2007 California Civil Code Article 4. Fees And Charges

CA Codes (civ:798.30-798.44)

798.30.  The management shall give a homeowner written notice of any
increase in his or her rent at least 90 days before the date of the
increase.


798.31.  A homeowner shall not be charged a fee for other than rent,
utilities, and incidental reasonable charges for services actually
rendered.
   A homeowner shall not be charged a fee for obtaining  a lease on a
mobilehome lot for (1) a term of 12 months, or (2) a lesser period
as the homeowner may request.  A fee may be charged for a lease of
more than one year if the fee is mutually agreed upon by both the
homeowner and management.



798.32.  (a) A homeowner shall not be charged a fee for services
actually rendered which are not listed in the rental agreement unless
he or she has been given written notice thereof by the management,
at least 60 days before imposition of the charge.
   (b) Those fees and charges specified in subdivision (a) shall be
separately stated on any monthly or other periodic billing to the
homeowner.  If the fee or charge has a limited duration or is
amortized for a specified period, the expiration date shall be stated
on the initial notice and each subsequent billing to the homeowner
while the fee or charge is billed to the homeowner.



798.33.  (a) No lease agreement entered into, modified, or renewed
on or after January 1,  2001, shall prohibit a homeowner from keeping
at least one pet within the park, subject to reasonable rules and
regulations of the park.  This section may not be construed to affect
any other rights provided by law to a homeowner to keep a pet within
the park.
   (b) A homeowner shall not be charged a fee for keeping a pet in
the park unless the management actually provides special facilities
or services for pets.  If special pet facilities are maintained by
the management, the fee charged shall reasonably relate to the cost
of maintenance of the facilities or services and the number of pets
kept in the park.
   (c) For purposes of this section, "pet" means any domesticated
bird, cat, dog, aquatic animal kept within an aquarium, or other
animal as agreed to between the management and the homeowner.



798.34.  (a) A homeowner shall not be charged a fee for a guest who
does not stay with him or her for more than a total of 20 consecutive
days or a total of 30 days in a calendar year.  A person who is a
guest, as described in this subdivision, shall not be required to
register with the management.
   (b) A homeowner who is living alone and who wishes to share his or
her mobilehome with one person may do so, and a fee shall not be
imposed by management for that person.  The person shall be
considered a guest of the homeowner and any agreement between the
homeowner and the person shall not change the terms and conditions of
the rental agreement between management and the homeowner.  The
guest shall comply with the provisions of the rules and regulations
of the mobilehome park.
   (c) A senior homeowner may share his or her mobilehome with any
person over 18 years of age if that person is providing live-in
health care or live-in supportive care to the homeowner pursuant to a
written treatment plan prepared by the homeowner's physician.  A fee
shall not be charged by management for that person.  That person
shall have no rights of tenancy in the park, and any agreement
between the homeowner and the person shall not change the terms and
conditions of the rental agreement between management and the
homeowner.  That person shall comply with the rules and regulations
of the mobilehome park.  As used in this subdivision, "senior
homeowner" means a homeowner who is 55 years of age or older.
   (d) A senior homeowner who resides in a mobilehome park that has
implemented rules or regulations limiting residency based on age
requirements for housing for older persons, pursuant to Section
798.76, may share his or her mobilehome with any person over 18 years
of age if this person is a parent, sibling, child, or grandchild of
the senior homeowner and requires live-in health care, live-in
supportive care, or supervision pursuant to a written treatment plan
prepared by a physician and surgeon.  Management may not charge a fee
for this person.  Any agreement between the senior homeowner and
this person shall not change the terms and conditions of the rental
agreement between management and the senior homeowner.  Unless
otherwise agreed upon, park management shall not be required to
manage, supervise, or provide for this person's care during his or
her stay in the mobilehome park.  This person shall have no rights of
tenancy in the park, but shall comply with the rules and regulations
of the mobilehome park.  A violation of the mobilehome park rules
and regulations by this person shall be deemed a violation of the
rules and regulations by the homeowner pursuant to subdivision (d) of
Section 798.56.  As used in this subdivision, "senior homeowner"
means a homeowner who is 55 years of age or older.



