- Assembly Bill No. 522-Committee on Commerce
CHAPTER
303
- AN ACT relating to mobile home parks; making various changes regarding mobile home parks that are not operated for profit; revising the provision regarding the charge authorized for certain guests in a mobile home park; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
[Approved July 5, 1997]
- THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 118B.095 is hereby amended to read as follows:
118B.095 1. The landlord shall authorize each manager and assistant manager to make repairs himself or enter into a contract with a third party for the repairs.
2. [The] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, the manager shall contract with a third party to provide emergency repairs for the tenants on the occasions when the manager and assistant manager are not physically present in the park. The manager shall notify each tenant of the telephone number of the third party who will make the repairs, and direct the tenants to call him when an emergency repair is needed and the manager and assistant manager are not physically present in the park. The telephone number so provided must be that of the third party directly. The provision of the telephone number of an answering service does not fulfill this requirement. If the manager or assistant manager [are] is present in the park, any request for repairs must be made to him and not the third party.
3. The provisions of subsection 2 do not apply to a mobile home park that is owned by:
(a) A nonprofit organization; or
(b) A housing authority,
if the nonprofit organization or housing authority has established an alternative method to provide emergency repairs for tenants in a timely manner.
4. As used in this section, "repairs" means only repairs to the property of the owner of the mobile home park.
Sec. 2. NRS 118B.150 is hereby amended to read as follows:
118B.150 The landlord or his agent or employee shall not:
1. Increase rent or additional charges unless:
(a) The rental increase is the same for mobile homes of the same size or lots of the same size or of a similar location or classification within the park, except that a discount may be selectively given to persons who are handicapped or who are 62 years of age or older, and any increase in additional charges for special services is the same amount for each tenant using the special service; and
(b) Written notice advising a tenant of the increase is received by the tenant 90 days before the first payment to be increased and written notice of the increase is given to prospective tenants before commencement of their tenancy. In addition to the notice provided to a tenant pursuant to this paragraph, if the landlord or his agent or employee knows or reasonably should know that the tenant receives assistance from the fund created pursuant to NRS 188B.215, the landlord or his agent or employee shall provide to the administrator written notice of the increase 90 days before the first payment to be increased.
2. Require a tenant to pay for an improvement to the common area of a mobile home park unless the landlord is required to make the improvement pursuant to an ordinance of a local government.
3. Require a tenant to pay for a capital improvement to the mobile home park unless the tenant has notice of the requirement at the time he enters into the rental agreement. A tenant may not be required to pay for a capital improvement after the tenant enters into the rental agreement unless the tenant consents to it in writing or is given 60 days' notice of the requirement in writing. The landlord may not establish such a requirement unless a meeting of the tenants is held to discuss the proposal and the landlord provides each tenant with notice of the proposal and the date, time and place of the meeting not less than 60 days before the meeting. The notice must include a copy of the proposal. A notice in a periodic publication of the park does not constitute notice for the purposes of this subsection.
4. Require a tenant to pay his rent by check or money order.
5. Require a tenant who pays his rent in cash to apply any change to which he is entitled to the next periodic payment that is due. The landlord or his agent or employee shall have an adequate amount of money available to provide change to such a tenant.
6. Prohibit or require fees or deposits for any meetings held in the park's community or recreational facility by the tenants or occupants of any mobile home or recreational vehicle in the park to discuss the park's affairs, or any political or social meeting sponsored by a tenant, if the meetings are held at reasonable hours and when the facility is not otherwise in use, or prohibit the distribution of notices of those meetings.
7. Interrupt, with the intent to terminate occupancy, any utility service furnished the tenant except for nonpayment of utility charges when due. Any landlord who violates this subsection is liable to the tenant for actual damages.
8. Prohibit a tenant from having guests, but he may require the tenant to register the guest within 48 hours after his arrival, Sundays and holidays excluded, and if the park is a secured park, a guest may be required to register upon entering and leaving.
9. Charge a fee for a guest who does not stay with the tenant for more than a total of 60 days in a calendar year. The tenant of a mobile home lot who is living alone may allow one other person to live in his home without paying [any] an additional charge or fee [.] , unless such a living arrangement constitutes a violation of chapter 315 of NRS. No agreement between a tenant and his guest alters or varies the terms of the rental contract between the tenant and the landlord and the guest is subject to the rules and regulations of the landlord.
10. Prohibit a tenant from erecting a fence along the perimeter of the tenant's lot if the fence complies with any standards for fences established by the landlord, including limitations established for the height of fences, the materials used for fences and the manner in which fences are to be constructed.
11. Prohibit any tenant from soliciting membership in any association which is formed by the tenants who live in the park. As used in this subsection, "solicit" means to make an oral or written request for membership or the payment of dues or to distribute, circulate or post a notice for payment of those dues.
