harmful one WMA has faced in decades.

It would impose statewide rent control on mobilehome parks.  Under the initial proposal, rents would be capped at 5% per year and includes FULL vacancy control unless a new home is placed on the space.  Defeating this legislation is our HIGHEST priority, and WMA staff is fully engaged with all hands-on deck bringing in other associations and business organizations to defeat it.

Be on the lookout for requests to weigh in with legislators asking for a “NO” vote on this measure.  WMA understands the importance of killing this measure, and efforts are underway to build a solid coalition that will protect your private property rights.

Assembly Bill 318 (Addis, D-San Luis Obispo and Monterey)

This bill would make the $10 per space fee imposed on parkowners to fund the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program (MRLPP) created by Assembly Bill 3066 permanent.  This program is set to expire at the end of 2023 and has collected over $9 million but has spent just over $3 million over the program’s lifetime leaving a balance of $6.4 million. WMA staff is working to defeat this measure.  Please stay on the lookout for further information about this proposal.

Assembly Bill 1097 (Luz Rivas, D-Los Angeles County)

This bill would prohibit the use of a person’s credit history as part of the application process for rental housing.  Credit history is a vital piece of information in determining whether an application for housing should be approved.  WMA is actively working against this proposal and WMA will keep members informed about its status.

Assembly Bill 661 (Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin)

This bill is sponsored by WMA and would allow for the electronic notification of unforeseen utility disruptions to residents of manufactured housing communities.  Existing law requires paper notices to be distributed when management is notified of utility disruptions but does not allow for electronic notification.

Assembly Bill 1639 (Hoover, R-Sacramento County)

This legislation is sponsored by WMA and would pave the way to allow manufactured housing communities to have PUC regulated water delivery companies assume responsibility for providing water to residents in mobilehome parks.

To view a list of the remainder of bills identified as “Priority” by WMA, please click on the following link:

https://www.wma.org/bills-interest

Federal Court Bars State Interference with Mandatory Arbitration Clauses

Last week, the Ninth Circuit handed down a ruling that vindicates federally protected arbitration rights for employers (and perhaps parkowners) who want to avoid unwieldy lawsuits.

Arbitration is favored in the policies expressed in the Federal Arbitration Act. On the other hand, California’s Assembly Bill 51 (Gonzalez) bars unilateral arbitration options for employment agreements.

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that California law tramples on federal policy and invalidates protected rights. Moreover, federal law is not limited to protection of employment rights: this precedent arguably preempts the Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) and California’s landlord tenant laws, which restrict arbitration rights as well.

This decision may affect legal disputes including the Failure to Maintain (FTM) lawsuit. If the Ninth Circuit precedent applies to the MRL and homeowners have many of the benefits of arbitration, retired judges can make decisions on FTM disputes, MRLPP claims, rules evictions, and all manner of legal disputes defined and covered by arbitration.

To read the entire opinion from the Ninth Circuit, please click on the following link:

cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2023/02/15/20-15291.pdf

Grant Funding Available for Prefabricated Zero Carbon Homes

GTI Energy has alerted WMA about a potential grant funding opportunity from the California Energy Commission to develop highly efficient all-electric manufactured homes that would meet or exceed Title 24 Building Efficiency Standards, include on-site solar generation and battery storage, and achieve zero-carbon operation with drastically lower monthly electricity bills.

GTI is leading a proposal team to build and install one or more manufactured homes. To learn more, please click on the following link:

GFO-22-305 – Advanced Prefabricated Zero Carbon Homes

Please also contact Kaushik Biswas at GTI Energy directly at KBiswas@gti.energy to learn more about the opportunities associated with this grant funding.

High Speed Internet – Last Call for Federal Funds Availability

Over the past several weeks, this update has informed WMA members about an opportunity to access federal funds to build a broadband network in mobilehome parks.  The March 31^st deadline to apply for these funds is quickly approaching. Response to prior requests has been strong, and we encourage interested individuals to contact Kwikbit by March 10^th to allow for proper processing time.  To learn more about the potential of installing fast and reliable internet speeds of up to 1,000 mbps for residents in your parks, please visit the following site:

www.kwikbit.com/gov

Thank you for the opportunity to serve, and please feel free to e-mail me at chris@wma.org or call me on my direct line at (916) 288-4026 with any questions.