Hochul signs law to protect mobile homeowners

Mobile home owners have new rights under new state laws signed Wednesday by Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul.

One bill expands the right of first refusal that owners in mobile home parks have when the owner of their park moves to sell the property. Under prior laws, the owners of a mobile home park had to give the residents of the park the opportunity to purchase the property themselves, either individually or as an association, whenever they found a purchaser who wanted to convert the land to another use. Under the law signed Wednesday, mobile home owners have the right of first refusal whenever the land owner moves to sell, regardless of the new buyer's intended use for the land.

Large corporations have taken to purchasing mobile home parks across the country, keeping them as mobile home parks but dramatically raising lot fees, utility fees and other costs on residents. Advocates have called for legislation that would cut down on this trend, to keep mobile home parks as affordable-housing options, and pushed for the bill signed by Hochul on Wednesday.

"This bill package will empower residents to have a fair shot at protecting their communities from owners who don't share their vision for the mobile home park," said state Sen. James Skoufis, D-42.

Another bill in the package allows for the state of New York Mortgage Agency to purchase mortgages and offer mortgage pool insurance for modular and manufactured homes. Typically, these homes are purchased using personal property loans, which are not subject to all of the same protections and regulations as mortgages. By allowing the state's mortgage agency to purchase mortgages for the homes and offer insurance for blocks of mortgages on the homes, banks will be able to offer mortgages to customers for purchases.

The final bill in the package tweaks state law to bring it into alignment with federal laws on manufactured homes, clarifying gaps between state and federal laws that advocates say may have made manufactured homes less safe. Federal rules regulate the construction and maintenance of manufactured homes, but require state agencies to enforce those rules. The federal government also requires that state regulations on manufactured homes match federal rules. New York's law did not match federal language when establishing penalties for violating safety rules.

"Manufactured homes are often the only affordable-housing and homeownership opportunities in districts like mine and throughout much of New York state," said Assemblymember Didi Barrett, D-106. "I thank Gov. Hochul for signing this critical piece of legislation aligning state and federal policies to better deter exploitative investors and firms, keeping occupants safe."