(1) Every landlord who rents a space for a manufactured dwelling or floating home shall provide a written statement of policy to prospective and existing tenants. The purpose of the statement of policy is to provide disclosure of the landlord’s policies to prospective tenants and to existing tenants who have not previously received a statement of policy. The statement of policy is not a part of the rental agreement. The statement of policy shall provide all of the following information in summary form:
(a) The location and approximate size of the space to be rented.
(b) The federal fair-housing age classification and present zoning that affect the use of the rented space.
(c) The facility policy regarding rent adjustment and a rent history for the space to be rented. The rent history must, at a minimum, show the rent amounts on January 1 of each of the five preceding calendar years or during the length of the landlord’s ownership, leasing or subleasing of the facility, whichever period is shorter.
(d) The personal property, services and facilities that are provided by the landlord.
(e) The installation charges that are imposed by the landlord and the installation fees that are imposed by government agencies.
(f) The facility policy regarding rental agreement termination including, but not limited to, closure of the facility.
(g) The facility policy regarding facility sale.
(h) The facility policy regarding informal dispute resolution.
(i) The utilities and services that are available, the name of the person furnishing them and the name of the person responsible for payment.
(j) If a tenants’ association exists for the facility, a one-page summary about the tenants’ association. The tenants’ association shall provide the summary to the landlord.
(k) Any facility policy regarding the removal of a manufactured dwelling, including a statement that removal requirements may impact the market value of a dwelling.
(2) The rental agreement and the facility rules and regulations shall be attached as an exhibit to the statement of policy. If the recipient of the statement of policy is a tenant, the rental agreement attached to the statement of policy must be a copy of the agreement entered by the landlord and tenant.
(3) The landlord shall give:
(a) Prospective tenants a copy of the statement of policy before the prospective tenants sign rental agreements;
(b) Existing tenants who have not previously received a copy of the statement of policy and who are on month-to-month rental agreements a copy of the statement of policy at the time a 90-day notice of a rent increase is issued; and
(c) All other existing tenants who have not previously received a copy of the statement of policy a copy of the statement of policy upon the expiration of their rental agreements and before the tenants sign new agreements.
(4) Every landlord who rents a space for a manufactured dwelling or floating home shall provide a written rental agreement, except as provided by ORS 90.710 (2)(d). The agreement must be signed by the landlord and tenant and may not be unilaterally amended by one of the parties to the contract except by:
(a) Mutual agreement of the parties;
(b) Actions pursuant to ORS 90.530, 90.537 or 90.600; or
(c) Those provisions required by changes in statute or ordinance.
(5) The agreement required by subsection (4) of this section must specify:
(a) The location and approximate size of the rented space;
(b) The federal fair-housing age classification;
(c) The rent per month;
(d) All personal property, services and facilities to be provided by the landlord;
(e) All security deposits, fees and installation charges imposed by the landlord;
(f) Improvements that the tenant may or must make to the rental space, including plant materials and landscaping;
(g) Provisions for dealing with improvements to the rental space at the termination of the tenancy;
(h) Any conditions the landlord applies in approving a purchaser of a manufactured dwelling or floating home as a tenant in the event the tenant elects to sell the home. Those conditions must be in conformance with state and federal law and may include, but are not limited to, conditions as to pets, number of occupants and screening or admission criteria;
(i) That the tenant may not sell the tenant’s manufactured dwelling or floating home to a person who intends to leave the manufactured dwelling or floating home on the rental space until the landlord has accepted the person as a tenant;
(j) The term of the tenancy;
(k) The process by which the rental agreement or rules and regulations may be changed, which shall identify that the rules and regulations may be changed with 60 days’ notice unless tenants of at least 51 percent of the eligible spaces file an objection within 30 days; and
(L) The process by which the landlord or tenant shall give notices.
(6) Every landlord who rents a space for a manufactured dwelling or floating home shall provide rules and regulations concerning the tenant’s use and occupancy of the premises. A violation of the rules and regulations may be cause for termination of a rental agreement. However, this subsection does not create a presumption that all rules and regulations are identical for all tenants at all times. A rule or regulation shall be enforceable against the tenant only if:
(a) The rule or regulation:
(A) Promotes the convenience, safety or welfare of the tenants;
(B) Preserves the landlord’s property from abusive use; or
(C) Makes a fair distribution of services and facilities held out for the general use of the tenants.
(b) The rule or regulation:
(A) Is reasonably related to the purpose for which it is adopted and is reasonably applied;
(B) Is sufficiently explicit in its prohibition, direction or limitation of the tenant’s conduct to fairly inform the tenant of what the tenant shall do or may not do to comply; and
(C) Is not for the purpose of evading the obligations of the landlord.
(7)(a) A landlord who rents a space for a manufactured dwelling or floating home may adopt a rule or regulation regarding occupancy guidelines. If adopted, an occupancy guideline in a facility must be based on reasonable factors and not be more restrictive than limiting occupancy to two people per bedroom.
(b) As used in this subsection:
(A) Reasonable factors may include but are not limited to:
(i) The size of the dwelling.
(ii) The size of the rented space.
(iii) Any discriminatory impact for reasons identified in ORS 659A.421.
(iv) Limitations placed on utility services governed by a permit for water or sewage disposal.
(B) “Bedroom” means a room that is intended to be used primarily for sleeping purposes and does not include bathrooms, toilet compartments, closets, halls, storage or utility space and similar areas.
(8) Intentional and deliberate failure of the landlord to comply with subsections (1) to (3) of this section is cause for suit or action to remedy the violation or to recover actual damages. The prevailing party is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and court costs.
(9) A receipt signed by the potential tenant or tenants for documents required to be delivered by the landlord pursuant to subsections (1) to (3) of this section is a defense for the landlord in an action against the landlord for nondelivery of the documents.
(10) A suit or action arising under subsection (8) of this section must be commenced within one year after the discovery or identification of the alleged violation.
(11) Every landlord who publishes a directory of tenants and tenant services must include a one-page summary regarding any tenants’ association. The tenants’ association shall provide the summary to the landlord. [Formerly 91.875; 1991 c.844 §6; 1993 c.580 §3; 1995 c.559 §34; 1997 c.304 §3; 1997 c.305 §1; 1997 c.577 §26; 1999 c.603 §32; 1999 c.676 §20; 2001 c.596 §35a; 2005 c.22 §63; 2005 c.391 §23; 2005 c.619 §19b]
Section: Previous 90.472 90.475 90.485 90.490 90.493 90.500 90.505 90.510 90.512 90.514 90.515 90.516 90.518 90.525 90.528 NextLast modified: August 7, 2008