Your Rights As A Tenant In A Manufactured Housing Park
Tenants Have Rights
State law provides New Hampshire manufactured housing park tenants with a "Bill of Rights" under RSA 205-A. These laws will protect you only if you know your rights.
State law provides New Hampshire manufactured housing park tenants with a "Bill of Rights" under RSA 205-A. These laws will protect you only if you know your rights.
Owners of manufactured housing have "homestead rights" which protect $100,000 worth of equity ($200,000 for a married couple) from the claims of most creditors.
All park rules, regulations, and conditions of renting must be in writing. The park owner must give each tenant a copy of these rules and regulations.
A specific summary of your rights, printed in large type, must be posted at the beginning of any list of park rules. Park rules must be reasonable to be legal and enforceable.
There are many rules and practices which are specifically made unlawful under RSA 205-A 2. These include (but are not limited to) the following prohibitions:
New Hampshire Legal Assistance provides a pamphlet on Mobile Home Parks and Manufactured housing.
Get the pamphlet Tenant_in_Manufactured_Hsg.doc
State law helps tenants protect themselves from displacement due to the sale of their park by giving them the chance to buy the park. Before a park can be sold, the owner must notify each household by certified mail:
If you live in a park, you are free to sell your manufactured home in place at a price of your own choosing. The park owner cannot require either you or the buyer to move the home out of the park solely because of the sale. The park owner can require that the home be brought up to minimal safety and sanitary standards, but it is up to the park owner to establish that the home is not safe or sanitary.
A park owner cannot charge a tenant an "entrance fee" just for moving into a manufactured housing park. A new tenant may have to pay for services such as water and electricity hookup, if necessary and actually provided by the park owner. For these services, a park owner cannot charge more than the equivalent of three months’ rent. In addition, a park owner cannot charge more than one month’s rent for a security deposit or damage deposit.
A park owner cannot require tenants to buy goods and services from any particular company or stop tenants from buying goods and services from the dealer of their choice. These goods and services include but are not limited to: fuel oil, paving, snow plowing, laundry service, and delivery of bakery, dairy and other food. Tenants may have to use a central fuel or gas metering system if the cost does not exceed the average price in the area.
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