[HISTORY: Adopted by the Special Town Meeting
of the Town of Salisbury 1-4-1989 by Art. 11. Amendments noted where applicable.]
When used in this bylaw, unless the context
otherwise requires, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
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 repairs and maintenance.
Services or facilities provided by an owner or required by
law or by the terms of a rental housing agreement to be provided by
an owner to a tenant in connection with the use and occupancy of any
mobile home park accommodation, including without limitation snowplowing,
sanding of roadways, landscaping, landscaping maintenance, furniture,
furnishings and equipment; repairs, decorating and maintenance; provision
of light, heat, hot water, cold water, telephone, kitchen, bath, and
laundry facilities and privileges; use of yard and other common areas;
janitor service, refuse removal, parking facilities, and any other
benefit, privilege, or facility connected with the use or occupancy
of any mobile home park accommodations; or any other said service
that the Rent Board may allow under its rate case hearings. Housing
services to a mobile home park accommodation shall include a proportionate
part of services provided to common facilities of the mobile home
park in which the mobile home park accommodation is contained.
A dwelling unit 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 or
temporary living quarters.
A park licensed by the Board of Health pursuant to MGL c.
140, § 32B.
The lot or space in a mobile home park upon which is located
a mobile home not owned by the holder of the license of said park
and used and occupied as a single dwelling unit.
The expenses of reasonable and necessary services to a mobile
home park, including, but not limited to, maintenance, repair, management
fee, real estate broker's commission to someone other than the owner,
insurance, and utilities, but not including mortgage interest and
amortization nor an allowance for obsolescence or depreciation.
The individual who holds a license granted pursuant to MGL
c. 140, § 32B, to conduct, control, manage or operate directly
or indirectly a mobile home park in any manner, including, but not
limited to, a partnership, corporation, or trust; for purposes of
this bylaw, the rights and duties of the owner hereunder shall be
the obligation of anyone who manages, controls, or customarily accepts
rent on behalf of the owner.
The consideration, including any bonus, benefit, gratuity,
or charge, contingent or otherwise, demanded or received for, or in
connection with, the use or occupancy of a mobile home park accommodation
or for housing services or for the transfer of a lease of a mobile
home park accommodation, exclusive of the tax collected by the owner
and paid to the Town under MGL c. 140, § 32G; excluding
therefrom, however, the consideration paid by a shareholder of a cooperative
housing corporation organized pursuant to MGL c. 157B for a share
of said corporation, a proprietary lease, and any maintenance fees
associated therewith.
An agreement, verbal, written, or implied, between an owner
and a tenant for use and occupancy of a mobile home park accommodation
and for housing services, specifically excluding, however, any agreement
for occupancy of a mobile home park accommodation between a cooperative
housing corporation as defined in MGL c. 157B and a shareholder of
said corporation.
The Mobile Home Park Rent Control Board established by § 145-2.
A tenant, subtenant, lessee, sublessee, or other person entitled
under the terms of a rental housing agreement to the use and occupancy
of any mobile home park accommodation, excepting from this definition,
however, any person who occupies a mobile home park accommodation
pursuant to a proprietary lease as defined in MGL c. 157B, § 4
as a shareholder of a Chapter 157B cooperative housing corporation.
A.
Composition.
(1)
There shall be in the Town a Mobile Home Park Rent
Control Board, and known as the "Rent Board," consisting of three
members, all of whom are to be residents of Salisbury, none of whom
to be a mobile home park owner or mobile home park tenant, appointed
by the Board of Selectmen. Members of the Rent Board shall be appointed
for a maximum of three years. Initially, one member shall be appointed
for a one year term, one member for a two-year term, and one member
for a three-year term. Should any vacancy occur in membership, the
member appointed to fill said vacancy shall serve for the remaining
portion of the term of the member creating the vacancy.
(2)
Any action taken by the Rent Board shall require a
majority thereof. Within seven days after the appointment and confirmation
of the Rent Board as aforesaid, the Rent Board shall meet and elect
one of its members a Chairperson to serve in that capacity for a term
of one year.
B.
The Rent Board shall, as provided in §§ 145-3, 145-5 and 145-6, establish and adopt the maximum rent that may be charged for mobile home park accommodations, shall grant or deny certificates of eviction as provided under §§ 145-10 and 145-11, and shall bring such proceedings as may be necessary to enforce the provisions of this bylaw or to enforce any policy, rule, ruling, regulation, or order promulgated or issued by the Rent Board under this bylaw. The Rent Board may refer any appropriate matter to the Assessing, Health, Fire, and Building Inspection Departments, or other appropriate departments, and may, at the request of any owner, render a binding advisory opinion as to the permissible impact of a proposed capital improvement on the rents.
C.
