RENT WATCH

Question: A friend of mine at work is moving to another state. He owns a mobile home at a park very close to my office. He is offering to rent his mobile home to me, which I am considering because it would eliminate my long commute. He tells me that we can sign a private contract between us that will allow me to move in, pay him rent and then leave whenever I wish. I don’t know anything about mobile home parks. Is this plan a good idea?

Answer: Rental relationships in mobile home parks are complicated because there is a rental lease between the mobile home owner and the park ownership for the space where the home is located. This is in addition to the contract you are considering between yourself and the mobile home owner.

You and your friend need to check his lease for several reasons. The park leases and associated rules in many parks do not permit mobile home owners to rent their units to tenants, so the first step is to make sure there isn’t such a prohibition in the park. You should also make sure you would be happy living within the restrictions of the park rules, because they will apply to you indirectly.

If your rental plans are consistent with the park lease and rules, you can then sign a separate agreement with your friend. In this relationship, the laws that govern all landlord-tenant issues in California will apply equally to your rental agreement between you and the mobile home owner, and your rights and responsibilities will be the same as those of any other tenant.

None of these requirements can be waived in a private contract because in the eyes of the law, you are entering a tenant-landlord relationship.

-- Martin Eichner, Project Sentinel

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Eichner is director of Housing Counseling Programs for the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based mediation service. To submit a question, go to www.housing.org.