Tenants’ rights: Manufactured / Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act
Washington’s Manufactured / Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act (MHLTA) contains laws that protect tenants who own their home but rent lot space in a manufactured or mobile home park. Read this guide to learn about the duties of both tenants and park owners. It can also help you decide when to try to get legal help.
Tenants who do not own but rent a mobile home and lot space can read Tenants' rights: While you are renting.
Contents
1. Fast facts
People who own their home but rent lot space in a manufactured / mobile home park are covered by Washington’s Manufactured / Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act (MHLTA).
You can read all the laws within the MHLTA at RCW 59.20. The MHLTA contains many duties and prohibitions for:
- mobile home owners who rent their lot space and
- manufactured/mobile home park owners who are their landlords
Does the MHLTA cover my home?
The MHLTA covers your home if it is:
- a manufactured home or mobile home that you own within a park where you rent the lot space underneath your home
- a recreational vehicle (RVs) or trailer that you own that is on a rented lot in a park, if it is permanently or semi-permanently attached to the lot space.
What kind of homes does the law cover?
The MHLTA defines the homes that are covered by the law.
Manufactured homes are single-family homes that include plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems. They are built on a permanent chassis to be transported in one or more sections. You can read the MHLTA definition of “manufactured home” at RCW 59.20.030(9).
Mobile homes are factory-built homes built before June 1976. You can read the MHLTA definition of “mobile home” at RCW 59.20.030(11).
Park models are recreational vehicles or trailers that are homes (permanent residences) and are permanently or semi-permanently installed in a MHLTA covered park or community. You can read the MHLTA definition of “park model” at RCW 59.20.030(20).
Recreational vehicles can include travel trailers, motor homes, truck campers, and camping trailers. If these vehicles are used as a primary residence and permanently installed or fixed to a lot in a MHLTA covered park or community, they may be considered a “park model”.
Throughout this guide, we’ll use “mobile home” to mean all the homes described above.
What qualifies as a mobile home park or community?
The MHLTA also defines the kinds of parks or communities covered by the law. These include:
- Mobile home parks
- Manufactured housing communities
- Manufactured / mobile home communities
- Any property that is rented out with 2 or more mobile homes, manufactured homes, or park model RVs or trailers that are permanent homes installed on their lots.
You can read the MHLTA definition of “mobile home park” at RCW 59.20.030(15).
Are temporary rentals included in the MHLTA?
The MHLTA doesn’t cover temporary rental properties, like seasonal and recreational campgrounds that are not intended for year-round occupancy.
Sometimes a seasonal or temporary property may become covered by the MHLTA if 2 or more homeowners live there permanently and don’t move their home every year.
Some park owners don’t agree that the MHLTA covers them. They may claim they are temporary “RV park” owners or “campground” owners and don’t have to follow the MHLTA laws.
If you are a permanent home owner renting space in a park whose owner doesn’t follow the MHLTA, try to get legal help.
Throughout this guide, we’ll use “mobile home park” to mean all of the MHLTA-covered communities described above. We’ll sometimes refer to the mobile home park landlord as the “park owner” or “MHLTA park owner.”