The Legal Corner - One Small Law May Provide Powerful Protection to Manufactured Housing Park Tenants - By: Attorney Rob Hunt
Tenants in Manufactured Housing Parks are vulnerable to the park owners. This is not a concern when the park owners are honest and decent people. However, when park owners seek to take advantage of their tenants, it becomes very difficult because tenants have limited options under those circumstances. Unlike people renting a house or an apartment, park tenants usually own the home and pay rent for the lot. It is not as simple as just moving out.
Park tenants have numerous ways to defend themselves against unscrupulous park owners. Of particular importance is Chapter 205-A of the New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated (or RSA 205-A). This is a set of laws enacted by the NH legislature that helps provide some protection to tenants in manufactured housing parks when the park owners act unreasonably.
RSA 205-A:2 provides a list of actions that park owners are prohibited from doing. For example,
a park owner may not:
Charge or attempt to charge a tenant for repair or maintenance to any underground system, such as oil tanks, or water, electrical or septic systems, for causes not due to the negligence of the tenant or transfer or attempt to transfer to a current tenant responsibility for such repair or maintenance to the tenant by gift or otherwise of all or part of any such underground system.
More interestingly, RSA 205-A:13-a states:
Any violation of the provisions of RSA 205-A:2 shall also constitute an unfair trade practice within the meaning of RSA 358-A and may be enforced as provided in RSA 358-A.
This not so well known provision provides manufactured housing park tenants with some potentially powerful ammunition against park owners who violate one of the prohibitions listed in RSA 205-A, especially if park owners have done so willfully or knowingly.
The reason this provides tenants with potential power is because RSA 358-A is the NH Consumer Protection Act. It is designed to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive trade practices. Most importantly, RSA 358-A:10, I reads as follows:
Any person injured by another's use of any method, act or practice declared unlawful under this chapter may bring an action for damages and for such equitable relief, including an injunction, as the court deems necessary and proper. If the court finds for the plaintiff, recovery shall be in the amount of actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater. If the court finds that the use of the method of competition or the act or practice was a willful or knowing violation of this chapter, it shall award as much as 3 times, but not less than 2 times, such amount. In addition, a prevailing plaintiff shall be awarded the costs of the suit and reasonable attorney's fees, as determined by the court. Any attempted waiver of the right to the damages set forth in this paragraph shall be void and unenforceable. Injunctive relief shall be available to private individuals under this chapter without bond, subject to the discretion of the court.
Arguably, each violation of RSA 205-A by a manufactured housing park owner could entitle the injured tenant to $1,000.00 in damages per violation. If the court finds that the park owner acted willfully or knowingly, it shall award at least 2 times that, per violation, and could award up to 3 times that amount, per violation.
This may not seem like much if there is only one or two violations. But if there are multiple violations for one tenant, or, more likely, one or two violations against every person in the park, the potential for damages could become very substantial. Furthermore, the park owner might be subject to separate fines to be paid to that state under other provisions of the law.
Knowledge of this law may allow you, or your attorney, to persuade an otherwise stubborn park owner to stop violating the law. If they do not stop, it may mean a substantial damages award from a court for the tenant or for all the tenants in a particular park.
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Too many laws. Get the government out of it. Teach people how to think and they won't be tools anyway. They can get together on a rent strike and everything else.
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