Mobile-home park bill hailed, assailed

Municipalities and counties would have the authority to regulate mobile-home parks under a bill considered Tuesday by a Senate committee.

But the Senate Business and Labor Committee took no action on SB33 because its sponsor, Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley, pulled it to tweak the wording.

The bill would allow municipalities or counties to establish ordinances regulating mobile home parks, something Mayne said is needed in order to stop the "harassing, browbeating, intimidating" actions that park owners sometimes inflict on mobile-home residents.

Taylorsville Mayor Janice Auger, whose city has 1,300 residents at three parks, said she and her staff often receive complaints from tearful constituents but cannot help them.

"The way the statute is written right now, there is nothing a city can do," Auger said.

"Nobody's talking about tossing out the state regulations. The state regulations would stay intact. It would just allow cities to either add to those regulations or, more importantly, enforce those regulations."

Mayne said park owners "have got a good deal going" because of their ability to change rules by which residents must abide.

"It's just been very difficult for people on fixed incomes, widows, seniors and things like this, and they can just make those rules at any time. The situation is that a mobile-home park can rule at any time, and that's the way it is and there's no recourse," he said.

"And if you look at the people who reside in mobile-home parks, most of them are senior citizens, most of them are widows, low-income people, and they're easily intimidated, easily abused, and we feel that Senate Bill 33, allowing cities and counties to deal with the problems within their jurisdictions, is certainly the appropriate way to go."

Gail Fotheringham, a park resident, said regulation "needs to be put back to the government that is closer to the issue."

Donald Saulnier, chairman of the Utah Mobile Homeowners Action Group, said a contract at one park notes that the owners have the right to change, alter or rescind rules for any reason.

"Now, would you sign a contract that said that?" he asked. "We need some recognition. We need some justice. We need some equity. We're tired of this all being one-sided. The park owners have all the say, and they tell you up front that if you don't like it, move out. Nobody can afford to move out of these parks in general because it costs too much money to pay to move their homes."