[Adopted 8-25-1986 STM by Art. 18, approved
10-16-1986 (Bylaw 49)]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Mobile Home Park
Rent Control Bylaw."
A.
MOBILE HOME
RENT BOARD and BOARD
RULES AND REGULATIONS
For the purposes of this article the following terms,
phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein,
unless the context in which they are used clearly requires a different meaning:
A dwelling unit built on a chassis and containing complete electrical,
plumbing and sanitary facilities, and designed to be installed on a temporary
or permanent foundation for permanent living quarters.
MOBILE HOME PARK
A park licensed by the Board of Health pursuant to MGL c.140, § 32B.
The Mobile Home Park Rent Control Board as established herein.
Rules and regulations as promulgated by the Board.
B.
"Shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive.
[Amended 5-2-2005 ATM, Art. 11, approved 8-4-2005]
There is hereby established a Mobile Home Park Rent Control Board consisting
of three members appointed by the Board of Selectmen. The members in the first
instance shall be appointed for terms of one, two, and three years. Any member
subsequently appointed to the Board shall serve for a term of three years.
A.
The Board may:
(1)
Regulate rents so as to remove hardships or correct inequities
for both the owner and the tenant of such mobile home accommodations;
(2)
Set minimum standards for use or occupancy of mobile home park
accommodations and evictions of tenants therefrom;
(3)
Require registration by owners of mobile home parks;
[Amended 5-2-2005 ATM, Art. 11, approved 8-4-2005]
(4)
Require information of said owners relating to their parks under
penalties of perjury.
B.
The Board shall have all powers necessary to carry out
its duties including, but not limited to, making rules and regulations, suing
and being sued, compelling attendance of persons and the production of papers
and information and issuing appropriate orders which shall be binding on both
the owner and tenant of such mobile home park accommodations.
The standards for adjusting rents are as follows:
A.
The Board may make individual or general adjustments,
either upward or downward, as may be necessary to assure that rents for mobile
home park accommodations are established on levels which yield to owners a
fair net operating income for such units.
(1)
Fair net operating income shall be that income which
will yield a return, after all reasonable operating expenses, on the fair
market value of the property, equal to the debt service rate generally available
from institutional first mortgage lenders or other such rates of return as
the Board, on the basis of evidence presented before it, deems more appropriate
to the circumstances of the case.
(2)
Fair market value shall be assessed valuation of the
property or such other valuation as the Board, on the basis of evidence presented
before it, deems more appropriate to the circumstances of the case.
B.
The Board may establish further standards and rules consistent
with the foregoing.
The Board may regulate evictions of tenants at mobile home parks and
may issue orders which shall be defense to an action of summary process for
possession.
A.
The Board and its actions shall be subject to the provisions
of MGL c.30A (Administrative Procedures Act) as if the Board were an agency
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
B.
The Eastern Franklin Division of the district court department
shall have original jurisdiction, concurrently with the Superior Court, of
all petitions for review brought pursuant to MGL c.30A, § 14.
C.
The Superior Court shall have jurisdiction to enforce
the provisions of this article and may restrain violations thereof.
Violations of this article or any order of the Board shall be punishable
by a fine of not more than $1,000 for any one offense.
