Landlord and Tenant - Mobile Home Parks

questions & answers

Question: We own an R.V. and have it parked in an R.V. park. The owners just sold the park and we would like to know if we are told to move, do they have to give written notice to vacate and how many days do we have to do so?

Answer: As a general rule, when a landlord sells a property, the new owner takes possession of that property subject to any existing leases, which means that the new owner has the same of set of rights and obligations as the previous landlord had. Under the Arizona Recreational Vehicle Long-Term Rental Space Act (A.R.S. Title 33 Chapter 19), which applies to any R.V. space that is rented by a tenant under a rental agreement for more than six consecutive months, when the R.V. is a park trailer (under A.R.S. 33-2102, as described below), a landlord ordinarily must “specify the reason or reasons for the termination or nonrenewal of any tenancy” and may “not terminate or refuse to renew a rental agreement without good cause” (A.R.S. 33-2134). “Good cause” in this context means any of the following: noncompliance with any provision of the rental agreement; nonpayment of rent; “clear and convincing evidence that a tenant has repeatedly violated [the Act] and established a pattern of noncompliance with [the Act]”; or change in use of land. A.R.S. 33-2102 describes a park trailer as follows: “a park trailer or park model built on a single chassis, mounted on wheels or originally mounted on wheels and from which the wheels have been removed and designed to be connected to utilities necessary for operation of installed fixtures and appliances and has a gross trailer area of not less than three hundred twenty square feet and not more than four hundred square feet when it is set up, except that it does not include fifth wheel trailers.” If the R.V. is not a park trailer, then the landlord may refuse to renew a rental agreement without good cause by serving written notice to the tenant at least ninety days before the end of the rental agreement. In that event, the tenant must vacate the premises on or before the end of the rental agreement (A.R.S. 33-2134).