Representation at Manufactured Housing Final Rent Justification Meetings

Manufactured homes are the double or single wide mobile homes that are placed semi-permanently on plots of land in a community. Usually, there is a single owner of all the plots of land in a community, and they charge rent for you, an owner of a manufactured home, to place your mobile home on that plot of land. The relationship between the land owner and the home owner has been the focus of many pieces of legislation over the last few years because that relationship can be fraught.

House Bill 5 passed the Senate and is on its way to the Governor for signature. What does this bill do? It allows home owners to have representation at the Final Rent Justification Meetings.

If a community owner proposes a rent increase that exceeds the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), then the Delaware Manufactured Home Relocation Authority is mandated to hold a final meeting between the community (land) owner and the affected homeowners, and the homeowners’ association to discuss the reasons for the proposed increase. This Act allows the following to attend the final meeting: (1) The homeowners’ designee; (2) The homeowner’s attorney; (3) The attorney for the homeowners’ association; (4) A representative from the Delaware Manufactured Home Owners Association; and (5) Elected Delaware officials. And Amendment to the bill also allows a representative from the Delaware Manufactured Home Relocation Authority Board to the list of individuals who may attend the meeting.

The House had passed House Bill 5 back in April with 7 Republican Represenatives voting no. The Senate passed the bill 18-1-1-1, with only Colin Bonini voting no and Gerald Hocker not voting and Laura Sturgeon absent.

House Bill 5 Sponsors	Yes Votes	No Votes
K.Williams, Carson, Baumbach, Brady, K.Johnson, Kowalko, Lambert, Longhurst, Lynn, Mitchell, Morrison, Osienski, Wilson-Anton	House Passed 34-7. Baumbach, Bennett, Bentz, Bolden, Brady, Bush, Carson, Chukwuocha, Cooke, D.Short, Dorsey Walker, Dukes, Griffith, Heffernan, Hensley, K.Johnson, K.Williams, Kowalko, Lambert, Longhurst, Lynn, Matthews, M.Smith, Minor-Brown, Mitchell, Morrison, Osienski, Ramone, S.Moore, Schwartzkopf, Shupe, Wilson-Anton, Yearick	Briggs King, Collins, Gray, Morris, Postles, Spiegelman, Vanderwende
Walsh, Ennis, Lawson, Pinkney, Sokola	Senate Passed 18-1-1-1. Brown Ennis Gay Hansen Lockman Mantzavinos Paradee Pinkney Poore S.McBride Sokola Townsend Walsh Lawson Lopez Pettyjohn Richardson Wilson	Bonini, Hocker (not voting), Sturgeon (absent)
Current Status —	Sent to the Governor