Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
                      SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6059
                       Chapter 325, Laws of 2024
                               68th Legislature
                             2024 Regular Session
   MANUFACTURED/MOBILE HOME COMMUNITIES—SALE OR LEASE—VARIOUS
                            PROVISIONS
                      EFFECTIVE DATE: June 6, 2024
Passed by the Senate March 5, 2024                   CERTIFICATE
  Yeas 49 Nays 0
                                        I, Sarah Bannister, Secretary of
                                        the   Senate   of   the   State  of
              DENNY HECK                Washington, do hereby certify that
President of the Senate                 the attached is SUBSTITUTE SENATE
                                        BILL 6059 as passed by the Senate
                                        and the House of Representatives on
                                        the dates hereon set forth.
Passed by the House February 29, 2024
  Yeas 96 Nays 0
                                                  SARAH BANNISTER
            LAURIE JINKINS                                           Secretary
Speaker of the House of
Representatives
Approved March 28, 2024 10:43 AM                        FILED
                                                    March 29, 2024
                                                Secretary of State
              JAY INSLEE                        State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
                           SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6059
                             AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
                   Passed Legislature - 2024 Regular Session
     State of Washington         68th Legislature        2024 Regular Session
     By Senate Housing (originally sponsored by Senators Frame, McCune,
     Keiser, Kuderer, Randall, Saldaña, Valdez, Van De Wege, Wellman, and
     C. Wilson)
     READ FIRST TIME 01/25/24.
      AN ACT Relating to the sale or lease of manufactured/mobile home
  communities and the property on which they sit; and amending RCW
  59.20.030, 59.20.325, 59.20.330, 59.20.335, 59.20.080, 59.21.030, and
  59.21.040.
  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
     Sec. 1. RCW 59.20.030 and 2023 c 40 s 2 are each amended to read
 as follows:
     For purposes of this chapter:
     (1) "Abandoned" as it relates to a mobile home, manufactured
 home, or park model owned by a tenant in a mobile home park, mobile
 home park cooperative, or mobile home park subdivision or tenancy in
 a mobile home lot means the tenant has defaulted in rent and by
 absence and by words or actions reasonably indicates the intention
 not to continue tenancy;
     (2) "Active duty" means service authorized by the president of
 the United States, the secretary of defense, or the governor for a
 period of more than ((thirty)) 30 consecutive days;
     (3) "Community land trust" means a private, nonprofit, community-
 governed, and/or membership corporation whose mission is to acquire,
 hold, develop, lease, and steward land for making homes, farmland,
 gardens,   businesses,   and  other   community   assets  permanently
                                       p. 1                       SSB 6059.SL
 affordable for current and future generations. A community land
 trust's bylaws prescribe that the governing board is comprised of
 individuals who reside in the community land trust's service area,
 one-third of whom are currently, or could be, community land trust
 leaseholders;
     (4) "Eligible organization" includes community land trusts,
 resident nonprofit cooperatives, local governments, local housing
 authorities, nonprofit community or neighborhood-based organizations,
 federally recognized Indian tribes in the state of Washington, and
 regional or statewide nonprofit housing assistance organizations,
 whose mission aligns with the long-term preservation of the
 manufactured/mobile home community;
     (5) "Housing and low-income assistance organization" means an
 organization that provides tenants living in mobile home parks,
 manufactured   housing  communities,  and   manufactured/mobile  home
 communities with information about their rights and other pertinent
 information;
     (6) "Housing authority" or "authority" means any of the public
 body corporate and politic created in RCW 35.82.030;
     (7) "Landlord" or "owner" means the owner of a mobile home park
 and includes the agents of the owner;
     (8) "Local government" means a town government, city government,
 code city government, or county government in the state of
 Washington;
     (9) "Manufactured home" means a single-family dwelling built
 according to the United States department of housing and urban
 development manufactured home construction and safety standards act,
 which is a national preemptive building code. A manufactured home
 also:   (a)  Includes   plumbing,  heating,   air  conditioning, and
 electrical systems; (b) is built on a permanent chassis; and (c) can
 be transported in one or more sections with each section at least
 eight feet wide and 40 feet long when transported, or when installed
 on the site is three hundred twenty square feet or greater;
     (10) "Manufactured/mobile home" means either a manufactured home
 or a mobile home;
     (11) "Mobile home" means a factory-built dwelling built prior to
 June 15, 1976, to standards other than the United States department
 of housing and urban development code, and acceptable under