798.35.  A homeowner shall not be charged a fee based on the number
of members in his or her immediate family.  As used in this section,
the "immediate family" shall be limited to the homeowner, his or her
spouse, their parents, their children, and their grandchildren under
18 years of age.


798.36.  (a) A homeowner shall not be charged a fee for the
enforcement of any of the rules and regulations of the park, except a
reasonable fee may be charged by management for the maintenance or
cleanup, as described in subdivision (b), of the land and premises
upon which the mobilehome is situated in the event the homeowner
fails to do so in accordance with the rules and regulations of the
park after written notification to the homeowner and the failure of
the homeowner to comply within 14 days. The written notice shall
state the specific condition to be corrected and an estimate of the
charges to be imposed by management if the services are performed by
management or its agent.
   (b) (1) If management determines, in good faith, that the removal
of a homeowner's or resident's personal property from the land and
premises upon which the mobilehome is situated is necessary to bring
the premises into compliance with the reasonable rules and
regulations of the park or the provisions of the Mobilehome Parks Act
(Part 2.1 (commencing with Section 18200) of Division 13 of the
Health and Safety Code) or Title 25 of the California Code of
Regulations, management may remove the property to a reasonably
secure storage facility. Management shall provide written notice of
at least 14 days of its intent to remove the personal property,
including a description of the property to be removed. The notice
shall include the rule, regulation, or code justifying the removal
and shall provide an estimate of the charges to be imposed by
management. The property to be removed shall not include the
mobilehome or its appurtenances or accessory structures.
   (2) The homeowner or resident shall be responsible for reimbursing
to management the actual, reasonable costs, if any, of removing and
storing the property. These costs incurred by management in
correcting the rules violation associated with the removal and
storage of the property, are deemed reasonable incidental service
charges and may be collected pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section
798.56 if a notice of nonpayment of the removal and storage fees, as
described in paragraph (3), is personally served on the homeowner.
   (3) Within seven days from the date the property is removed to a
storage area, management shall provide the homeowner or resident a
written notice that includes an inventory of the property removed,
the location where the property may be claimed, and notice that the
cost of removal and storage shall be paid by the resident or
homeowner.  If, within 60 days, the homeowner or resident does not
claim the property, the property shall be deemed to be abandoned, and
management may dispose of the property in any manner. The homeowner'
s or resident's liability for storage charges shall not exceed 60
days. If the homeowner or resident claims the property, but has not
reimbursed management for storage costs, management may bill those
costs in a monthly statement which shall constitute notice of
nonpayment, and the costs shall become the obligation of the
homeowner or resident. If a resident or homeowner communicates in
writing his or her intent to abandon the property before 60 days has
expired, management may dispose of the property immediately and no
further storage charges shall accrue.
   (4) If management elects to dispose of the property by way of sale
or auction, and the funds received from the sale or auction exceed
the amount owed to management, management shall refund the difference
to the homeowner or resident within 15 days from the date of
management's receipt of the funds from the sale or auction. The
refund shall be delivered to the homeowner or resident by first-class
mail postage prepaid to his or her address in the park, or by
personal delivery, and shall include an accounting specifying the
costs of removal and storage of the property incurred by management
in correcting the rules violation and the amount of proceeds realized
from any sale or auction. If a sale or auction of the property
yields less than the costs incurred by management, the homeowner or
resident shall be responsible for the difference, and this amount
shall be deemed a reasonable incidental service charge and may be
collected pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 798.56 if a notice
of nonpayment of the removal and storage fees, as described in
paragraph (3), is personally served on the homeowner. If management
elects to proceed under this section, it may not also terminate the
tenancy pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 798.56 based upon the
specific violations relied upon to proceed under this section. In any
proceeding under this section, management shall bear the burden of
proof that enforcement was undertaken in a nondiscriminatory,
nonselective fashion.


