Bill Text: AZ HB2189 | 2025 | Fifty-seventh Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Mobile home park managers; training
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-21 - Assigned to House RULES Committee [HB2189 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2025-HB2189-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: mobile home park managers; training |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session 2025
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HB 2189 |
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Introduced by Representative Bliss
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AN ACT
amending sections 33-1409, 33-1437 and 33-1476.02, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to the Arizona mobile home parks residential landlord and tenant act.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 33-1409, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
33-1409. Definitions
In this chapter unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Action" includes recoupment, counterclaim, setoff, suit in equity and any other proceeding in which rights are determined, including an action for possession.
2. "Agent" means a mobile home park employee, contractor, park manager or assistant manger or a person who is otherwise acting in an on-site or off-site MANAGERIAL capacity or role.
2. 3. "Anniversary date" means an annual date applying to all tenants stated in the rental agreement on which the landlord may adjust the amount of rent.
3. 4. "Appurtenances" means awnings, sheds, porches and other attachments to the mobile home.
4. 5. "Building and housing codes" includes any law, ordinance or governmental regulation concerning fitness for habitation, or the construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use or appearance of any premises, dwelling unit or mobile home space.
5. 6. "Change in use" means either of the following:
(a) A change in the use of land from the rental of mobile home spaces in a mobile home park to some other use.
(b) The redevelopment of the mobile home park.
6. "Compatible" means a mobile home that is in a similar condition as the majority of the other mobile homes in the mobile home park, as determined by the maintenance, condition and overall appearance of the mobile home.
7. "Department" means the Arizona department of housing.
7. 8. "Director" means the director of the Arizona department of housing.
8. 9. "Dwelling unit" excludes does not include real property used to accommodate a mobile home.
9. 10. "Educational program" means a class, workshop or educational convention that primarily instructs attendees on issues dealing with the operation of a mobile home park and that is sponsored by a nonprofit organization whose sole or primary purpose is the advocacy and promotion of the rental mobile home parks industry.
10. 11. "Fund" means the mobile home relocation fund.
11. 12. "Good faith" means honesty in fact in the conduct or transaction concerned.
12. 13. "Guest" means a nonresident, over and above the occupancy limit set for the resident's space under the terms of the rental agreement or by park rules, of a mobile home park who stays at the home of a person with constructive possession of the home with the consent of the resident for one or more nights and not more than thirty days in any twelve-month period.
13. 14. "Landlord" means the owner, lessor, sublessor or operator, or any combination thereof, of a mobile home park and it also means a manager of the premises who fails to disclose as required by section 33-1432.
14. 15. "Mobile home":
(a) Means either of the following:
(i) A residential structure that was manufactured on or before June 15, 1976, that is transportable in one or more sections, eight feet or more in body width, over thirty feet in body length with the hitch, built on an integral chassis, designed to be used as a dwelling when connected to the required utilities and not originally sold as a travel trailer or recreational vehicle and that includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems in the structure.
(ii) A manufactured home built after June 15, 1976, originally bearing an appropriate insignia of approval issued by the United States department of housing and urban development.
(b) Does not include either of the following:
(i) A recreational vehicle such as a motor home, camping trailer, van, fifth wheel trailer or other type of recreational vehicle.
(ii) A structure known as a park model trailer that is a structure built on a single chassis, mounted on wheels and designed to be connected to the utilities necessary for the operation of installed fixtures and appliances and that has a gross interior area of not less than three hundred twenty square feet and not more than four hundred square feet when prepared for occupancy.
15. 16. "Mobile home park" means any parcel of land that contains four or more mobile home spaces.
16. 17. "Mobile home space" means a parcel of land for rent that has been designed to accommodate a mobile home and provide the required sewer and utility connections.
17. 18. "Moving expenses" means the cost incurred by the tenant whose mobile home is moved for taking down, transporting and setting up the mobile home with the identical, or substantially similar, improvements as were attached to the tenant's mobile home on the mobile home space from which it was removed but does not include the cost of landscaping or the cost of utility lines, trenching or utility connections located in excess of twenty-five feet from the point of hookup on the mobile home.
18. 19. "Organization" includes a corporation, limited liability company, government, governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, two or more persons having a joint or common interest and any other legal or commercial entity that is a landlord, owner, manager or designated agent pursuant to section 33-1432.
