mobile homes; abandonment procedures

HB2850 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
mobile homes; abandonment procedures

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 2850

Introduced by

Representative
Liguori

AN
ACT

amending sections 33-1476.02 and 33-1478,
Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to the Arizona mobile home parks residential
landlord and tenant act.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 33-1476.02, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
33-1476.02.

Mobile home relocation fund; investment of monies

A. The mobile home relocation fund is established
consisting of monies collected pursuant to sections 33-1476.03
, 33-1478
and 33-2151 and any surcharge collected
pursuant to section 33-1437. The director shall administer the
fund.

B. Fund monies shall be used as prescribed in
sections 33-1476.04 and 41-4008 and to pay premiums and other costs
of purchasing, from a private insurer who is licensed to transact insurance
business in this state, insurance coverage for tenant relocation costs due to a
change in use as prescribed in sections 33-1476.01, 33-1476.05, 33-2149
and 33-2150. Any insurance rebates shall be deposited in the
fund. If such insurance is not available, or if the insurance costs
exceed the amount available from the fund, the fund shall be used to make
direct payments for tenant relocation costs.� Monies in the fund in excess of
the amount required for these purposes shall be used, as necessary, to support
the Arizona department of housing's administration of the hearing function
pursuant to section 41-4062 and the Arizona department of housing's
administration of section 33-1437, subsection C.

C. On notice from the director, the state treasurer
shall invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35-313,
and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund. Any
unexpended and unencumbered monies remaining in the fund at the end of the
fiscal year do not revert to the state general fund but remain in the fund,
separately accounted for, as a contingency reserve.

D. The director shall adopt, amend or repeal rules
pursuant to title 41, chapter 6 for the administration of the
fund. Fund monies shall be paid to the Arizona department of housing
to offset the costs of administering the fund, including the direct and
indirect costs of processing applications for reimbursement submitted under
section 41-4008 and administering the direct and indirect costs of
section 33-1437, subsection C.� The attorney general shall review the
costs charged to the fund.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 33-1478, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
33-1478.

Remedies for abandonment; sale; notice; required registration

A. If the tenant abandons the mobile home unit on a
mobile home space,
it is incumbent upon
the landlord
to

shall
locate the legal owner or
lienholder of the mobile home unit within ten days and
communicate
to him his

notify the owner or lienholder of the owner's
or lienholder's
liability for any costs
incumbered

incurred
for the mobile home space for
such

that
mobile home unit, including rent and utilities due
and owing.�
However,
The landlord
shall be

is
entitled to a maximum of sixty days' rent due
prior to

for the period of unpaid rent
immediately preceding
notice to
the legal owner or
lienholder.�

Any and
All costs
shall
then become
the responsibility of the legal owner or lienholder of the mobile
home. The mobile home unit may not be removed from the mobile home
space without a signed written agreement from the mobile home park landlord,
owner or manager showing clearance for removal, showing all monies due and
owning

owing as
paid in full
,

or
showing that
an agreement
was
reached
with the legal owner
or lienholder
and the landlord.

B. For the purposes of this section,
a mobile home is abandoned if either of the following applies:

1. The tenant is absent from the
mobile home without notice to the landlord for at least thirty days, rent for
the mobile home space is outstanding and unpaid for at least thirty days, the
landlord has delivered a termination notice for unpaid rent to the most recent
tenant and at least seven days have elapsed and there is no reasonable evidence
that the tenant is occupying the mobile home.

2. The mobile home remains on the
mobile home space after entry of a judgment of eviction. If a
judgment of eviction has not been entered, a mobile home is not abandoned if
the mobile home is being serviced under an active third-party utility
provider for electricity, natural gas or water.

C. A landlord may not begin landlord
lien sale procedures on a mobile home pursuant to this section unless the
mobile home is abandoned as prescribed by subsection B of this section.

D. Notwithstanding section 33-1480
and if the mobile home remains on the mobile home space, a landlord has a lien
on an abandoned mobile home until all monies due to the landlord for the rental
of the mobile home space, including utilities, are paid. The
landlord's lien is established by operation of law and is not affected by any
transfer or encumbrance of the mobile home after any monies become due to the
landlord. The lien established pursuant to this subsection does not
apply to the mobile home space tenant's household goods.

E. After determining that a mobile
home has been abandoned, the landlord may serve a notice on the mobile home's
legal owner that states the termination of any right to keep the home on the
mobile home space and that demands payment of all monies due to the landlord
for rent and utilities within seven days after receipt of the notice.� The
notice shall be sent by certified mail to the legal owner's address as shown in
the department of transportation's records and to any other addresses known to
the landlord.� At a minimum the notice shall include the full amount due and
necessary to be paid in order to terminate the lien sale and the date on which
that amount is to be paid to the landlord.� If all monies owed are not paid in
full and satisfied within seventy-two days after the notice is sent, the
landlord may sell the mobile home as prescribed in section 33-1023.� At
any time before completion of the sale of the mobile home:

1. If the abandonment is the result
of the entry of a judgment of eviction, the legal owner has the right to
recover possession of the mobile home as provided in section 33-1481,
subsection B.

2. If the abandonment is not the
result of the entry of a judgment of eviction from the mobile home space, the
tenant has the right to reoccupy the mobile home on payment of the amount due
at any time before completion of the sale.� The landlord may not interfere with
the tenant's right to reoccupy the mobile home and the mobile home may not
thereafter be treated as abandoned while the mobile home remains occupied.

3. The landlord shall give the tenant
access to the mobile home at reasonable times during normal business hours to
remove household goods and other personal possessions, but the tenant may not
remove fixtures, built-in appliances, appurtenances or building
components of the mobile home.

