HB 45

Abstract

This Act is the product of the Manufactured Home Owners and Community Owner’s Act Task Force (“Task Force”), established by HR No. 24 of the 149th General Assembly. This Act makes technical and substantive revisions to the Manufactured Home Owners and Community Owners Act that were approved by all voting and nonvoting members of the Task Force. The specific changes are as follows: 1. Chapter 70 of Title 25 is reorganized so that it is easier to read and specific provisions are easier to identify. • Section 7026 is broken into separate sections in a new Subchapter V, with headings to indicate the topic of the different provisions. The reorganized subsections of § 7026 are shown with strike through where the subsection is currently located and underline in the new location, but no substantive changes are made to the subsections. 2. Technical corrections that improve consistency, clarity, and conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including all of the following: • Oxford commas added. • “Shall not” is replaced by “must not” or “may not.” • “Pursuant to [reference to paragraph, statute, title]” replaced by “under.” • “Including, but not limited to,” is replaced with “including.” • Long paragraphs that contain lists are revised into outline form. • Semi-colons at the end of items in a list are replaced with periods. • “And/or” is replaced by “and” or “or.” • “All of the following” or “any of the following” is inserted prior to lists. • Corrects the references to the Department of Justice. • Corrects spelling errors and inconsistent hyphenation and phrasing of terms. • Moves all definitions to the definitions section. 3. Corrections that, while substantive, provide clarity and codify current practices, including all of the following: • Removes the definition of “hold over” because the term is not used in Chapter 70. • Clarifies language regarding the content of a rental agreement summary. • Clarifies language regarding lease renewals. • Clarifies language regarding holdover tenancies. • Eliminates inconsistent language about the amount of notice required before a rent increase. • Provides specific authority for Delaware Manufactured Housing Relocation Authority (“DEMHRA”) to spend funds for DEMHRA’s responsibilities under Subchapter VI. • Corrects an incorrect statement in the penalty provision of Subchapter VI because DEMHRA does not, under existing law, have the authority or responsibility to approve rent increases. 4. The following substantive changes are made: • Requires that a receipt be provided to a tenant for a cash payment of rent within 3 days of the payment and that records of cash receipts for rent be maintained for 3 years. • Revises the procedure for scheduling a meeting when a rent increase is proposed and adds requirements for the content of the notice provided to homeowners of the deadline to request arbitration. • Removes the model bylaws because they are no longer necessary. • Simplifies the amount of relocation assistance provided to home owners. • Explicitly permits relocations assistance for a home moved out of State or to land that is not in a manufactured home community. This Act takes effect 180 days from enactment.