[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of West Stockbridge 6-22-2020 ATM by Art. 13. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein, unless the context in which they are used clearly require a different meaning:
ACT
Chapter 53 of the Acts of 2013, An Act Providing for the Establishment and Administration of Rent Regulations and the Control of Evictions in Mobile Home Accommodations in the Town of West Stockbridge.
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT
Any substantial rehabilitation, addition or improvement which appreciably adds to the value of the property or prolongs its life, or both, but not including ordinary maintenance and repairs.
MOBILE HOME or MOBILE HOME PARK ACCOMMODATION
A dwelling unit built on a chassis and containing complete electrical, plumbing and sanitary facilities, and designed to be installed on a temporary or a permanent foundation for permanent living quarters, but shall not include modular homes set upon permanent foundations and which are installed on a lot or parcel of land located in a mobile home park.
MOBILE HOME PARK
A park licensed by the Town's Board of Health pursuant to MGL c. 140, § 32B.
RENT BOARD and BOARD
The Mobile Home Park Rent Control Board as established under the Act and herein. The Board shall consist of the members of the Town's Select Board.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
Rules and regulations as promulgated by the Board.
TOWN
The Town of West Stockbridge.
A. 
In the Town of West Stockbridge, no rent adjustment shall be effective without the prior approval of the Board. The initial base maximum rent of a mobile home park accommodation shall be $325 a month, which is the amount charged on January 1, 2013. If the mobile home park accommodation was unoccupied at that time, the maximum rent shall be the rent charged for similar accommodations on January 1, 2013. Any maximum rent may be subsequently adjusted by the Board under the provisions of §§ 170-3 and 170-4 of this bylaw and the rules and regulations.
B. 
The owner of a mobile home park shall register the park with the Board within 30 days of the effective date of this bylaw. Required registration information shall include:
(1) 
Current total number of mobile home units located in the park;
(2) 
Current total number of available lots, both occupied and vacant;
(3) 
Names and addresses, including contact information of current mobile home park tenants;
(4) 
Current owner's name of the mobile home park and contact information for same; and
(5) 
Contact information of the current mobile home park manager.
A. 
The Board shall, by order as provided in the Act, make such individual or general adjustments, either upward or downward, of the maximum rent established by § 170-2, as may be necessary to remove hardships or correct inequities for both the owner and tenant, and to yield to owners a fair net operating income for such mobile home park accommodations.
B. 
"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 in Berkshire County, Massachusetts or such other rate of return as the Board, on the basis of the evidence presented before it, deems more appropriate to the circumstances of the case.
C. 
The fair market value of the mobile home park shall be the assessed valuation of the property or such other valuations as the Board, on the basis of the evidence presented before it, deems more appropriate to the circumstances of the case.
D. 
The Board, by regulations, may establish further standards and rules consistent with the foregoing. The Board may promulgate a schedule of standard rental increases or decreases for improvement or deterioration in specific services and facilities.
E. 
Refusal to grant adjustments.
(1) 
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Board may refuse to grant an upward adjustment of maximum rent:
(a) 
If it determines that the affected mobile home park accommodation does not comply with state and municipal codes, building codes, other state or local laws or regulations and bylaws regulating the conditions of housing accommodations; and
(b) 
If it determines that such lack of compliance is due to the failure of the owner of the mobile home park accommodation to provide normal and adequate repairs and maintenance.
(2) 
The Board may refuse to make a downward adjustment of maximum rent if it determines that the tenant is more than 60 days in arrears in payment of rent unless such arrearage is due to a withholding of rent under the provisions of MGL c. 239, § 8A; or if the tenant is in substantial violation of any enforceable rule of the mobile home park; or if the tenant is in violation of any laws, regulations or bylaws which protect the health and safety of other mobile home park residents.
A. 
Adjustment of maximum rent. The Board shall consider an adjustment of rent for an individual or group of mobile home park accommodations for adjustment filed by the owner of the mobile home park or tenant(s) of such mobile home park accommodation(s). Such petition shall be made in a manner approved by the Board on forms provided by the Board. The petitioning party shall notify the owner if the petition was filed by the tenant(s). The tenant(s) shall be notified if the petitioning party is the owner. Notification shall be made 60 days prior to the date of proposed adjustment of rent. The petition must be in writing on the appropriate form. The Board shall schedule a hearing within 21 days of receipt of the petition. If a hearing is requested by either party, or if the action is undertaken on the initiative of the Board, notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be published once in the Berkshire Eagle or such other newspaper which has a general circulation in the Town, not less than five days prior to the hearing. The Board may consolidate petitions and actions relating to mobile home park accommodations in the same mobile home park, and all such petitions and actions may be considered in a single hearing. A hearing under this section shall be an adjudicatory hearing, following the procedures set forth in MGL c. 30A and 801 CMR 1.02, Informal/Fair Hearing Rules, insofar as the procedures are relevant.
B. 
General adjustment of maximum rent by regulation.
(1) 
On its own initiative, the Board may make a general adjustment, by percentage or otherwise, of the rental levels for mobile home park accommodations, subject to such conditions, if any, as the Board shall determine. Prior to making such adjustment, a public hearing shall be held before the Board. Notice of the time, place, and purpose of such hearings shall be published one time in the Berkshire Eagle or such other newspaper which has a general circulation in the Town. Notice shall be published not less than five days prior to said hearing. There shall be no filing fee associated with a general adjustment, and the costs of publication and holding the public hearing shall be borne by the Town.
(2) 
Except as the Board for good cause may otherwise determine, annually, in October of each year, the Board shall hold a public hearing on whether to make a general adjustment; if, as a result of the public hearing, the Board determines that a general adjustment should be made, the amount of the adjustment shall be based upon the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the prior year for the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) where the Town is located.