798.37.  A homeowner  may not be charged a fee for the entry,
installation, hookup, or landscaping as a condition of tenancy
except for an actual fee or cost imposed by a local governmental
ordinance or requirement directly related to the occupancy of the
specific site upon which the mobilehome is located and not incurred
as a portion of the development of the mobilehome park as a whole.
However, reasonable landscaping and maintenance requirements may be
included in the park rules and regulations.  The management  may not
require a homeowner or prospective homeowner to purchase, rent, or
lease goods or services for landscaping, remodeling, or maintenance
from any person, company, or corporation.



798.37.5.  (a) With respect to trees on rental spaces in a
mobilehome park, park management shall be solely responsible for the
trimming, pruning, or removal of any tree, and the costs thereof,
upon written notice by a homeowner or a determination by park
management that the tree poses a specific hazard or health and safety
violation.  In the case of a dispute over that assertion, the park
management or a homeowner may request an inspection by the Department
of Housing and Community Development or a local agency responsible
for the enforcement of the Mobilehome Parks Act (Part 2.1 (commencing
with Section 18200) of Division 3 of the Health and Safety Code) in
order to determine whether a violation of that act exists.
   (b) With respect to trees in the common areas of a mobilehome
park, park management shall be solely responsible for the trimming,
pruning, or removal of any tree, and the costs thereof.
   (c) 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 including, but not limited to, repair of root damage to
driveways and foundation systems and removal.  Homeowners shall be
responsible for the maintenance, repair, replacement, paving,
sealing, and the expenses related to the maintenance of a homeowner
installed driveway.  A homeowner may be charged for the cost of any
damage to the driveway caused by an act of the homeowner or a breach
of the homeowner's responsibilities under the rules and regulations
so long as those rules and regulations are not inconsistent with the
provisions of this section.
   (d) No homeowner may plant a tree within the mobilehome park
without first obtaining written permission from the management.
   (e) This section shall not apply to alter the terms of any rental
agreement in effect prior to January 1, 2001, between the park
management and the homeowner regarding the responsibility for the
maintenance of trees and driveways within the mobilehome park, except
that upon any renewal or extension, the rental agreement shall be
subject to this section.  This section is not intended to abrogate
the content of any existing rental agreement or other written
agreements regarding trees or driveways that are in effect prior to
January 1, 2001.
   (f) This section shall only apply to rental agreements entered
into, renewed, or extended on or after January 1, 2001.
   (g) Any mobilehome park rule or regulation shall be in compliance
with this section.



798.38.  (a) Where the management provides both master-meter and
submeter service of utilities to a homeowner, for each billing period
the cost of the charges for the period shall be separately stated
along with the opening and closing readings for his or her meter.
The management shall post in a conspicuous place, the prevailing
residential utilities rate schedule as published by the serving
utility.
   (b) If a third-party billing agent or company prepares utility
billing for the park, the management shall disclose on each resident'
s billing, the name, address, and telephone number of the billing
agent or company.


798.39.  (a) The management may only demand a security deposit on or
before initial occupancy and the security deposit may not be in an
amount or value in excess of an amount equal to two months' rent that
is charged at the inception of the occupancy, in addition to any
rent for the first month.  In no event shall additional security
deposits be demanded of a homeowner following the initial occupancy.

