questions & answers

Question: Can a tenant who had resided in a park for ten yrs.be evicted from park because trailer is deemed to OLD even though trailer is kept in good condition inside & out. Rent is always paid on time & has been a respectable & quite & has always abided by park rules ? Should that tenant be "grandfatherd" in ?

Answer: In such a situation, the tenant would not be “evicted”; instead, the tenant’s rental agreement would be terminated by the landlord. The distinction is an important one, because a tenant may only be evicted by a judge and only for breaching the rental agreement. The Arizona Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act does not contain any firm rules about what may or must be grandfathered in when a mobile home park’s rules and regulations or policies change. In fact, the Act only addresses the issue of the age of a mobile home in one section – A.R.S. 33-1452(M) – which states that “On the sale of a mobile home that was manufactured after June 15, 1976 to a tenant who is otherwise qualified for tenancy, a landlord shall not require removal of that mobile home from the mobile home park solely because of the age of the mobile home. A landlord may require the removal of a mobile home on the sale of the mobile home solely because of the age of the mobile home if the mobile home was manufactured on or before June 15, 1976. This subsection shall not be construed to preclude a landlord from prohibiting a mobile home from being moved into a mobile home park solely because of the age of the mobile home without regard to its date of manufacture.” A legal advocate may be able to help you determine what your specific rights and responsibilities are. There are links to free and low-cost legal services on this website (at http://www.azlawhelp.org/accessToJustice).