Highlights
- Supports tenants displaced by the redevelopment of mobile home parks by providing advanced notice of the displacement, relocation counseling, and financial assistance
- Must be carefully drafted to navigate Texas’s restrictions on linkage fees
Steps to Get Started
- Draft a tenant relocation assistance ordinance and solicit input from tenants and other stakeholders.
- Decide whether the city or a third party will administer the program, including the relocation assistance counseling, delivery of financial assistance to tenants, and outreach and education to landlords and tenants.
- If rental property owners displacing tenants are required to pay a relocation fee, undertake a nexus study to determine the appropriate fee.
Background
The redevelopment of a mobile home park can trigger a wave of destabilizing effects on the residents forced out of the park. Low-income residents with mobility impairments, limited education, or limited English proficiency face additional challenges in securing new housing. One reason why the closure of a mobile home park is especially destabilizing is the high cost of moving a mobile home – which can range from $4,000 to $10,000 – as well as the diminishing supply of mobile home parks for residents to relocate to.
Relocation Ordinances: Best Practices
A relocation ordinance requires the mobile home park owners to take certain steps before shutting down the park, such as providing advanced notice to the tenants (e.g., see Austin’s 270-day notice requirement), creating a relocation plan, and offering financial assistance to cover the residents’ relocation expenses. By adopting a comprehensive relocation ordinance, cities support mobile home residents in securing alternative housing and avoiding homelessness.
Here are best practices of what to require in the relocation plan:
- Copies of all lease agreements;
- An inventory of relocation resources and available mobile home spaces in the city;
- Actions the owner will take to refer tenants to alternative public and private subsidized housing resources;
- Actions the owner will take to help tenants move their mobile homes;
- Other actions the owner will take to minimize the hardship of relocating households;
- Designation of a relocation coordinator to administer the relocation plan;
- A public hearing requirement with notification to the residents.
Examples
Austin, Texas (270-day notice required); San Diego, California (relocation plan required); Kent, Washington (relocation plan and 12-month eviction notice required); Pomona, California (relocation plan required) + examples from many states.