   (b) As to all security deposits collected on or after January 1,
1989, after the homeowner has promptly paid to the management, within
five days of the date the amount is due, all of the rent, utilities,
and reasonable service charges for any 12-consecutive-month period
subsequent to the collection of the security deposit by the
management, or upon resale of the mobilehome, whichever occurs
earlier, the management shall, upon the receipt of a written request
from the homeowner, refund to the homeowner the amount of the
security deposit within 30 days following the end of the
12-consecutive-month period of the prompt payment or the date of the
resale of the mobilehome.
   (c) As to all security deposits collected prior to January 1,
1989, upon the extension or renewal of the rental agreement or lease
between the homeowner and the management, and upon the receipt of a
written request from the homeowner, if the homeowner has promptly
paid to the management, within five days of the date the amount is
due, all of the rent, utilities, and reasonable service charges for
the 12-consecutive-month period preceding the receipt of the written
request, the management shall refund to the homeowner the amount of
the security deposit within 60 days.
   (d) As to all security deposits collected prior to January 1,
1989, and not disbursed pursuant to subdivision (c), in the event
that the mobilehome park is sold or transferred to any other party or
entity, the selling park owner shall deposit in escrow an amount
equal to all security deposits that the park owner holds.  The seller'
s escrow instructions shall direct that, upon close of escrow, the
security deposits therein that were held by the selling park owner
(including the period in escrow) for 12 months or more, shall be
disbursed to the persons who paid the deposits to the selling park
owner and promptly paid, within five days of the date the amount is
due, all rent, utilities, and reasonable service charges for the
12-month period preceding the close of escrow.
   (e) Any and all security deposits in escrow that were held by the
selling park owner that are not required to be disbursed pursuant to
subdivision (b), (c), or (d) shall be disbursed to the successors in
interest to the selling or transferring park owner, who shall have
the same obligations of the park's management  and ownership
specified in this section with respect to security deposits.  The
disbursal may be made in escrow by a debit against the selling park
owner and a credit to the successors in interest to the selling park
owner.
   (f) The management shall not be required to place any security
deposit collected in an interest-bearing account or to provide a
homeowner with any interest on the security deposit collected.
   (g) Nothing in this section shall affect the validity of title to
real property transferred in violation of this section.



798.40.  The management shall not acquire a lien or security
interest, other than an interest arising by reason of process issued
to enforce a judgment of any court, in a mobilehome located in the
park unless it is mutually agreed upon by both the homeowner and
management.  Any billing and payment upon the obligation shall be
kept separate from current rent.



798.41.  (a) Where a rental agreement, including a rental agreement
specified in Section 798.17, does not specifically provide otherwise,
the park management may elect to bill a homeowner separately for
utility service fees and charges assessed by the utility for services
provided to or for spaces in the park.  Any separately billed
utility fees and charges shall not be deemed to be included in the
rent charged for those spaces under the rental agreement, and shall
not be deemed to be rent or a rent increase for purposes of any
ordinance, rule, regulation, or initiative measure adopted or
enforced by any local governmental entity which establishes a maximum
amount that a landlord may charge a tenant for rent, provided that
at the time of the initial separate billing of any utility fees and
charges the rent chargeable under the rental agreement or the base
rent chargeable under the terms of a local rent control provision is
simultaneously reduced by an amount equal to the fees and charges
separately billed.  The amount of this reduction shall be equal to
the average amount charged to the park management for that utility
service for that space during the 12 months immediately preceding
notice of the commencement of the separate billing for that utility
service.
   Utility services to which this section applies are natural gas or
liquid propane gas, electricity, water, cable television, garbage or
refuse service, and sewer service.
   (b) This section does not apply to rental agreements entered into
prior to January 1, 1991, until extended or renewed on or after that
date.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall require rental agreements to
provide for separate billing to homeowners of fees and charges
specified in subdivision (a).
   (d) Those fees and charges specified in subdivision (a) shall be
separately stated on any monthly or other periodic billing to the
homeowner.  If the fee or charge has a limited duration or is
amortized for a specified period, the expiration date shall be stated
on the initial notice and each subsequent billing to the homeowner
while the fee or charge is billed to the homeowner.



798.42.  (a) The management shall not charge or impose upon a
homeowner any fee or increase in rent which reflects the cost to the
management of any fine, forfeiture, penalty, money damages, or fee
assessed or awarded by a court of law against the management for a
violation of this chapter, including any attorney's fees and costs
incurred by the management in connection therewith.
   (b) A court shall consider the remoteness in time of the
assessment or award against the management of any fine, forfeiture,
penalty, money damages, or fee in determining whether the homeowner
has met the burden of proof that the fee or increase in rent is in
violation of this section.
   (c) Any provision in a rental agreement entered into, renewed, or
modified on or after January 1, 1995, that permits a fee or increase
in rent that reflects the cost to the management of any money damages
awarded against the management for a violation of this chapter shall
be void.



