New Legislation: SB 5198

SB 5198 was signed into law by Governor Inslee on April 6, 2023 and will be effective from July 23, 2023. The full text and official explanation can be found in the Final Bill Report.

I intended to copy and paste the highlights into this post but there were so many exceptions and conditions I could find nothing that could be relied upon. It struck me as a law written by lawyers in order to provide work for other lawyers. So instead I have copied and pasted from the AMHO Newsletter. That group worked hard for this bill and evidently trust that it is enforceable law. July 14 Update: I am not the only one who questions this. Check out the last paragraph of this news post.

Main Provisions

Notice

• Homeowners in WA will now get two years (24 months) notice of closure if their landlord wants to close the manufactured housing community – currently the law is just 12 months.
• If the landlord wants to close the community in less than two years, then the following applies:
• An 18 month notice of closure requires the landlord to pay home owners $10,000/$15,000 in relocation, depending on the size of the home; or
• A 12 month notice of closure requires the landlord to pay the relocation assistance required above, PLUS 50% of the assessed value of the home in the year prior to the notice been issued.

This relocation assistance is over and above what the home owners might be eligible for from the State’s Manufactured/Mobile Home Relocation Assistance Program. “This is a very big deal and means that WA has the best notice of closure law in the country.” *

Purchase

The other part of SB 5198 is the opportunity to purchase. This means that a landlord has to provide an opportunity for a residents’ association or an eligible organization (like a community land trust, a non-profit housing agency or the local housing authority) to purchase the community if the landlord chooses to sell. There are certain time frames and conditions written into the law but this gives residents’ associations something to work with.

*Thanks to Ishbel Dickens, AMHO volunteer, for much of this post.