Mobile Home Park Tenants: The Mobilehome Residency Law’s Different Universe

Owning the home while renting the land creates unique leverage problems — and California answers with a dedicated code: strict eviction grounds, rent protections, and sale rights park owners must honor.

What California Law Says

The Mobilehome Residency Law, Civil Code sections 798 and following, limits terminations to enumerated grounds with 60-day notices, regulates rent increases with 90-day notices and layers of local park rent control, protects in-place sales of homes, and restricts park rules and utility pass-throughs — with a state-run complaint program at HCD.

How to Protect Yourself, Step by Step

1. Identify every notice’s statutory ground — MRL terminations are a closed list, not landlord discretion.
2. Check local mobilehome rent stabilization; dozens of jurisdictions cap space rent.
3. Assert sale rights: the park cannot require removal of a compliant home or unreasonably reject buyers.
4. Document rule changes and pass-throughs against the MRL’s procedures.
5. File complaints with HCD’s Mobilehome Ombudsman alongside private remedies.

Common Questions

The park says my older home must be removed when I sell. Can they force that?

Only in narrow condition-based circumstances — compliant homes generally carry in-place sale rights, and removal demands are a classic MRL violation.

Space rent jumped 25 percent with a form letter. My options?

Check local ordinance caps first, then MRL notice compliance — and organize; park residents petitioning together drive most local rent control adoption.