 applicable state codes in effect at the time of construction or
 introduction of the home into the state. Mobile homes have not been
                                     p. 2                      SSB 6059.SL
 built since the introduction of the United States department of
 housing and urban development manufactured home construction and
 safety act;
     (12) "Mobile home lot" means a portion of a mobile home park or
 manufactured housing community designated as the location of one
 mobile home, manufactured home, or park model and its accessory
 buildings, and intended for the exclusive use as a primary residence
 by the occupants of that mobile home, manufactured home, or park
 model;
     (13) "Mobile home park cooperative" or "manufactured housing
 cooperative" means real property consisting of common areas and two
 or more lots held out for placement of mobile homes, manufactured
 homes, or park models in which both the individual lots and the
 common areas are owned by an association of shareholders which leases
 or otherwise extends the right to occupy individual lots to its own
 members;
     (14) "Mobile home park subdivision" or "manufactured housing
 subdivision" means real property, whether it is called a subdivision,
 condominium, or planned unit development, consisting of common areas
 and two or more lots held for placement of mobile homes, manufactured
 homes, or park models in which there is private ownership of the
 individual lots and common, undivided ownership of the common areas
 by owners of the individual lots;
     (15) "Mobile home park," "manufactured housing community," or
 "manufactured/mobile home community" means any real property which is
 rented or held out for rent to others for the placement of two or
 more mobile homes, manufactured homes, or park models for the primary
 purpose of production of income, except where such real property is
 rented or held out for rent for seasonal recreational purpose only
 and is not intended for year-round occupancy;
     (16) "Notice of opportunity to compete to purchase" means a
 notice required under RCW 59.20.325;
     (17) "Notice of sale" means a notice required under RCW 59.20.300
 to be delivered to all tenants of a manufactured/mobile home
 community and other specified parties within 14 days after the date
 on which any advertisement, listing, or public or private notice is
 first made advertising that a manufactured/mobile home community or
 the property on which it sits is for sale or lease. A delivered
 notice of opportunity to compete to purchase acts as a notice of
 sale;
                                     p. 3                      SSB 6059.SL
     (18) "Occupant" means any person, including a live-in care
 provider, other than a tenant, who occupies a mobile home,
 manufactured home, or park model and mobile home lot;
     (19) "Orders" means written official military orders, or any
 written notification, certification, or verification from the service
 member's commanding officer, with respect to the service member's
 current or future military status;
     (20) "Park model" means a recreational vehicle intended for
 permanent or semi-permanent installation and is used as a primary
 residence;
     (21) "Permanent change of station" means: (a) Transfer to a unit
 located at another port or duty station; (b) change of a unit's home
 port or permanent duty station; (c) call to active duty for a period
 not less than 90 days; (d) separation; or (e) retirement;
     (22) "Qualified sale of manufactured/mobile home community" means
 the sale, as defined in RCW 82.45.010, of land and improvements
 comprising a manufactured/mobile home community that is transferred
 in a single purchase to a qualified tenant organization or to an
 eligible organization for the purpose of preserving the property as a
 manufactured/mobile home community;
     (23) "Qualified tenant organization" means a formal organization
 of tenants within a manufactured/mobile home community, with the only
 requirement for membership consisting of being a tenant. If a
 majority of the tenants, based on home sites within the manufactured/
 mobile home community, agree that they want to preserve the
 manufactured/mobile   home  community   then  they   will   appoint   a
 spokesperson to represent the wishes of the qualified tenant
 organization to the landlord and the landlord's representative;
     (24) "Recreational vehicle" means a travel trailer, motor home,
 truck camper, or camping trailer that is primarily designed and used
 as temporary living quarters, is either self-propelled or mounted on
 or drawn by another vehicle, is transient, is not occupied as a
 primary residence, and is not immobilized or permanently affixed to a
 mobile home lot;
     (25)   "Resident   nonprofit  cooperative"   means    a   nonprofit
 cooperative corporation formed by a group of manufactured/mobile home
 community residents for the purpose of acquiring the manufactured/
 mobile home community in which they reside and converting the
 manufactured/mobile home community to a mobile home park cooperative
 or manufactured housing cooperative;
                                      p. 4                      SSB 6059.SL
      (26) "Service member" means an active member of the United States
  armed forces, a member of a military reserve component, or a member
  of the national guard who is either stationed in or a resident of
  Washington state;
      (27) "Tenant" means any person, except a transient, who rents a
  mobile home lot;
      (28) "Transient" means a person who rents a mobile home lot for a
  period of less than one month for purposes other than as a primary
  residence.