The Rent Board may make such studies and investigations,
conduct such hearings, and obtain such information as is deemed necessary
in promulgating any regulation, rule or order under this bylaw, or
in administering and enforcing this bylaw and regulations and orders
promulgated hereunder.
D.
The Rent Control Board will hold one annual meeting
in June for the purpose of re-organization and at any other time as
needed upon written request or by posted meeting of the Rent Control
Board.
[Amended 10-24-2011 ATM by Art. 15]
E.
The Rent Board may make rules and regulations, sue
and be sued, compel attendance of persons and the production of papers
and information, and issue appropriate orders which shall be binding
on both the owner and tenant of such mobile home park accommodations.
The maximum rent of a mobile home park accommodation shall be the rent charged the tenant for the month of April 1988. If the mobile home park accommodation was unoccupied at that time but was occupied at any time prior to the effective date of this bylaw, the maximum rent shall be the rent charged therefor for or during the month closest to April 1988. If the maximum rent is not otherwise established, it shall be established by the Rent Board. Any maximum rent may be subsequently adjusted under the provisions of §§ 145-5 and 145-6.
A.
The Rent Board shall require registration of all mobile
home park accommodations on forms approved by it. The registration
form shall identify each mobile home park accommodation and specify
the maximum rent provided by this bylaw for such mobile home park
accommodation and shall contain such other information as the Rent
Board shall require. No petition for an upward adjustment of maximum
rent shall be accepted by the Rent Board until all statements and
information required to be filed under this section have been filed,
and any such petition received prior to such filing shall be dismissed.
The registration form shall be signed by the owner under the penalties
of perjury.
B.
The owner shall give written notice to all tenants
and prospective tenants concerning the following matters:
(1)
The nature of the zoning or use permit under which
the mobile home park operates. If the mobile home park is operating
pursuant to a permit subject to a renewal or expiration date, the
relevant information and dates should be included in the notice.
(2)
The duration of any lease of the mobile home park,
or any portion thereof in which the park owner is a lessee.
(3)
Any contracts or leases between tenants and the owner
of the park currently in effect.
(4)
If a change occurs concerning the zoning or use permit
under which the park operates, or a lease in which the management
of the park is a lessee, or a contract between tenants and park owner,
all tenants shall be given written notice within 30 days of such change.
A prospective tenant shall be notified prior to the inception of tenancy.
(5)
In addition to the notice required by MGL c. 140,
§ 32P, which shall be included in the park rules, the management/owner
of the park shall add the following language: "You may also be evicted
if the park owner seeks to change the use of his land. Current state
law requires a minimum of two years' notice prior to seeking an eviction.
Other state or local laws may also pertain to this situation."
A.
The Rent Board established under the provisions of § 145-2 shall make such individual or general adjustments of rents, either upward or downward, of the maximums established by § 145-3 and by this section for any mobile home park accommodation or any class of mobile home park accommodations as may be necessary to assure that rents for mobile home park accommodations are established at levels which will yield to owners a fair net operating income for such accommodations. For the purposes of this section, the word "class" shall include all mobile home park accommodations within said Town of Salisbury, or any categories of such mobile home park accommodations based on size, age, construction, rent, geographic, or other common characteristics providing such Board has by regulation defined any such categories.
B.
The following factors, among other relevant factors
which such Rent Board by regulation may define, shall be considered
in determining whether a controlled rental unit yields 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 improvement of the housing accommodation as
distinguished from ordinary repair, replacement and maintenance;
(4)
Increases or decreases in living space, services,
or equipment;
(5)
Substantial deterioration of the dwelling units, other
than as a result of ordinary wear and tear, attributable to the park
owner; and
(6)
Failure to perform ordinary repair, replacement and
maintenance.
C.
The Rent Board by regulation may establish further
standards and rules consistent with the foregoing. The Rent Board
may promulgate a schedule of standard rental increases or decreases
for improvement or deterioration in specific services and facilities.
D.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
the Rent Board may refuse to grant an upward adjustment of maximum
rent if it determines that the affected mobile home park accommodation
does not comply with the State Sanitary Code or the Town of Salisbury
Building Code, or any other applicable municipal code, bylaw, or state
law, regulating the conditions of housing accommodations, and if it
determines that such lack of compliance is due to the failure of the
owner to provide normal and adequate repairs and maintenance. The
Rent 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 or bylaws
which protect the health and safety of other mobile home park residents.
A.
Individual adjustment of maximum rent. The Rent Board
shall consider an adjustment of rent for an individual mobile home
park accommodation upon receipt of a petition for adjustment filed
by the owner or tenant of such mobile home park accommodation or upon
its own initiative. Such petition shall be made on a form approved
by the Rent Board. The Rent Board shall notify the owner if the petition
was filed by the tenant, or the tenant if the petition was filed by
the owner, of the receipt of such petition and of the right of either
party to request a hearing in writing within 15 calendar days of receipt
of such notice, or the Rent Board may schedule a hearing on its own
initiative. If a hearing is timely requested by either party, of if
the action is undertaken on the initiative of the Rent Board, notice
of the time and place of the hearing shall be furnished to the owner
and tenant and the hearing shall be conducted before the Rent Board.