798.43.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), whenever a
homeowner is responsible for payment of gas, water, or electric
utility service, management shall disclose to the homeowner any
condition by which a gas, water, or electric meter on the homeowner's
site measures gas, water, or electric service for common area
facilities or equipment, including lighting, provided that management
has knowledge of the condition.
   Management shall disclose this information prior to the inception
of the tenancy or upon discovery and shall complete either of the
following:
   (1) Enter into a mutual written agreement with the homeowner for
compensation by management for the cost of the portion of the service
measured by the homeowner's meter for the common area facilities or
equipment to the extent that this cost accrues on or after January 1,
1991.
   (2) Discontinue using the meter on the homeowner's site for the
utility service to the common area facilities and equipment.
   (b) On and after January 1, 1994, if the electric meter on the
homeowner's site measures electricity for lighting mandated by
Section 18602 of the Health and Safety Code and this lighting
provides lighting for the homeowner's site, management shall be
required to comply with subdivision (a).



798.43.1.  (a) The management of a master-meter park shall give
written notice to homeowners and residents on or before February 1 of
each year in their utility billing statements about assistance to
low-income persons for utility costs available under the California
Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program, established pursuant to
Section 739.1 of the Public Utilities Code.  The notice shall include
CARE information available to master-meter customers from their
serving utility, to include, at a minimum:  (1) the fact that CARE
offers a discount on monthly gas or electric bills for qualifying
low-income residents; and (2) the telephone number of the serving
utility which provides CARE information and applications.  The park
shall also post the notice in a conspicuous place in the clubhouse,
or if there is no clubhouse, in a conspicuous public place in the
park.
   (b) The management of a master-meter park may accept and help
process CARE program applications from homeowners and residents in
the park, fill in the necessary account or other park information
required by the serving utility to process the applications, and send
the applications to the serving utility.  The management shall not
deny a homeowner or resident who chooses to submit a CARE application
to the utility himself or herself any park information, including a
utility account number, the serving utility requires to process a
homeowner or resident CARE program application.
   (c) The management of a master-meter park shall pass through the
full amount of the CARE program discount in monthly utility billings
to homeowners and residents who have qualified for the CARE rate
schedule, as defined in the serving utility's applicable rate
schedule.  The management shall notice the discount on the billing
statement of any homeowner or resident who has qualified for the CARE
rate schedule as either the itemized amount of the discount or a
notation on the statement that the homeowner or resident is receiving
the CARE discount on the electric bill, the gas bill, or both the
electric and gas bills.
   (d) "Master-meter park" as used in this section means
"master-meter customer" as used in Section 739.5 of the Public
Utilities Code.


798.44.  (a) The management of a park that does not permit
mobilehome owners or park tenants to purchase liquefied petroleum gas
for use in the mobilehome park from someone other than the
mobilehome park management shall not sell liquefied petroleum gas to
mobilehome owners and tenants within the park at a cost which exceeds
110 percent of the actual price paid by the management of the park
for liquefied petroleum gas.
   (b) The management of a park shall post in a visible location the
actual price paid by management for liquefied petroleum gas sold
pursuant to subdivision (a).
   (c) This section shall apply only to mobilehome parks regulated
under the Mobilehome Residency Law.  This section shall not apply to
recreational vehicle parks, as defined in Section 18215 of the Health
and Safety Code, which exclusively serve recreational vehicles, as
defined in Section 18010 of the Health and Safety Code.
   (d) Nothing in this section is intended to abrogate any rights a
mobilehome park owner may have under Section 798.31 of the Civil
Code.
   (e) In addition to a mobilehome park described in subdivision (a),
the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b) shall apply to a
mobilehome park where requirements of federal, state, or local law or
regulation, including, but not limited to, requirements for setbacks
between mobilehomes, prohibit homeowners or tenants from installing
their own liquefied petroleum gas supply tanks, notwithstanding that
the management of the mobilehome park permits mobilehome owners and
park tenants to buy their own liquefied petroleum gas.