18551
. The department shall establish regulations for manufactured
home, mobilehome, and commercial modular foundation systems that
shall be applicable throughout the state. When established, these
regulations supersede any ordinance enacted by any city, county, or
city and county applicable to manufactured home, mobilehome, and
commercial modular foundation systems. The department may approve
alternate foundation systems to those provided by regulation if the
department is satisfied of equivalent performance. The department
shall document approval of alternate systems by its stamp of approval
on the plans and specifications for the alternate foundation system.
A manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular may be
installed on a foundation system as either a fixture or improvement
to the real property, in accordance with subdivision (a), or a
manufactured home or mobilehome may be installed on a foundation
system as a chattel, in accordance with subdivision (b).
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, prior to a manufactured home,
mobilehome, or commercial modular being deemed a fixture or
improvement to the real property, the installation shall comply with
all of the following:
(1) Prior to installation of a manufactured home, mobilehome, or
commercial modular on a foundation system, the manufactured home,
mobilehome, or commercial modular owner or a licensed contractor
shall obtain a building permit from the appropriate enforcement
agency. To obtain a permit, the owner or contractor shall provide the
following:
(A) Written evidence acceptable to the enforcement agency that the
manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular owner owns,
holds title to, or is purchasing the real property where the
mobilehome is to be installed on a foundation system. A lease held by
the manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular owner, that
is transferable, for the exclusive use of the real property where
the manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular is to be
installed, shall be deemed to comply with this paragraph if the lease
is for a term of 35 years or more, or if less than 35 years, for a
term mutually agreed upon by the lessor and lessee, and the term of
the lease is not revocable at the discretion of the lessor except for
cause, as described in subdivisions 2 to 5, inclusive, of Section
1161 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(B) Written evidence acceptable to the enforcement agency that the
registered owner owns the manufactured home, mobilehome, or
commercial modular free of any liens or encumbrances or, in the event
that the legal owner is not the registered owner, or liens and
encumbrances exist on the manufactured home, mobilehome, or
commercial modular, written evidence provided by the legal owner and
any lienors or encumbrancers that the legal owner, lienor, or
encumbrancer consents to the attachment of the manufactured home,
mobilehome, or commercial modular upon the discharge of any personal
lien, that may be conditioned upon the satisfaction by the registered
owner of the obligation secured by the lien.
(C) Plans and specifications required by department regulations or
a department-approved alternate for the manufactured home,
mobilehome, or commercial modular foundation system.
(D) The manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular
manufacturer's installation instructions, or plans and specifications
signed by a California-licensed architect or engineer covering the
installation of an individual manufactured home, mobilehome, or
commercial modular in the absence of the manufactured home,
mobilehome, or commercial modular manufacturer's instructions.
(E) Building permit fees established by ordinance or regulation of
the appropriate enforcement agency.
(F) A fee payable to the department in the amount of eleven
dollars ($11) for each transportable section of the manufactured
home, mobilehome, or commercial modular, that shall be transmitted to
the department at the time the certificate of occupancy is issued
with a copy of the building permit and any other information
concerning the manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular
that the department may prescribe on forms provided by the
department.
(2) (A) Within five business days of the issuance of the
certificate of occupancy for the manufactured home, mobilehome, or
commercial modular by the appropriate enforcement agency, the
enforcement agency shall record a document naming the owner of the
real property, describing the real property with certainty, and
stating that a manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular
has been affixed to that real property by installation on a
foundation system pursuant to this subdivision. The document shall be
recorded with the county recorder of the county where the real
property, upon which the manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial
modular that has been installed, is situated.
(B) When recorded, the document referred to in subparagraph (A)
shall be indexed by the county recorder to the named owner and shall
be deemed to give constructive notice as to its contents to all
persons thereafter dealing with the real property.
(C) Fees received by the department pursuant to subparagraph (F)
of paragraph (1) shall be deposited in the Mobilehome-Manufactured
Home Revolving Fund established under subdivision (a) of Section
18016.5.
(3) The certification of title and other indicia of registration
shall be surrendered to the department pursuant to regulations
adopted by the department providing for the cancellation of
registration of a manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial
modular that is permanently attached to the ground on a foundation
system pursuant to subdivision (a). For the purposes of this
subdivision, permanent affixation to a foundation system shall be
deemed to have occurred on the day a certificate of occupancy is
issued to the manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular
owner and the document referred to in subparagraph (A) of paragraph
(2) is recorded. Cancellation shall be effective as of that date and
the department shall enter the cancellation on its records upon
receipt of a copy of the certificate of occupancy. This subdivision
shall not be construed to affect the application of existing laws, or
the department's regulations or procedures with regard to the
cancellation of registration, except as to the requirement therefor
and the effective date thereof.
(4) Once installed on a foundation system in compliance with this
subdivision, a manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular
shall be deemed a fixture and a real property improvement to the real
property to which it is affixed. Physical removal of the
manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular shall thereafter
be prohibited without the consent of all persons or entities who, at
the time of removal, have title to any estate or interest in the
real property to which the manufactured home, mobilehome, or
commercial modular is affixed.
(5) For the purposes of this subdivision:
(A) "Physical removal" shall include, without limitation, the
unattaching of the manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial
modular from the foundation system, except for temporary purposes of
repair or improvement thereto.
(B) Consent to removal shall not be required from the owners of
rights-of-way or easements or the owners of subsurface rights or
interests in or to minerals, including, but not limited to, oil, gas,
or other hydrocarbon substances.
(6) At least 30 days prior to a legal removal of the manufactured
home, mobilehome, or commercial modular from the foundation system
and transportation away from the real property to which it was
formerly affixed, the manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial
modular owner shall notify the department and the county assessor of
the intended removal of the manufactured home, mobilehome, or
commercial modular. The department shall require written evidence
that the necessary consents have been obtained pursuant to this
section and shall require application for either a transportation
permit or manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular
registration, as the department may decide is appropriate to the
circumstances. Immediately upon removal, as defined in this section,
the manufactured home, mobilehome, or commercial modular shall be
deemed to have become personal property and subject to all laws
governing the same as applicable to a manufactured home, mobilehome,
or commercial modular.
(b) The installation of a manufactured home or a mobilehome on a
foundation system as chattel shall be in accordance with Section
18613 and shall be deemed to meet or exceed the requirements of
Section 18613.4. This subdivision shall not be construed to affect
the application of sales and use or property taxes. No provisions of
this subdivision are intended, nor shall they be construed, to affect
the ownership interest of any owner of a manufactured home or
mobilehome.
(c) Once installed on a foundation system, a manufactured home,
mobilehome, or commercial modular shall be subject to state-enforced
health and safety standards for manufactured homes, mobilehomes, or
commercial modulars enforced pursuant to Section 18020.
(d) No local agency shall require that any manufactured home,
mobilehome, or commercial modular currently on private property be
placed on a foundation system.
(e) No local agency shall require that any manufactured home or
mobilehome located in a mobilehome park be placed on a foundation
system.
(f) No local agency shall require, as a condition for the approval
of the conversion of a rental mobilehome park to a resident-owned
park, including, but not limited to, a subdivision, cooperative, or
condominium for mobilehomes, that any manufactured home or mobilehome
located there be placed on a foundation system. This subdivision
shall only apply to the conversion of a rental mobilehome park that
has been operated as a rental mobilehome park for a minimum period of
five years.