12. Prohibit a public officer or candidate for public office from walking through the park to talk with the tenants.
Sec. 3. NRS 118B.200 is hereby amended to read as follows:
118B.200 Notwithstanding the expiration of a period of a tenancy, the rental agreement described in NRS 118B.190 may not be terminated except for:
1. Failure of the tenant to pay rent, utility charges or reasonable service fees within 10 days after written notice of delinquency served upon the tenant in the manner provided in NRS 40.280;
2. Failure of the tenant to correct any noncompliance with a law, ordinance or governmental regulation pertaining to mobile homes or recreational vehicles or a valid rule or regulation established pursuant to NRS 118B.100 or to cure any violation of the rental agreement within a reasonable time after receiving written notification of noncompliance or violation;
3. Conduct of the tenant in the mobile home park which constitutes an annoyance to other tenants;
4. Violation of valid rules of conduct, occupancy or use of park facilities after written notice of the violation is served upon the tenant in the manner provided in NRS 40.280;
5. A change in the use of the land by the landlord pursuant to NRS 118B.180; or
6. Conduct of the tenant which constitutes a nuisance as defined in NRS 40.140 or which violates a state law or local ordinance.
7. In a mobile home park that is owned by a nonprofit organization or housing authority, failure of the tenant to meet qualifications relating to age or income which:
(a) Are set forth in the lease signed by the tenant; and
(b) Comply with federal, state and local law.
Sec. 4. NRS 118B.213 is hereby amended to read as follows:
118B.2131. In addition to the fee established pursuant to NRS 118B.185, except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, the owner of a mobile home park that is operated for profit shall pay to the division an annual fee of $12 for each lot within the park. The owner shall not impose a fee or surcharge to recover from his tenants the costs resulting from the annual fee per lot paid pursuant to this subsection, or any related penalty.
2. The administrator shall notify the owner of each mobile home park that is operated for profit in this state on or before July 1 of each year of the fee imposed pursuant to this section.
3. If on May 15 of that year the balance in the fund which is attributable to deposits pursuant to this section exceeds $1,000,000, the administrator shall not charge or collect a fee pursuant to this section. The administrator shall resume the collection in any year when the balance on May 15 is less than $750,000. The administrator shall request the state treasurer to inform him of the applicable balance of the fund on May 15 of each year.
4. If an owner fails to pay the fee within 30 days after receiving written notice from the administrator to do so, a penalty of 50 percent of the amount of the fee must be added.
5. All fees and penalties collected by the division pursuant to this section must be deposited in the state treasury for credit to the fund.
Sec. 5. NRS 118B.215 is hereby amended to read as follows:
118B.215 1. There is hereby created as a special revenue fund in the state treasury the fund for low-income owners of mobile homes, to be administered by the division. All money received for the use of the fund pursuant to NRS 118B.213 or from any other source must be deposited in the fund.
2. The interest and income earned on the money in the fund, after deducting any applicable charges, must be credited to the fund. All claims against the fund must be paid as other claims against the state are paid.
3. The money in the fund may be used only to pay necessary administrative costs and to assist eligible persons by supplementing their monthly rent for the mobile home lot on which their mobile home is located. To be eligible for assistance from the fund a person must:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, have been a tenant in the same mobile home park in this state for at least 1 year immediately preceding his application for assistance;
(b) Be the registered owner of the mobile home which is subject to the tenancy, as indicated on the certificate of ownership that is issued by the division pursuant to NRS 489.541;
(c) Have a monthly household income which is at or below:
(1) The federally designated level signifying poverty or $750, whichever is greater, if the person is the sole occupant of the mobile home; or
(2) The federally designated level signifying poverty or $1,125, whichever is greater, if the person is not the sole occupant of the mobile home;
(d) Be a tenant in a mobile home park that is operated for profit and maintain continuous tenancy in that park during the duration of the supplemental assistance; and
(e) Not have assets whose value is more than $10,000, excluding the value of the mobile home which is subject to the tenancy, the contents of that mobile home and one motor vehicle.
A person who has been a tenant of a mobile home park in this state for at least 1 year, but has not been a tenant of the mobile home park in which he resides at the time he applies for assistance for at least 1 year, is eligible for assistance from the fund if he moved to the mobile home park in which he resides at the time of his application because he was unable to pay the rent at the mobile home park from which he moved or because that park was closed.
4. The administrator shall adopt regulations establishing:
(a) The annual reporting requirements for persons receiving assistance pursuant to this section. The regulations must require that each such person provide the division with a written acknowledgment of his continued eligibility for assistance.
(b) The maximum amount of assistance which may be distributed to a person to supplement his monthly rent pursuant to this section.
5. As used in this section:
(a) "Mobile home" includes a travel trailer that is located on a mobile home lot within a mobile home park.
(b) "Monthly household income" means the combined monthly incomes of the occupants of a mobile home which is subject to the tenancy for which assistance from the fund is requested.
(c) "Travel trailer" has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 489.150.
Sec. 6. This act becomes effective on July 1, 1997.
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