     Sec. 2. RCW 59.20.325 and 2023 c 40 s 8 are each amended to read
 as follows:
     (1) An owner shall give written notice of an opportunity to
 compete to purchase indicating the owner's interest in selling the
 manufactured/mobile home community before the owner markets the
 manufactured/mobile home community for sale or includes the sale of
 the manufactured/mobile home community in a multiple listing, and
 when the owner receives an offer to purchase that the owner intends
 to consider unless that offer is received during the process under
 RCW 59.20.330.
     (2) The owner shall give the notice in subsection (1) of this
 section by certified mail or personal delivery to:
     (a) All tenants of the manufactured/mobile home community;
     (b) A qualified tenant organization, if there is an existing
 qualified tenant organization within the manufactured/mobile home
 community;
     (c) The department of commerce; and
     (d) The Washington state housing finance commission.
     (3) The notice required in subsection (1) of this section must
 include:
     (a) The date that the notice was mailed by certified mail or
 personally delivered to all recipients set forth in subsection (2) of
 this section;
     (b) A statement that the owner is considering selling the
 manufactured/mobile home community or the property on which it sits;
     (((b))) (c) A statement that the tenants, through a qualified
 tenant organization representing a majority of the tenants in the
 community, based on home sites, or an eligible organization, have an
 opportunity to compete to purchase the manufactured/mobile home
 community;
                                     p. 5                      SSB 6059.SL
     (((c))) (d) A statement that in order to compete to purchase the
 manufactured/mobile home community, within 70 days after ((delivery))
 the certified mailing or personal delivery date stated in accordance
 with (a) of this subsection of the notice of the owner's interest in
 selling the manufactured/mobile home community, the tenants must form
 or identify a single qualified tenant organization for the purpose of
 purchasing the manufactured/mobile home community and notify the
 owner in writing of:
     (i) The tenants' interest in competing to purchase the
 manufactured/mobile home community; and
     (ii) The name and contact information of the representative or
 representatives of the qualified tenant organization with whom the
 owner may communicate about the purchase; and
     (((d))) (e) A statement that information about purchasing a
 manufactured/mobile home community is available from the department
 of commerce.
     (4) The representative or representatives of the tenants
 committee will be able to request park operating expenses described
 in RCW 59.20.330 from the owner within a ((15-day)) 20-day
 information period following delivery of the qualified tenant
 organization's notice to the owner indicating interest in competing
 to purchase the manufactured/mobile home community.
     (5) An eligible organization may also compete to purchase and is
 subject to the same time constraints and applicable conditions as a
 qualified tenant organization.
     Sec. 3. RCW 59.20.330 and 2023 c 40 s 9 are each amended to read
 as follows:
     (1) Within 70 days after ((delivery of)) the certified mailing or
 personal delivery date stated in the notice of the opportunity to
 compete to purchase the manufactured/mobile home community described
 in RCW 59.20.325, if the tenants choose to compete to purchase the
 manufactured/mobile home community in which the tenants reside, the
 tenants must notify the owner in writing of:
     (a) The tenants' interest in competing to purchase the
 manufactured/mobile home community;
     (b) Their formation or identification of a single qualified
 tenant organization made up of a majority of the tenants in the
 community, based on home sites, formed for the purpose of purchasing
 the manufactured/mobile home community; and
                                     p. 6                      SSB 6059.SL
      (c) The name and contact information of the representative or
 representatives of the qualified tenant organization with whom the
 owner may communicate about the purchase.
      (2) The tenants may only have one qualified tenant organization
 for the purpose of purchasing the manufactured/mobile home community,
 but they may partner with a nonprofit or a housing authority to act
 with or for them subject to the same timelines, duties, and
 obligations that would apply to tenants and qualified tenant
 organizations under chapter 40, Laws of 2023.
      (3) Within ((15)) 20 days following delivery of the notice in
 subsection (1) of this section from the tenants to the owner:
      (a) The designated representative or representatives of the
 qualified tenant organization may make a written request to the owner
 for:
     (i) The asking price for the manufactured/mobile home community,
 if any; ((and)) or
     (ii) Financial information relating to the operating expenses of
 the manufactured/mobile home community in order to assist them in
 making an offer to purchase the park;
     (b) The owner may make a written request to the designated
 representative   or   representatives   of    the   qualified   tenant
 organization for proof of intent to fund a sale;
     (c) All written requests made pursuant to this subsection must be
 fulfilled within 21 days from receipt unless otherwise agreed by the
 qualified tenant organization and the owner;
     (d) Unless waived by the provider, information provided pursuant
 to this subsection shall be kept confidential, and a list must be
 created of persons with whom the tenants may share information who
 will also keep provided information confidential, including any of
 the following persons that are either seeking to purchase the
 manufactured/mobile home community on behalf of the tenants or
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