FAQ: October

Q: Is the park required to provide a lease agreement in the language of the resident if the resident is non English speaking?

Not in most cases. Civil Code Sec. 1632 provides that a person engaged in a trade or business, who negotiates a contract or lease — including a rental agreement covering a dwelling, apartment or mobilehome — in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean, shall provide the other party, if he or she requests it, with a written copy of the contract or agreement in that language prior to execution of the document. However, this provision does not apply to contracts or agreements negotiated with the use of an interpreter, or to month-to-month rental agreements. Additionally, most mobilehome parks do not “negotiate” their leases with homeowners or prospective homeowners, but rather offer the lease on a “take it or leave it” basis.

Q: When will the CA State Senate’s MRL handbook be translated? There is great demand for Spanish, Vietnamese and other languages.

For many years, the State Senate translated the Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) into Spanish. At one time the MRL was also available in Vietnamese. The last Spanish translation was done in 2012, and the last Vietnamese translation was done in 2007. Over the years, budget cuts have made it impossible to acquire updated translations. Since the MRL is in the public domain, communities may translate the MRL for their members.