19. 20. "Owner":
(a) Means one or more persons, jointly or severally, in whom is vested all or part of the legal title to property or all or part of the beneficial ownership and a right to present use and enjoyment of the premises.
(b) Includes a mortgagee in possession.
20. 21. "Park manager" means the person who is primarily responsible for the day-to-day operation of a mobile home park.
21. 22. "Person" includes a company, partnership or firm as well as a natural person.
22. 23. "Premises" means the mobile home park and its existing facilities and appurtenances, including furniture and utilities where applicable, and grounds, areas and existing facilities held out for the use of tenants generally or whose use is promised to the tenant.
23. 24. "Prospective tenant" means a person who desires to become a tenant.
24. 25. "Redevelopment of the mobile home park" means that the spaces being redeveloped shall remain vacant for at least one hundred eighty days after the effective date of all change in use notices that are given to the tenants and either of the following applies:
(a) A minimum of twenty-five percent of the spaces in the park, in groups of at least five contiguous spaces, are being changed into an upgraded mobile home park.
(b) A minimum of twenty-five of the total number of spaces in the park, in groups of at least five contiguous spaces, are being changed into an upgraded mobile home park.
25. 26. "Rent" means payments to be made to the landlord or designated agent in full consideration for the rented premises.
26. 27. "Rental agreement" means leases or agreements and valid rules adopted under section 33-1452 embodying the terms and conditions concerning the use and occupancy of a mobile home space and premises, and includes month-to-month tenancies that arise out of the expiration of a written rental agreement pursuant to section 33-1413.
27. 28. "Resident" means a person entitled under a rental agreement to occupy a mobile home space to the exclusion of others and does not include a person rendering necessary care or services under section 33-1413.03.
28. 29. "Security" or "security deposit" means any refundable money or property given to assure payment or performance under a rental agreement.
29. 30. "Tenant" means a person signing a rental agreement or otherwise agreeing with a landlord for the occupancy of a mobile home space.
30. 31. "Visitor" means a nonresident of a mobile home park who stays at the home of a resident with the consent of the resident but does not stay overnight.
Sec. 2. Section 33-1437, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
33-1437. Agents; education and training requirements; third-party providers; review; certification; posting; complaints; civil penalty; surcharge
A. Within six months after employment as a park manager, a park manager shall complete at least six hours of educational programs and shall complete at least six additional hours of educational programs every two years.
A. Either DIRECTLY or through its agent, each landlord shall complete APPROPRIATE education and training every two years as PRESCRIBED by this section. The education and training may use various methods of instruction, including lectures, instructional videos and online courses.
B. THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF THE REQUIRED EDUCATION AND TRAINING SHALL BE the following:
1. THE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF HOMEOWNERS AND MANAGEMENT.
2. MaNAGEMENT'S RESPONSE TO HOMEOWNER COMPLAINTS.
3. COMMUNICATION WITH HOMEOWNERS.
4. ANY CHANGES OR UPDATES TO THE Arizona mobile home parks residential landlord and tenant act prescribed in this CHAPTER FROM THE TWO PRIOR CALENDAR YEARS.
C. THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING prescribed by THIS SECTION SHALL REFERENCE, AT a MINIMUM, THE following PROVISIONS OF this CHAPTER:
1. The RENTAL AGREEMENT as PRESCRIBED in sections 33-1413, 33-1414, 33-1415 and 33-1432.
2. TENANT OBLIGATIONS as PRESCRIBED IN ARTICLE 3 of this chapter, INCLUDING section 33-1452 relating to rules and regulations.
3. LANDLORD OBLIGATIONS as PRESCRIBED IN this ARTICLE, including section 33-1434, relating to the landlord's obligation TO MAINTAIN FIT PREMISES.
