Requires manufactured home park owners to provide a written justification for rent increases in excess of three percent of the current rent; provides that increases in costs to justify such rent increase for ordinary maintenance or repair to meet the warranty of habitability obligations must be shown to be necessary.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5704
SPONSOR: Barrett TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property law, in relation to increases of rent
in manufactured home parks
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
Clarify existing Requires requirements of manufactured home park owners
to provide written justify justification for rent increases in excess of
3% of the current rent.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
§ 1- Amends § 233-b of the Real Property Law to add a new subdivision 9
and subdivision 10. The new subdivision 9 would require when a manufac-
tured home park owner notifies the manufactured homeowners in the park
of a rent or fee increase and the increase is in excess of 3% above the
current rent, the manufactured home park owner shall provide a written
justification for the increase and make such documentation, written
supporting the justification available to any resident, by request,
documentation, that show the costs and commencement of work that justify
the rent or fee increase.
The new subdivision 10 details that in order for an increase in costs to
justify a rent increase above 3%, the community owner must demonstrate
that the costs incurred for ordinary maintenance, including preventive
maintenance, or repair of the roads, infrastructure, or other community
property of services was necessary to meet the community owner's warran-
ty of habitability obligations and demonstrate that the rent increase
imposed was no more than was necessary to cover the actual and reason-
able cost of the work performed.
§ 2-Renumbers the other § 233-b of the Real Property Law entitled "Camp-
grounds" to § 233-c.
§ 32-Effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION:
The changes made in subdivision 9 were to require documentation but
remove the words, "including official accounting documents" with regard
to written justification of a rent increase and to replace the word,
"completion" with "commencement". The change in subdivision 10 was to
remove the reference to paragraph (b) of subdivision two of section
233-b of the Real Property Law.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York State has approximately 84,956 manufactured home households in
nearly 1,818 manufactured home parks. These communities provide afforda-
ble homes and tight-knit communities for seniors on fixed incomes,
veterans, low-income families, immigrants, people with disabilities, and
people being displaced from higher-cost areas. In 2019, the legislature
recognized that these communities, a critical source of rural and exur-
ban affordable housing, are under threat.
Large, corporate, multi-state investors have been pouring into the manu-
factured home community sector, buying up communities and dramatically
raising lot rent (the rent residents pay for the land beneath their
homes) and fees for large profit. To address this threat, the legisla-
ture adopted rent justification for manufactured home communities as
part of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. The law
needs minor fixes to be effective, which is the purpose of this bill.
Under the rent justification law, codified in § 233-b of the Real Prop-
erty Law, all manufactured home community owners (except those with a
regulatory agreement with a government entity) are permitted to increase
the rent (all rent, fees, costs, assessments, and utilities) annually up
to 3% above the current rent. A rent increase above 3% must be justified
by increases in the park owner's operating expenses, the property taxes
on the park, or the costs that relate directly to capital improvements
in the park. Aggrieved manufactured homeowners may challenge an increase
above 3% as unjustified, within 90 days, by filing an action in court.
Rent increases cannot exceed 6% unless the court finds a temporary hard-
ship on the manufactured home park owner.
Since the law went into effect, mobile home residents have reported
loopholes that require legislative fixes. Residents report that mobile
home park owners have increased rent above 3% without notifying the
residents that the rent increase exceeded allowable limits nor without
any justification. Residents, with the assistance of advocacy organiza-
tions, had to calculate the rent increase to determine if it was above
the allowable limit and would have had to find legal counsel and file an
action to receive a justification from the park owner. This bill fixes
the process by requiring park owners to provide residents with a written
justification for an annual rent increase that is above 3%, and to make
available to residents the documentation of that justification.
Further, residents report that the current law does not provide enough
clarity on what constitutes a justification for an increase above 3%.
This bill clarifies that in order for an increase in costs to justify a
rent increase above 3%, the community owner must demonstrate that the
costs incurred for ordinary maintenance, including preventive mainte-
nance, or repair of the roads, infrastructure, or other community prop-
erty of services was necessary to meet the community owner's warranty of
habitability obligations and demonstrate that the rent increase imposed
was no more than was necessary to cover the actual and reasonable cost
of the work performed.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-2022: A.6755-C/S.6199-C.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5704
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 22, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BARRETT, THIELE, KELLES, NORRIS, WOERNER, RIVERA,
WALLACE, BRABENEC, SMITH, J. A. GIGLIO, EPSTEIN, MEEKS, GANDOLFO --
read once and referred to the Committee on Housing
AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to increases of rent
in manufactured home parks
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 233-b of the real property law, as added by section
2 12 of part O of chapter 36 of the laws of 2019, is amended by adding two
3 new subdivisions 9 and 10 to read as follows:
4 9. When a manufactured home park owner notifies the manufactured home-
5 owners in the park of a rent or fee increase and the increase is in
6 excess of three percent above the current rent, the manufactured home
7 park owner shall provide a written justification for the increase that
8 complies with this section and make available to any resident, by
9 request, documentation that show the costs and commencement of work that
10 justify the rent increase pursuant to this section, as applicable.
11 10. In order for an increase in costs to justify a rent increase above
12 three percent pursuant to paragraph (a) or (c) of subdivision two of
13 this section for costs incurred for ordinary maintenance, including
14 preventive maintenance, or repair of the roads, infrastructure, or other
15 community property or services, the community owner must demonstrate
16 that the work performed was necessary to meet the community owner's
17 warranty of habitability obligations under subdivision m of section two
18 hundred thirty-three of this article, and demonstrate that the rent
19 increase imposed was no more than was necessary to cover the actual and
20 reasonable cost of the work performed.
21 § 2 Section 233-b of the real property law, as added by chapter 654 of
22 the laws of 2019, is renumbered section 233-c.
23 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01419-01-3
