TWO-YEAR BILL DEADLINE ARRIVES

Monday was the deadline to pass all two-year or bills carried over from last year. Those remaining bills – 214 in total -  that failed to meet Monday’s deadline are now dead for the legislative session.  February 18 is the bill introduction deadline.  WMA staff has begun identifying newly introduced measures of interest and the WMA Legislative Committee will subsequently adopt formal positions on all key, statewide legislation.         

SENATOR CONNIE LEYVA INTRODUCES MANAGER TRAINING BILL

Senator Connie Leyva (Democrat, Chino) has introduced a manager training bill, SB 869. This closely resembles her previous bill, SB 915, when it was originally introduced on February 3, 2020.  (SB 915 was subsequently amended and dealt with 7-day notices and COVID).

According to a recent press release in the East County Today, “Sponsored by the Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League, SB 869 would require any person, or person under contract, who is responsible for managing a mobilehome park to complete 18 hours per year of training, including an annual end of year online examination. The training will be in an online format developed in consultation with DCA.  Specifically, the training would include Mobilehome Residency Law requirements, Title 25 of the California Code of Regulations, rights and responsibilities of homeowners and management, emergency procedures, communication with homeowners, mobilehome titling and registration, and applicable Vehicle Code provisions.  The measure would also require a process for background checks. A Certificate of Completion would be issued once the person has met all training requirements. The certificate must then be posted visibly and be available for inspection at the mobilehome park.  If the mobilehome park management is out of compliance with these requirements, HCD would then have the authority to suspend the management’s permit to operate.”

It is worth noting that SB 869 also applies to special occupancy parks and recreational vehicle parks to the bill and allows for the imposition of civil penalties.

WMA opposes SB 869 and believes, among other things, that this legislation is unnecessary.  WMA began the training certification program for park managers and responsible parties (WMA’s Manufactured-Housing Community Manager (MCM) program) in 1992, which has grown extensively over the years. As such, WMA believes training is already available for park managers and responsible parties in California.  

SB 869 has not yet been referred to a policy committee. To view a copy of the bill, please click here:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB869

WMA HOSTS COMMUNITY TOUR WITH ASSEMBLYMEMBER LAURIE DAVIES

Last week, WMA staff led Assemblymember Laurie Davies (Republican, Laguna Niguel) on a tour of the Mira Mar Mobile Community in Oceanside.  Alex Boggs was kind enough to open this park for the tour. These tours are well-received and allow WMA to educate elected officials about the unique benefits that WMA member communities have to offer.

Chris Wysocki is WMA’s State Legislative Advocate. He can be reached at chris@wma.org.