§ 6236 - Lease terms; mobile home parks - Vermont Statutes

§ 6236. Lease terms; mobile home parks

(a) All terms governing the use and occupancy of a mobile home lot shall be contained in a written lease. Mobile home park owners shall promulgate reasonable and fair lease terms governing the use and occupancy of a mobile home lot and shall furnish an initial copy of the lease to leaseholders. Any lease term that prohibits or in any other manner obstructs the ability of any leaseholder to act in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall be unenforceable. Any lease term which is not uniformly applied to all leaseholders of the same or a similar category shall be unenforceable, except that a park owner may establish a different lot rent rate for a mobile home park constructed after June 1, 1995, or for new lots in an expanded mobile home park constructed after June 1, 1995. Mobile home park owners shall not restrict access by representatives of the department to the leaseholders of the park.

(b) A lease term requiring the removal from a mobile home park of a mobile home that is detrimental to the other residents of the park for either health, safety or aesthetic reasons shall not be considered unreasonable or unfair.

(c) Prospective leaseholders shall be furnished with a copy of the proposed lease prior to any agreement to use or occupy a mobile home lot, and upon acceptance of the lease terms the lease shall be signed by the lessor and lessee. Any provision in a lease governing rental and utility charges shall be effective for a minimum of one year, except in the case of a new leaseholder in a mobile home park in which there is a uniform rent schedule that affects all lots in that park simultaneously. The initial lease for a new leaseholder may include the anticipated increase in the rent and utility charge at the time it occurs for the other lots. A mobile home park owner shall provide leaseholders with a minimum of 60 days notice prior to any rent increase. Rent increase notices shall not be given within six months prior to the issuance of a closure notice or at any time during which the closure notice is in effect. All rent increases received by the park owner during the six months prior to the issuance of a closure notice shall be returned to the affected leaseholders within seven days of issuance of the closure notice, except when the commissioner determines the rent increase is needed to help remedy an emergency situation that affects the resident's health, safety, or welfare. This subsection shall not apply to proprietary leases in mobile home parks owned by limited equity housing cooperatives established under chapter 14 of Title 11. The rental and utility charge may be increased during a year if the operating expenses of the park increase 20 percent or more during that year as the result of legislative action taken during that year and the increase could not have been anticipated. The rental and utility charge may be increased during a year only to the extent necessary to cover the increase in operating expenses of the park.

(d) No person shall sell, lease, or sublease a mobile home or sublease or assign a lease for a lot in a mobile home park without first obtaining the written approval of the park owner, which shall not be unreasonably withheld. A violation of this subsection shall be grounds for eviction.

(e) All mobile home lot leases shall contain the following:

(1) Rental and utility charges and other reasonable incidental service charges, if any.

(A) No charges other than properly disclosed charges for rent, utilities, or other reasonable incidental services may be imposed or collected.

(2) Names and addresses of the park owners.

(3) Notice that the owner shall not discriminate for reasons of race, creed, color, sex, marital status, handicap, or national origin or because a person is a recipient of public assistance.

(4) Notice that the owner shall not discriminate based on age, except as permitted under 9 V.S.A. § 4503(b) and (c). If age restrictions exist in all or part of a park, the specific restrictions and geographic sections in which restrictions apply shall be documented in the lease.

(5) The requirement to obtain permission from the park owner prior to leasing or selling a mobile home or assigning or subleasing a lease for a mobile home lot to another person.

(6) The notice required from a leaseholder in order to terminate the lease or occupancy arrangement.

(7) An effective date of the lease.

(f) A copy of all new lease terms shall be furnished to all leaseholders at least 30 days prior to the effective date of any amendment, addition, or deletion of the existing lease terms. Upon request, the park owner shall provide to any leaseholder a copy of the current lease for his or her lot. (Added 1973, No. 264 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; amended 1987, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1989, No. 229 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 1993, No. 141 (Adj. Sess.), § 10, eff. May 6, 1994; 1995, No. 33, § 3, eff. June 1, 1995; 1997, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 23, 1998; 2007, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), § 57.)