The Rent Board may consolidate petitions and actions taken under its
own initiative 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.
B.
General adjustment of maximum rent by regulation.
On its own initiative, the Rent 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 Rent Board
shall determine. Prior to making such adjustment, a public hearing
shall be held before the Rent Board. Notice of the time, place, and
purpose of such hearing shall be published three times in a newspaper
having a general circulation in the Town.
C.
Limitation of petitions for individual adjustment.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Rent 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 Rent Board finds that the petition for adjustment
is filed for purposes of harassment or for other purposes not intended
by this bylaw.
The provisions of MGL c. 30A shall be applicable to the Rent Board, established under § 145-2, as if said Rent Board were an agency of the Commonwealth, including those provisions giving agencies the power to issue, vacate, modify and enforce subpoenas, as well as those provisions relating to judicial review of an agency order.
A.
The Newburyport District Court shall have original
jurisdiction, concurrently with the Superior Court and the Housing
Court Departments, of all petitions for review brought pursuant to
MGL c. 30A, § 14.
B.
The Superior Court and the Housing Court Departments
shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this bylaw and
may restrain by injunction violations thereof.
Upon receipt by the Rent Board of a tenant petition
for adjustment of maximum rent, or upon action initiated by the Rent
Board for adjustment of maximum rent, the owner shall furnish to the
Rent Board, within a reasonable time after a written demand therefor,
an information statement on forms approved by the Rent Board.
A.
No owner shall bring any action to recover possession
of a mobile home park accommodation unless:
(1)
The tenant has failed to pay the rent to which the
owner is entitled.
(2)
The tenant is in substantial violation of an enforceable
rule of the mobile home park.
(3)
The tenant is in violation of a law or bylaw which
protects the health or safety of other mobile home park residents.
(4)
There is a discontinuance in good faith by the owner
of the use of part or all of the land owned and licensed as a mobile
home park subject to any existing contractual rights between the owner
and the tenant located in the mobile home park. No such discontinuance
shall be valid for any mobile home sold by the licensee and for which
a mobile home site was made available at the time of the said sale,
by the licensee, for a period of five years from the date of said
sale.
(5)
The tenant is committing or permitting to exist a
nuisance in, or is causing substantial damage to, the mobile home
park accommodation or is creating a substantial interference with
the comfort, safety, or enjoyment of the owner or other occupants
of the same or any adjacent accommodations.
B.
An owner seeking to recover possession of a mobile home park accommodation shall apply to the Rent Board for a certificate of eviction. Upon receipt of such an application, the Rent Board shall send a copy of the application to the tenant of the mobile home park accommodation together with a notification of all rights and procedures available under this section. If the Rent Board finds that the facts attested to in the owner's petition are valid and in compliance with Subsection A, the certificate of eviction shall be issued.
C.
An owner who seeks to recover possession of a mobile
home park accommodation without a certificate of eviction shall be
deemed to have violated this bylaw.
D.
The provisions of this section shall be construed
as additional restrictions on the right to recover possession of a
mobile home park accommodation. No provision of this section shall
entitle any person to recover possession of such a mobile home park
accommodation. Upon a decision of the Rent Board concerning the granting
or withholding of a certificate of eviction, either party concerned
may appeal to the Newburyport District Court, the Superior Court,
or the Housing Court Department within 30 calendar days after such
decision.
The Rent Board may issue orders which shall
be a defense to an action of summary process for possession and such
orders shall be reviewable as herein provided.
A violation of this bylaw or of any order of
the Rent Board shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000
for any one offense.
A.
The provisions of this section regarding the discontinuance
of the use of part or all of the land owned and licensed as a mobile
home park shall apply to all mobile home parks and mobile home park
accommodations.
B.
When used in this bylaw the term "discontinuance"
shall include any change of use or discontinuance of the use of part
or all of the land owned and licensed as a mobile home park requiring
a two-year notice pursuant to MGL c. 140, § 32L(8). The
term "discontinuance" shall include, but is not limited to, the licensee's
conversion of the mobile home park, or part thereof, to a condominium
or cooperative corporation.
C.
It shall be unlawful for any person to discontinue
the use of part or all of the land owned and licensed as a mobile
home park without having first obtained a discontinuance permit from
the Board of Selectmen subject to the provisions contained in this
bylaw.
D.
Application for discontinuance permit.
