[Adopted by Bill No. 75-76]
The owner or operator of every vehicular trailer
camp or mobile home park in the county shall obtain a license from
the Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits in order to operate
or continue to operate such mobile home park or trailer camp.
For the purposes of this Article, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
An establishment which leases two (2) or more trailer coaches
or mobile homes or spaces.
A license issued to such operator may not be
transferred to a successor operator.
[Amended by Bill Nos. 90-7; 24-013]
The license fee for each vehicular trailer camp
or mobile home park for each licensing year or fraction thereof shall
be $10 for each approved lot.
If any mobile home park owner or operator operates
any mobile home park without a valid license as required by this Article,
he shall be subject to a fine of at least one hundred dollars ($100.)
for every day that a mobile home park is operated without such valid
license. Each day that a park is operated without a valid license
shall be deemed a separate offense.
[Amended by Bill Nos. 81-47; 87-5; 87-13]
A.
The operator of every vehicular trailer camp or mobile
home park shall collect from the lessee or tenant of each trailer
coach or mobile home space, for the privilege of leasing or renting
the space, a monthly excise tax as provided in § 157-24C(1)(h)[2]
of the Harford County Code, as amended.
B.
Such operator collecting the tax shall hold it to
the account of the Treasurer of the County and on the first days of
April, July, October and January in each year shall remit to the Treasurer
the total amount of his collections for that purpose. The money paid
to the Treasurer shall be credited to the general funds of the county,
provided that this tax shall not apply if the County Council has assessed
the trailers or mobile homes under the provisions of the Tax-Property
Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. If an operator fails to
collect the tax from a lessee or tenant at the same time as he collects
rent, the operator and not the lessee/tenant shall be liable for the
tax. The taxes collected shall be due quarterly as stated and after
fifteen (15) days from their due date shall bear interest at the rate
of one and one-half percent (1 1/2%) per month or fraction thereof
until paid in full. Further, a ten-percent penalty calculated against
the total tax liability shall be assessed against the operator forty-five
(45) days after the due date of the bill if it remains unpaid. The
excise tax shall, when due and payable, constitute a lien on the real
property and, pursuant to § 14-801 of the Tax-Property Article
of the Annotated Code of Maryland, can render the real property subject
to a tax sale in accordance with law.
C.
If the operator fails to notify the tenant or lessee
of the tax before the tenant or lessee takes possession of a space
or enters into a lease agreement, whichever shall come first, the
operator must pay the tax for each month that he fails to notify the
lessee or tenant, and, upon notifying the tenant or lessee late, the
operator shall also notify the tenant or lessee that the tenant or
lessee has sixty (60) days within which he can terminate the lease
upon no notice to the operator, notwithstanding any provisions of
the lease to the contrary.
The County Executive may promulgate and adopt
rules and regulations in conformity with the provisions of this Article
as to the details of securing the licenses and of paying the fees
and excise taxes provided. The power to adopt and promulgate rules
and regulations shall include also the preparation and furnishing
of appropriate tax reporting forms to be furnished to the operators
licensed under this Article.