4. Section 33-1413.01 relating to UTILITY CHARGES.
5. REMEDIES FOR LANDLORDS AND TENANTS as prescribed in article 4 of this chapter.
D. THE DIRECTOR SHALL allow A THIRD-PARTY PROVIDER TO OFFER THe EDUCATION AND TRAINING prescribed by this section FOR THE PERIOD OF TIME THE DIRECTOR DETERMINES that THE THIRD-PARTY PROVIDER IS QUALIFIED AND that the provider's TRAINING CURRICULUM AND MATERIALS ARE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THIS SECTION. AFTER A THIRD-PARTY PROVIDER IS allowed TO OFFER THIS TRAINING, THE Department SHALL REVIEW THE THIRD-PARTY PROVIDER'S TRAINING CURRICULUM AND MATERIALS EVERY TWO YEARS FOR CONTINUED COMPLIANCE WITH THIS section. IN APPROVING THE TRAINING CURRICULUM AND MATERIALS, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL CONSIDER THE MOST PREVALENT OR COMMON COMPLAINTS RECEIVED, AND, BASED ON THE FINDINGS OF ITS REVIEW, THE DEPARTMENT MAY REQUIRE REVISIONS TO THE CONTENT FOR THE TRAINING CURRICULUM AND MATERIALS.
E. ON SUBMITTING DOCUMENTATION OF THE INITIAL REQUIRED EDUCATION AND TRAINING, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL ISSUE THE landlord or AGENT A CERTIFICATE that is valid FOR TWO YEARS. On or before the certificate's expiration date, the certificate holder shall SUBMIT A RENEWAL request on a FORM PROVIDED BY THE DEPARTMENT that INCLUDES DOCUMENTATION OF the holder's subsequent ADDITIONAL REQUIRED EDUCATION AND TRAINING.
B. f. A park manager Either DIRECTLY or through its agent, each landlord shall post proof of completion of and compliance with the educational program education and training requirements prescribed by this section in a conspicuous place at the mobile home park.
C. g. A tenant may file a complaint with the director if, on request from the tenant, the tenant’s park manager cannot produce proof of completion of the requirements prescribed in this section. If a mobile home park is found to be out of compliance with this section as a result of a tenant complaint filed with the director or on the director's own investigation, the director shall issue a show cause order to the landlord directing the landlord to provide proof that the education and training requirements of subsection A this section have been satisfied. If the landlord fails to produce satisfactory evidence of compliance or fails to respond within thirty days after service by certified mail of the show cause order, the director shall impose a five hundred dollar civil penalty of $500, with an additional five hundred dollar $500 per month civil penalty to accrue each full calendar month beginning with the second month following service of the notice of imposition of civil penalty. All civil penalties shall be exonerated if, within six months after service of the notice of imposition of civil penalty, the landlord furnishes satisfactory evidence of compliance. Otherwise, the matter shall be referred to the attorney general for enforcement and collection of the civil penalties and a ten per cent percent surcharge on the total amount of the civil penalties collected. All civil penalties shall be deposited, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, in the state general fund and the ten per cent percent surcharge shall be deposited, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, in the mobile home relocation fund.
Sec. 3. Section 33-1476.02, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
33-1476.02. Mobile home relocation fund; investment of monies
A. The mobile home relocation fund is established consisting of monies collected pursuant to sections 33-1476.03 and 33-2151 and any surcharge collected pursuant to section 33-1437. The director shall administer the fund.
B. Fund monies shall be used as prescribed in sections 33-1476.04 and 41-4008 and to pay premiums and other costs of purchasing, from a private insurer who is licensed to transact insurance business in this state, insurance coverage for tenant relocation costs due to a change in use as prescribed in sections 33-1476.01, 33-1476.05, 33-2149 and 33-2150. Any insurance rebates shall be deposited in the fund. If such insurance is not available, or if the insurance costs exceed the amount available from the fund, the fund shall be used to make direct payments for tenant relocation costs. Monies in the fund in excess of the amount required for these purposes shall be used, as necessary, to support the Arizona department of housing's department's administration of the hearing function pursuant to section 41-4062 and the Arizona department of housing's department's administration of show cause hearings regarding compliance with section 33-1437, subsection C.
C. On notice from the director, the state treasurer shall invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35-313, and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund. Any unexpended and unencumbered monies remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year do not revert to the state general fund but remain in the fund, separately accounted for, as a contingency reserve.
D. The director shall adopt, amend or repeal rules pursuant to title 41, chapter 6 for the administration of the fund. Fund monies shall be paid to the Arizona department of housing to offset the costs of administering the fund, including the direct and indirect costs of processing applications for reimbursement submitted under section 41-4008 and administering the direct and indirect costs of ensuring compliance with section 33-1437, subsection C. The attorney general shall review the costs charged to the fund.