(1)
The Board of Selectmen shall consider an application
for a discontinuance permit for a mobile home accommodation upon receipt
of an application filed by the licensee or other authorized person.
The Board of Selectmen shall forward said application within 14 days
to the Rent Control Board.
(2)
The Rent Control Board shall schedule a public hearing
within 65 days of receipt of the application. Notice of the time and
place of such public hearing, and of the subject matter, sufficient
for identification, shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation
in the Town of Salisbury once in each of two successive weeks, the
first publication to be not less than 14 days before the date of the
public hearing, and by posting such notice in a conspicuous place
in Town Hall for a period of not less than 14 days before the day
of said hearing. The Rent Control Board shall also notify all tenants
living in the affected mobile home accommodations of the time, place
and subject matter of the public hearing. No defect in the form of
any notice under this section shall invalidate any grant or denial
of a discontinuance permit unless such defect is found to be misleading.
(3)
No vote by the Board of Selectmen to grant or deny
a discontinuance permit shall be taken until a report with recommendations
by the Rent Control Board has been submitted to the Board of Selectmen
or 21 days after said hearing have elapsed without submission of such
report. After such notice, hearing and report, or after 21 days shall
have elapsed after such hearing without submission of such report,
the Board of Selectmen may vote to grant or deny the discontinuance
permit. If the Board of Selectmen fails to vote on the proposed discontinuance
permit within 90 days after such hearing, no action shall be taken
thereon until after subsequent public hearing is held with notice
and report as above provided.
(4)
No discontinuance permit may be granted except by
a majority vote of the Board of Selectmen.
(5)
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section,
the Rent Control Board may, without holding a hearing, recommend the
denial of a discontinuance permit if a decision has been made with
regard to the discontinuance of a mobile home park accommodation within
the preceding 12 months, and if the park licensee fails, in the new
application, to allege a substantial change of circumstances since
the previous hearing which would merit the Rent Control Board in hearing
new evidence. In addition, the Rent Control Board may recommend denial
of the discontinuance permit without holding a hearing if the application
is not in conformance with the requirements of this section or other
applicable regulations.
E.
In determining whether to recommend that the Board
of Selectmen grant or deny a discontinuance permit the Rent Control
Board shall consider the aggravation of the shortage of safe, decent
and affordable mobile home park accommodations in the Town of Salisbury
which may result from the discontinuance, especially for tenants of
low and moderate income and handicapped or elderly persons on fixed
incomes.
(1)
In making such determination the Rent Control Board
shall make findings of the following factors:
(a)
The benefits and detriments to the persons whom
this bylaw and this section seek to protect;
(b)
The hardships imposed on the tenants residing
in the mobile home accommodations proposed to be discontinued;
(c)
Circumstances demonstrating hardship and inequity
to the licensee seeking a discontinuance permit;
(d)
The rate of vacancy of mobile home accommodations
in the Town of Salisbury at the time the licensee applies for a discontinuance
permit and the average rental rates for said available accommodations;
(e)
The availability of land zoned and otherwise
suitable for development or expansion of mobile home parks.
(2)
The Rent Control Board, in its discretion, may also
review other relevant factors in making its report and recommendations.
(3)
For the purposes of this section, the "vacancy rate"
shall be defined as that percentage of the mobile home park accommodations
which is empty of mobile homes and is offered for rental to mobile
home tenants. Further, to be considered a "vacancy" the rental offer
of the mobile home park accommodation must be without entrance fee,
without restrictions as to the age, size or character of the mobile
home, and without a requirement that the prospective tenant purchase
a mobile home from the park owner.
(4)
In its report, the Rent Control Board shall determine
the current vacancy rate for comparable mobile home park accommodations
in the Town of Salisbury. Any parties involved may submit evidence
presented to the Rent Control Board at the public hearing.
F.
General provisions.
(1)
The licensee or applicant seeking a discontinuance
permit must make application to the Board of Selectmen for said permit
within 30 days of serving the tenants with the notices required under
the provisions of MGL c. 140, § 32L(8).
(2)
Notwithstanding the above, no eviction certificate
shall be issued by the Rent Control Board because of the discontinuance
of the use of all or a part of a mobile home park unless a discontinuance
permit has been issued by the Board of Selectmen.
(3)
The provisions of this bylaw shall not apply to mobile
home parks which have sent out notices of a change of use or discontinuance
under the provisions of MGL c. 140, § 32L(8) prior to the
effective date of this bylaw.
The personnel of the Rent Board established under the provisions of § 145-2 shall not be subject to the provisions of MGL c. 30, § 9A or c. 31.
This bylaw shall take effect as provided by
law.
If any provision of this bylaw or the application
of such provision to any person or circumstance shall be held invalid,
the validity of the remainder of this bylaw and the application of
such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected
thereby.
