[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:
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.
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.
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.
A park licensed by the Town's Board of Health pursuant to
MGL c. 140, § 32B.
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 as promulgated by the Board.
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.