A. 
The Board shall consider a petition for an adjustment of rent filed by an owner or a tenant of a mobile home park situated in the Town. All petitions shall be filed with the Town Clerk, who shall sign and date them. No application may be accepted by the Town Clerk unless accompanied by the filing fee as established by the Board through its rules and regulations. In cases of multiple mobile home park ownership, the landlord shall segregate the financial information for the specific park(s) located within the Town.
B. 
Owner's petition. The following information shall be submitted to the Board with the filing of the application for rent adjustment by the owner of a mobile home park. No Board action shall be initiated without the following supporting documentation:
(1) 
Financial statements for the three years preceding the filing of the application for rent adjustment; such statements should clearly set forth income, sources of income, and a detailed breakdown of operating expenses;
(2) 
An interim updated financial statement showing income and operating expenses for the current calendar year and last 12 months immediately prior to the current petition;
(3) 
A complete and current balance sheet;
(4) 
A statement of the number of employees, job titles and descriptions, and salaries for any employee whose employment relates to the affected mobile home park;
(5) 
Current capital improvements and dates of completion;
(6) 
Proposed capital improvements and proposed dates of completion;
(7) 
Proposed budget for the year in which the increase is to be effective;
(8) 
A statement of the rate or return sought and the assessed valuation of the property where the mobile home park is located.
C. 
The Board shall require payment of a filing fee, in an amount to be established by its rules and regulations, by any and all parties that make application to request a rent adjustment under this bylaw.
Notwithstanding any other provision in this bylaw, the Board may, without holding a hearing, refuse to adjust the maximum rent for an individual mobile home park accommodation and may dismiss any petition for adjustment if a decision has been made with regard to the maximum rent for such mobile home park accommodation within 12 months, or if the Board finds that the petition for adjustment is filed for purposes of harassment or for other purposes not intended by the Act or in conflict with MGL c. 140, §§ 32A through 32S.
In addition to the requirements of MGL c. 140, § 32L, and in accordance with 940 CMR 10.00, if the owner, in good faith, decides to discontinue use of part or all of the land owned and licensed as a mobile home park, such discontinuance will be subject to any existing contractual rights between the owner and the tenant located in the mobile home park. As a local requirement, the park owner must, in writing, give a minimum of 60 days' notice to each tenant prior to closing, in addition to any other notices required by state law.
A. 
Pursuant to the provisions of MGL c. 140, § 32J, an owner shall not bring an action to recover possession of a mobile home park accommodation unless the Board issues a certificate of eviction on one or more of the following grounds:
(1) 
The tenant has failed to pay the rent to which the owner is entitled; or
(2) 
The tenant is in substantial violation of an enforceable rule of the mobile home park; or
(3) 
The tenant is in violation of a law, bylaw or regulation which protects the health or safety of other mobile home park residents.
B. 
The owner must provide the Board with satisfactory evidence that all notice requirements as to any alleged violation have been provided to the tenant in a timely manner and the tenant has failed to cure the alleged violation in a timely manner, all as set forth in MGL c. 140, § 32J.
C. 
Application for certificate of eviction; notice and hearing; issuance of certificate.
(1) 
An owner shall file an application for a certificate of eviction and a copy of the application on a form provided by the Board as well as pay a filing fee in the amount established by the Board. The fee shall be paid by check or money order made payable to the Town of West Stockbridge at the time of filing the application for a certificate of eviction.
(2) 
An application for a certificate of eviction shall be signed by the owner under the penalties of perjury and shall describe in complete detail the basis for eviction and the facts in support of such basis. A copy of the lease and the rules and regulations of the mobile home park shall be submitted with the application where the tenant is claimed to have violated either the lease or the park regulations.
(3) 
An application for a certificate of eviction which fails to comply with the foregoing provisions of this Subsection C shall not be processed until such defects have been corrected or removed.
(4) 
Within 30 days of receiving an application for a certificate of eviction, the Board shall by certified mail, return receipt requested, forward to the tenant or tenants listed on the application for a certificate of eviction and to the mobile home park owner a copy of the application for a certificate of eviction, as received, together with a notice of the date, time and place of the hearing.
(5) 
An application or an amended application for a certificate of eviction shall be scheduled for a hearing not less than 10 days or more than 21 days from the date on which the notice of hearing is mailed by the Board to the parties. Hearings shall be conducted by the Board and shall be adjudicatory hearings following the procedures set forth in MGL c. 30A, and 801 CMR 1.02, Informal/Fair Hearing Rules, insofar as the procedures are relevant.
(6) 
A request for postponement of the hearing may be granted for good cause shown.
(7) 
At the hearing, the owner shall have the burden of establishing the facts and basis for the eviction. Testimony shall be taken under oath and any party shall have the right to cross examine witnesses of the other party and to introduce evidence in support of its position.
(8) 
A written order granting or denying a certificate of eviction shall be issued by the Board within 30 days of the date of the final session of the hearing, and any order denying a certificate of eviction shall be a defense in any summary process action commenced by the owner against the tenant or tenants named on the application for a certificate of eviction.
D. 
An owner who seeks to recover possession of a mobile home park accommodation without a certificate of eviction shall be deemed to have violated the Act and this bylaw.
E. 
The provisions of this bylaw shall be construed as additional restrictions on the right to recover possession of a mobile home park accommodation. No provision of this bylaw shall entitle any person to recover possession of such a mobile home park accommodation. Upon a decision of the Board concerning the granting or withholding of a certificate of eviction, either party concerned may appeal to the Southern Berkshire Division of the District Court or the Berkshire Superior Court, Department of the Trial Court, within 30 calendar days after such decision.
If a party appearing before the Board fails to comply with the required procedures or production of information requested, such conduct shall be grounds for dismissal of a petition presented to the Board.