[HISTORY: Adopted by the Special Town Meeting of the Town
of Easton 2-6-2012 by Art. 1.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to provide, pursuant to the provisions
of Chapter 88 of the Acts of 2013 (the "Acts"), for the regulation
of rents for the use or occupancy of Mobile Home Park Sites in the
Town, for the regulation of eviction of Mobile Home Park tenants,
for the establishment of minimum standards for use and occupancy of
mobile home park accommodations, for the registration by owners of
mobile home parks, and for the establishment of a Rent Control Board
with the powers and duties prescribed herein. In accordance with the
Acts, this chapter and any Rules and Regulations established hereunder
exist to ensure equity in the cost of housing for residents of Mobile
Home Parks.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words shall,
unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings:
A dwelling unit that is transportable in one or more sections,
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. A Mobile Home
may also be defined by reference to MGL. c. 140, § 32Q or
regulations promulgated hereunder.
A lot or tract of land used for the Sites of two or more
Mobile Homes provided, however that Mobile Home Park owned by and
between all of the owners of the Mobile Homes in the Park shall not
be regulated by this chapter.
The Mobile Home Park Rent Control Board established therein.
Rules and regulations promulgated by the Rent Board.
The land underneath a Mobile Home and the associated lot
rented or available for rent from the Mobile Home Park owner or licensee
or in the event that the owner of the Mobile Home Park or licensee
owns the Mobile Home, the actual Mobile Home and associated lot.
[Amended 5-20-2019 ATM by Art. 21]
There is hereby established a Mobile Home Park Rent Control
Board consisting of five residents of Easton. The Select Board shall
serve as the initial Board hereunder but may elect to appoint other
residents. Should the Select Board appoint other residents, the new
members of the Board shall be appointed for a term of five years,
provided however that of the members first appointed to the Board
by the Select Board, one shall be appointed for a term of one year,
one shall be appointed for a term of two years, one shall be appointed
for a term of three years, one shall be appointed for a term of four
years and one shall be appointed for a term of five years.
Thereafter, the Select Board shall appoint each successor to
a term of five years. Any vacancy occurring otherwise than by expiration
of a term shall be filled by the Select Board for the unexpired term.
At the first meeting after the start of each new fiscal year, the
Rent Board shall elect from its members a Chair, a Vice-Chair and
a Clerk. No member of the Rent Board shall be a Mobile Home Park owner,
a Mobile Home Park licensee or a Mobile Home Park tenant, or have
any financial interest, direct or indirect, in a Mobile Home Park
located in Easton.
The Rent Board shall have the following powers and duties:
A.
The Rent Board shall regulate: rents; minimum standards for the use
of occupancy of Mobile Home Park Sites; registrations by owners of
Mobile Home Parks and the evictions of tenants therefrom.
B.
The Rent Board shall have all powers necessary or convenient to perform
its functions. The Rent Board may make Rules and Regulations, may
require information from said owners under penalty of perjury relating
to their Mobile Home Park Sites, may sue and be sued, may compel the
attendance of persons and the production of papers and information,
and may issue appropriate orders which shall be binding on both the
owner and tenants of Mobile Home Park Sites.
A.
The Rent Board, in regulating rents, shall make such individual or
general adjustments, either upward or downward, as may be necessary
to assure that rents for Mobile Home Park Sites are established at
levels which yield to tenants reasonable Site rents based on current
economic conditions and, to owners or licensees, a fair net operating
income.
B.
The Rent Board may make Site rent adjustments at its own initiative;
or application for Site rent changes may be made to the Rent Board
by owners, licensees and/or tenant(s) of Mobile Home Parks in the
Town of Easton. Any application for change in Site rents made by tenants
may not be used as a premise for increasing rents or other charges.
C.
No proposed rent increase shall be effective without the prior written
approval of the Board.
D.
The following factors, among other relevant factors, which the Board,
by its Regulation may define, shall be considered in determining whether
rents for Mobile Home Park Sites yield a fair net operating income:
(1)
Increases or decreases in property taxes;
(2)
Unavoidable increases or any decreases in operating and maintenance
expenses;
(3)
Capital improvements of the mobile home park as distinguished from
ordinary repair, replacement and maintenance;
(4)
Increases or decreases in space, services, equipment, etc.;
(5)
Substantial deterioration of the mobile home park other than as a
result or ordinary wear and tear; and
(6)
Failure to perform ordinary repair, replacement and maintenance.
E.
The Rent Board may establish, via its Regulations, further definitions,
standards and rules consistent with the foregoing.
The Rent Board may adopt rules regulating the evictions of tenants
at Mobile Home Parks, and the Rent Board may issue orders which shall
be a defense to an action of summary process for possession.
Any and all statements, applications and other materials submitted
to the Rent Board hereunder shall be submitted under the pains and
penalties of perjury.
A.
The provisions of Chapter 30A of the General Laws shall be applicable
to the Rent Board as if the Board were an agency of the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, including those provisions giving agencies the power
to issue, vacate, modify and enforce subpoenas and those provisions
relating to judicial review of an agency order.
B.
The personnel, if any, of the rent board established under section
two shall not be subject to Section 9A of Chapter 30 of the General
Laws or Chapter 31 of the General Laws.
C.
The Taunton Division of the District Court Department shall have
original jurisdiction, concurrently with the Superior Court Department,
of all petitions for review brought pursuant to Section 14 of Chapter
30A of the General Laws. Any and all parties aggrieved by the action(s)
of the Rent Board may institute an action as provided herein.
D.
The Superior Court Department shall have jurisdiction to enforce
the provisions of this chapter, and any Rules and Regulations established
hereunder, and may restrain violations thereof.
Violations of this chapter or any order of the Rent Board shall
be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000.
If any provision of this chapter or the application of such
bylaw to any person or circumstance shall be held invalid by final
judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, the validity of other
provisions of this chapter or the application of such provision to
other persons or circumstances shall not be thereby affected; additionally,
the invalid provision shall be interpreted and applied until amendment
by the appropriate body to the fullest extent applicable under Massachusetts
law and regulations.
