By Carol Brinkman, GSMOL State Secretary
John had a crack in his cement driveway. Big enough to trip over. Big enough to be a safety concern. So, he pulled out the MRL to find out whose responsibility it was to fix it. MRL 798.37.5 (c) states that the “park management shall be solely responsible for the maintenance, repair, replacement, paving, sealing and the expenses related to the maintenance of all driveways installed by park management” and homeowners shall be responsible for homeowner-installed driveways. Simple enough! His driveway was original, identical to all the other driveways in the park which were installed when the park was built in the late 1970s. But . . .
Repeatedly, management refused John’s written requests to repair his driveway citing their interpretation of the facts. Arbitrarily, they declared the driveway was not original and declared it had been installed by John – or a prior resident! They hoped John would believe them and go away! As “proof” the manager offered photographs showing his cement driveway was poured in 3 slabs and declared with authority that original driveways were poured in one long slab! Not true! John grabbed his camera and walked down to Nancy’s house. Nancy was the first resident in the park when it opened over 50 years. Her driveway was 3 slabs, identical to John’s, and she affirmed it was original. Next, John reminded management that the park had previously repaired a crack in his driveway by filling it with epoxy, a tacit admission that it was the park’s responsibility since they would hardly pay to fix something that was not theirs. Finally, John went down to the city Codes and Permits Department and pulled all the permits that had been issued for his space since its inception. There were 5 permits. None was for a new driveway! Still management continued to deny the park’s responsibility.
Eventually, the park owner himself called John (twice) and told him he “knew the rules” and it was not his responsibility to pay for the driveway. Perhaps the real reason was revealed when he admitted that if he paid for one driveway, he would have to pay for all driveways. John politely responded that he was trying to resolve the issue in an amicable way and would wait a few more days and then follow the State of California HCD guidelines for help. On June 23, 2022, he logged onto the HCD website and submitted his complaint to the state under the new MRLPP or MRL Protection Program. This is the program which offers residents an opportunity to file a complaint against their park manager for a violation of the MRL. Now, the state of California was involved!
Despite being “technologically challenged”, John was able to fill in the blanks of the online application quite easily, even after he hit a wall and was unable to proceed when he did not know the date of the title to his mobilehome. Frustrated, he was about to give up, but decided to call the 800-phone number listed on the website. With little expectation of a return call, he left a message and was pleasantly shocked when Jason called him less than 5 minutes later. To John’s surprise, Jason was very helpful and very knowledgeable about the MRLPP. He quickly found the missing information John needed to complete his application and get his Claim Number. Jason went on to explain what John could expect next: HCD would review the evidence for its merit, and then inform the park owner of the complaint. A short two hours later, Jason called back to verify receipt of John’s complaint and its supporting documents and notified him that HCD considered it a legitimate issue and the process was moving to phase 2 – a letter to the park owner. The parties then had 25 days to resolve the dispute before HCD would refer the issue for legal action – at no cost to John!
Suddenly, it was the weight of the state of California who was asking the park manager to resolve the issue. It was no longer the solo voice of a single resident who could be subject to intimidation! No longer could obfuscation and delaying tactics work. Now it was about the facts! Now it was about consequences!
Two weeks later, on July 6, 2022, the manager knocked on John’s door and stated the park owner would “like” to repair his driveway. The driveway was quickly repaired, and John notified HCD the problem had been satisfactorily resolved. HCD closed the complaint. In all, it took less than 4 weeks!
To quote John, “The MRLPP really works! It galvanized my park owner into action. And it was easy to file my complaint even though I am not very good on the computer. I was pleasantly surprised at the attention paid to my issue from the MRLPP program and its representative. HCD is the “most on-top government department I have ever talked to!”
John’s experience is just one example of the effectiveness of the MRLPP to balance the unequal scales between park resident and park owner when there is a violation of the MRL. It gives residents a powerful new voice that can be heard in their disputes with their park owner. And there is no cost to the homeowner except for time and a little paperwork!
How to File a MRLPP Complaint
Go to hcd.ca.gov. Go to Manufactured and Mobilehomes in the menu bar, go down to Mobilehome Assistance Center and click on File a Complaint. Fill out the Request for Assistance/Complaint form (HCD MAC 425). You can file your complaint online (the fastest and easiest) or you can download a copy of the complaint form and mail it in. If you do not have a computer, call 800-952-8356 and HCD will mail the complaint form to you. Mail it to: HCD, Mobilehome Assistance Center, P.O. Box 278690, Sacramento, CA 95827. Describe the problem with dates, names etc. and include your supporting documents. You will need to provide proof of ownership of your mobilehome such as the Certificate of Title, Registration card or your decal number which is attached to the outside of your home. If you need assistance, call can call your local GSMOL representative.
Background Story on the MRLPP
The creation of a mechanism to enforce the MRL is one of GSMOL’s most significant success stories in protecting your rights when there is a violation of the MRL, the Civil Code that codifies the landlord/tenant rules. It was created by the passage of AB 3066 in 2018 in a hard-fought bill sponsored by GSMOL after a fierce two-year battle opposed by very nervous park owners and their lobbyists. AB 3066 created the MRL Protection Program. It is housed in HCD (Department of Housing and Community Development). It did not go into effect until mid 2020 to give it time to collect funding for the program via a $10 fee per year, per mobilehome space. Complaints can now be submitted to the MRLPP through HCD who triages them to determine their merit and forwards them to the appropriate agency for disposition. The disputing parties have 25 days to seek a resolution. If there is no resolution, complaints can be forwarded for legal action at no cost to the complaining resident. Like many laws, this was established as a pilot program designed to give legislators time to determine its effectiveness. It will “sunset” at the end of 2023. GSMOL intends to sponsor a bill in 2023 to make this program permanent.
