Washington § 59.20.305 - Manufactured/mobile home communities — Good faith negotiations — Notice of intent to purchase or lease.

A landlord intending to sell or lease a manufactured/mobile home community or the property on which it sits is required to negotiate in good faith with qualified tenant organizations and eligible organizations. Any qualified tenant organization or eligible organization that submits a notice of intent to purchase or lease a manufactured/mobile home community or the property on which it sits pursuant to RCW 59.20.320 and 59.20.325 is required to negotiate in good faith with the landlord intending to sell or lease the manufactured/mobile home community or property on which it sits, including notifying the owner promptly if conditions change and there is no longer any intent to purchase or lease the manufactured/mobile home community or the property on which it sits.

Findings—Intent—2023 c 40: See note following RCW 59.20.030.

Findings—Intent—2008 c 116: "(1) The legislature finds that:

(a) Manufactured/mobile home communities provide a significant source of homeownership opportunities for Washington residents. However, the increasing closure and conversion of manufactured/mobile home communities to other uses, combined with increasing mobile home lot rents, low vacancy rates in existing manufactured/mobile home communities, and the extremely high cost of moving homes when manufactured/mobile home communities close, increasingly make manufactured/mobile home community living insecure for manufactured/mobile home tenants.

(b) Many tenants who reside in manufactured/mobile home communities are low-income households and senior citizens and are, therefore, those residents most in need of reasonable security in the siting of their manufactured/mobile homes because of the adverse impacts on the health, safety, and welfare of tenants forced to move due to closure, change of use, or discontinuance of manufactured/mobile home communities.

(c) The preservation of manufactured/mobile home communities:

(i) Is a more economical alternative than providing new replacement housing units for tenants who are displaced from closing manufactured/mobile home communities;

(ii) Is a strategy by which all local governments can meet the affordable housing needs of their residents;

(iii) Is a strategy by which local governments planning under RCW 36.70A.040 may meet the housing element of their comprehensive plans as it relates to the provision of housing affordable to all economic sectors; and

(iv) Should be a goal of all housing authorities and local governments.

(d) The loss of manufactured/mobile home communities should not result in a net loss of affordable housing, thus compromising the ability of local governments to meet the affordable housing needs of its residents and the ability of these local governments planning under RCW 36.70A.040 to meet affordable housing goals under chapter 36.70A RCW.

(e) The closure of manufactured/mobile home communities has serious environmental, safety, and financial impacts, including:

(i) Homes that cannot be moved to other locations add to Washington's landfills;

(ii) Homes that are abandoned might attract crime; and

(iii) Vacant homes that will not be reoccupied need to be tested for asbestos and lead, and these toxic materials need to be removed prior to demolition.

(f) The self-governance aspect of tenants owning manufactured/mobile home communities results in a lesser usage of police resources as tenants experience fewer societal conflicts when they own the real estate as well as their homes.

(g) Housing authorities, by their creation and purpose, are the public body corporate and politic of the city or county responsible for addressing the availability of safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations available to persons of low income, senior citizens, and others.

(2) It is the intent of the legislature to encourage and facilitate the preservation of existing manufactured/mobile home communities in the event of voluntary sales of manufactured/mobile home communities and, to the extent necessary and possible, to involve manufactured/mobile home community tenants or an eligible organization representing the interests of tenants, such as a nonprofit organization, housing authority, or local government, in the preservation of manufactured/mobile home communities." [ 2008 c 116 s 1.]