Questions Regarding UTILITIES
In
Manufactured Home Park Communities
PART 2
The following FAQ's are from the California Housing &
Community Development's TITLE 25 Mobilehome Parks
Act, Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL).
This is being presented in its unedited and
unabridged format with minor enhancements for easier
reading.
1. Where can residents get help if they suspect they are being overcharged on utility bills?
Most parks are “master-meter” operators that own, operate and maintain the electric, gas and water distribution system within the park and bill their residents with the monthly rent statement.
Under the state Public Utilities Code, master-meter customers (parks) shall charge no more than the local serving utility would charge a resident, including passing through any low-income rebates or discounts, such as “CARE.”
Residents can call County Weights and Measures (W&M) to have them check the accuracy of their meters and assure they have been correctly calibrated. Some W&M offices are willing to look into billing complaints, such as failure to provide proper billings or post rates, but most only check the accuracy of the meters.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is required to take informal complaints from residents in master-meter parks. The CPUC often refers these complaints to the serving utility to work out with the park management.
If a third party billing agent prepares the utility billings for the park, the management shall disclose the contact information of the billing agent on residents’ billings. (Civil Code §798.40(b))
Recap:
● The resident must prove overcharges.
● CPUC is required to take informal complaints.
● Contact information for the third party billing agent must be disclosed
on the residents’ utility billings.
2. Can the park start billing residents for utilities that were previously included in the rent?
If the residents’ rental agreement provides that sewer, water and garbage are included in the rent, the park management may elect to itemize or charge separately for these utilities. (Civil Code §798.41)
In this case, the average monthly amount of the utility charges shall be deducted from the rent. If the rental agreement does not specifically indicate that utility charges are included in the rent, then the park owner could charge for them after complying with the 60-day written notice requirement. (Civil Code §798.32)
Recap:
● If the lease or rental agreement stipulates separate charges, then the resident must pay accordingly.
● If it is not stipulated in the lease or rental agreement, then the park must give a 60-day advance written notice of an itemized billings.
3. Do residents have to pay the cable TV service fee even if they don’t use it? Also, can the park prohibit satellite dishes?
The park can charge a fee for services actually rendered with a 60-day notice if it is not already provided for in the rental agreement. (Civil Code §§798.31, 798.32)
If the resident has signed a long-term lease agreeing to pay the fee, they may be obligated to continue to pay it until the end of the term of the lease. A 1997 California appellate case, Greening v. Johnson, held that cable TV is not an essential utility and a park cannot charge a resident a fee for such a service not actually used by the resident.
Moreover, the Telecommunication Act of 1996 provides that community rules and regulations or local ordinances cannot prohibit the installation of a dish antenna on one’s home or property if it is not more than 39 inches in diameter and does not constitute a health and safety problem.
Park rules can regulate placement or design of the antenna on the home if reasonable (e.g. rules don’t preclude acceptable reception) but cannot ban satellite dishes outright.
Recap:
● If stipulated in the signed lease or rental agreement, resident must pay the fee.
● If not stipulated in the lease or rental agreement, then the park must provide a 60-day advance written notice of a fee for service actually rendered.
● Cable TV is not an essential utility, therefore the park cannot charge a non-user.
Recap:
● In a park with metered water served by regulated water districts:
check bill calculations, see manager, call county, or file a complaint with the CPUC.
● If it is a park without metered water and not served by a regulated water district: call the local water board.
Call On Us Anytime To BE Your
Go To Guys
For Information & Knowledge about
MANUFACTURED HOMES
800 909-1110
JOHN ARENDSEN 760 815-6977
Scott Arendsen 760 415-1923
scottarendsen@mac.com
JANIS ARENDSEN 760 415-1982
janlinden@mac.com
Comments(14)