F. If the abandoned mobile home is
subject to a lien of record, both of the following apply:

1. At the time the notice is sent
pursuant to subsection E of this section, the landlord shall send a notice of
abandonment pursuant to subsection A of this section to the record lienholder
at the record lienholder's most recent address as shown in the records of the
department of transportation. The landlord shall include in the
notice of abandonment a description of the mobile home and its vehicle
identification number.

2. At least ten days before
conducting a sale under subsection E of this section, the landlord shall send
notice to any record lienholder on the mobile home that the lienholder, at any
time before the sale, may recover possession of the mobile home.� The record
lienholder may pay the amount due to the landlord and, if paid, shall recover
possession of the mobile home. On release of the mobile home to a
record lienholder pursuant to this paragraph, the landlord is not liable to the
tenant or the mobile home owner for the release of the mobile home.

G. If a sale is held pursuant to this
section, the landlord shall distribute the proceeds of the sale in the
following manner and in the following order:

1. Payment of all reasonable costs of
sale.

2. Satisfaction of the landlord's
lien.

3. Satisfaction of the valid claims
of any record lienholder.

4. On demand by the former owner
within ninety days after the date of the sale, payment of any remaining
proceeds to the former owner of the mobile home.

5. If the former owner does not claim
the balance within ninety days after the date of the sale, payment of the
balance to the Arizona department of housing for deposit in the mobile home
relocation fund established by section 33-1476.02, along with submittal
of the names of the former owner of the mobile home, the landlord and the
mobile home park in which the mobile home was located.� Within two years after
the date of payment of the balance to the Arizona department of housing, if the
former owner establishes to the satisfaction of the director that the former
owner has the right to receive the monies, the director shall pay those monies
to the former owner.

H. If a mobile home is determined in
writing by a fire department or other code or safety enforcement agency to be
substantially damaged or destroyed by fire or another disaster on the mobile
home space and unless work is promptly begun to restore the mobile home to a
habitable condition, the landlord shall notify the lienholder of record and the
legal owner of the mobile home to remove the mobile home from the park within
thirty days and shall include with the notice a copy of the written determination
of substantial damage or destruction.� If the mobile home is not removed within
thirty days, the landlord may remove or demolish the mobile home and dispose of
it in any lawful manner and shall notify the department of transportation of
the demolition.� A landlord who disposes of a mobile home in compliance with
this subsection is not liable to the owner or any lienholder for the loss of
the mobile home.

I. If a landlord acquires title to a
mobile home in a mobile home park pursuant to this section or otherwise and
thereby obtains personal property from the mobile home that has reasonably
apparent value, the landlord:

1. May store the personal property in
the unoccupied mobile home that was acquired by the landlord or in any other
available mobile home, dwelling unit or storage space owned, leased or
otherwise controlled by the landlord on or off the premises. The
landlord shall notify the tenant of the location of the personal property.

2. Shall hold the personal property
for a period of at least ten days after obtaining title to the mobile
home. The landlord shall use reasonable care in holding the personal
property. If the landlord holds the property for ten days and the
tenant makes no reasonable effort to recover it, the landlord may sell the
property, retain the proceeds and apply them toward the actual and reasonable
costs of disposing of the personal property. Any excess proceeds
shall be mailed to the tenant at the tenant's last known address.

3. If the tenant cannot be found,
shall pay the excess proceeds to the Arizona department of housing to be
deposited in the mobile home relocation fund established by section 33-1476.02
and shall submit the names of the former owner of the mobile home, the landlord
and the mobile home park in which the mobile home was located.

J. A tenant or former tenant who is
the legal owner of a mobile home that is the subject of a landlord lien sale
procedure pursuant to this section may petition the Arizona department of
housing for a hearing under section 32-2199.01 on the single issue of
whether the landlord is in compliance with this section.� The department shall
immediately refer the petition to the office of administrative hearings and on
receiving notice of this action, the landlord shall defer any landlord lien
sale on the mobile home pending determination of the issue.� The hearing shall
be scheduled at the earliest possible time on that single issue and the
decision of the administrative law judge shall be issued at the conclusion of
the hearing and is binding on the parties. If the decision is in
favor of the landlord, the sale may proceed.� If the decision is in favor of
the tenant, the pending sale is canceled without prejudice for the landlord to
initiate a new landlord lien sale pursuant to this section.� Either party may
appeal the decision as a final administrative decision pursuant to title 12,
chapter 7, article 6.

K. A landlord that bids at a sale
conducted pursuant to this section shall bid in at least the full amount of the
value of the landlord lien and may not bid in less than that amount in order to
create a deficiency balance.

L. A landlord of a mobile home park
that is closed by action of a code enforcement agency due to infractions by the
landlord of health and safety codes has no rights under this section.

B.

M. A

landlord shall require each mobile home space renter to complete

a

required
standardized
registration form
shall be filled out by each mobile home space
renter, upon

on renting the
mobile home space
rental
, showing
the
mobile home make,
year, serial number and license number
,
if any
be

license number is
legally required, and

also
showing
if

whether

the mobile home is paid for,
if

whether

there is a lien on the mobile home
,
and
if so
the name of
the lienholder,
if any,
and
who is

the name
of
the legal owner of the mobile home unit. The registration
cards or forms shall be kept on file with the park management as long as the
mobile home is on the mobile home space within the park.
The owner of the mobile home shall give
notice
shall
be given
to park management within ten days
of

after
any changes in a new lien, changes of existing lien or
settlement of lien.
END_STATUTE