If you live in a mobile home, your rights and responsibilities are different than other tenants. But like all other tenants, you have the right to a safe, decent place to live and certain protections against eviction.
This article gives an overview of laws that specifically apply to mobile homes in Massachusetts. You may also need to learn about laws that protect tenants in general.
Mobile home park tenants live in a mobile home or manufactured home. They pay to park their homes in a mobile home park.
Unlike other tenants, a mobile home park tenant owns their home. What they agree to rent is the area or land under their home. Because of this, the relationship of a mobile home tenant to the mobile home park and its owner is different from other owner and tenant relationships.
If you are a mobile home park tenant, some of the rights you have depend on your park’s rules. The park owner makes these rules. They must be approved by the Attorney General’s Office and must be fair. If you think that a rule is unfair or not being followed, you can call the Attorney General's Consumer Hotline at (617) 727-8400 or file a complaint online.
The park owner is the person or business entity that owns your mobile home park. Even though park owners make the park’s rules, all owners must:
- Rent to you if you meet the park’s rules and show that you can pay the rent.
- Offer you a 5-year lease at fair market value if you are a new tenant.
- Keep park roadways and common areas, like shared buildings and park land, in good condition.
- Dispose of residents’ garbage.
- Keep gas, electric, water, and sewer lines and utility hook-ups in good condition.
- Make sure all park rules follow state regulations.
- Submit any new rules to the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC).
- Tell tenants any new rules at least 75 days before the rule takes effect.
Before you rent a site, the park owner must give you this information:
- Park rules;
- Total rent;
- Extra fees, like charges for fuel or services or a local mobile home tax;
- Names and addresses of the park owners;
- Any proposed or recent changes, like plans to close or sell the park; and
- A paper called “Important Notice Required by Law” that tells you your rights.
They must let you know this information both in writing and by telling you.
If you live in a mobile home park, the park owner cannot:
- Evict you unless they get a court order.
- Refuse to fix a problem they are responsible for maintaining.
- Close a park without giving you at least 2 years’ notice.
Age restrictions
An owner can set age restrictions on who lives in a mobile home park if it was created as a "retirement park." A retirement park is a mobile home park designed for people at least 55 years old. The law allows age restrictions only when the park is at least 20 acres in size.
Yes. But only if they follow the right steps.
- If the park is rent-controlled, the local rent control agency must approve the rent increase.
- If there is no mobile home rent control where you live, a park owner can only increase your rent if:
- All other park tenants get the same rent increase, and
- The owner sends park tenants a rent increase notice saying that the tenancy ends in 30 days and what the new rent amount will be.
Rent increases are illegal if:
- The park owner does not give you correct written notice, or
- The rent increase is based on a park rule that is unreasonable or unfair.
If a rent increase is illegal, call the Attorney General’s Consumer Complaint Division for help at (617) 727-8400.
You do not have to agree to the rent increase. However, the owner can evict you if they gave you the proper notice and you refuse to pay the increase.
Yes. But only if:
- You do not pay rent, or
- You break a park rule, or
- You break a law or rule that protects the health or safety of other tenants, or
- The mobile home park is going to close. If the park closes, the owner must give you at least 2 years’ notice. Or
- You refuse to pay a rent increase after you were given proper notice.
If the park owner wants to evict you, they must follow these steps:
- Send you a “Notice of Termination” (or "Notice to Quit") by certified or registered mail at least 30 days before the date they want you to move out. You do not have to move out on that date written in the “Notice of Termination.”
- The notice must tell you the reason they want you to move and give you 15 days to “cure” or fix the problem. If a park owner doesn’t give you notice about the right to cure, the notice may be invalid. If the notice is invalid, the owner might not be allowed to bring an eviction case against you.
- File a Summary Process (eviction) case in court after giving you the correct notice. Summary Process cases against mobile home tenants have the same rules as eviction cases for any other type of tenants.
Important
A mobile home park owner cannot evict you if they do not get a court order.
Mobile home park tenants live in a mobile home or manufactured home. They pay to park their homes in a mobile home park.
Unlike other tenants, a mobile home park tenant owns their home. What they agree to rent is the area or land under their home. Because of this, the relationship of a mobile home tenant to the mobile home park and its owner is different from other owner and tenant relationships.
If you are a mobile home park tenant, some of the rights you have depend on your park’s rules. The park owner makes these rules. They must be approved by the Attorney General’s Office and must be fair. If you think that a rule is unfair or not being followed, you can call the Attorney General's Consumer Hotline at (617) 727-8400 or file a complaint online.
The park owner is the person or business entity that owns your mobile home park. Even though park owners make the park’s rules, all owners must:
- Rent to you if you meet the park’s rules and show that you can pay the rent.
- Offer you a 5-year lease at fair market value if you are a new tenant.
- Keep park roadways and common areas, like shared buildings and park land, in good condition.
- Dispose of residents’ garbage.
- Keep gas, electric, water, and sewer lines and utility hook-ups in good condition.
- Make sure all park rules follow state regulations.
- Submit any new rules to the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC).
- Tell tenants any new rules at least 75 days before the rule takes effect.
Before you rent a site, the park owner must give you this information:
- Park rules;
- Total rent;
- Extra fees, like charges for fuel or services or a local mobile home tax;
- Names and addresses of the park owners;
- Any proposed or recent changes, like plans to close or sell the park; and
- A paper called “Important Notice Required by Law” that tells you your rights.
They must let you know this information both in writing and by telling you.
If you live in a mobile home park, the park owner cannot:
- Evict you unless they get a court order.
- Refuse to fix a problem they are responsible for maintaining.
- Close a park without giving you at least 2 years’ notice.
Age restrictions
An owner can set age restrictions on who lives in a mobile home park if it was created as a "retirement park." A retirement park is a mobile home park designed for people at least 55 years old. The law allows age restrictions only when the park is at least 20 acres in size.
Yes. But only if they follow the right steps.
- If the park is rent-controlled, the local rent control agency must approve the rent increase.
- If there is no mobile home rent control where you live, a park owner can only increase your rent if:
- All other park tenants get the same rent increase, and
- The owner sends park tenants a rent increase notice saying that the tenancy ends in 30 days and what the new rent amount will be.
Rent increases are illegal if:
- The park owner does not give you correct written notice, or
- The rent increase is based on a park rule that is unreasonable or unfair.
If a rent increase is illegal, call the Attorney General’s Consumer Complaint Division for help at (617) 727-8400.
You do not have to agree to the rent increase. However, the owner can evict you if they gave you the proper notice and you refuse to pay the increase.
Yes. But only if:
- You do not pay rent, or
- You break a park rule, or
- You break a law or rule that protects the health or safety of other tenants, or
- The mobile home park is going to close. If the park closes, the owner must give you at least 2 years’ notice. Or
- You refuse to pay a rent increase after you were given proper notice.
If the park owner wants to evict you, they must follow these steps:
- Send you a “Notice of Termination” (or "Notice to Quit") by certified or registered mail at least 30 days before the date they want you to move out. You do not have to move out on that date written in the “Notice of Termination.”
- The notice must tell you the reason they want you to move and give you 15 days to “cure” or fix the problem. If a park owner doesn’t give you notice about the right to cure, the notice may be invalid. If the notice is invalid, the owner might not be allowed to bring an eviction case against you.
- File a Summary Process (eviction) case in court after giving you the correct notice. Summary Process cases against mobile home tenants have the same rules as eviction cases for any other type of tenants.
Important
A mobile home park owner cannot evict you if they do not get a court order.
This article is an overview. For more detailed information, see Legal Tactics: Chapter 16: Mobile Homes.