33-1476.04. Relocations due to rent increase; mobile home relocation fund; applicability

A. A tenant is eligible for payment from the mobile home relocation fund if all of the following conditions are met:

1. The tenant resides in a mobile home that is owned by the tenant and that is located in a mobile home park.

2. A rent increase will be effective at the expiration or renewal of the tenant's rental agreement.

3. The rent increase either singly or in combination during any consecutive twelve-month period is more than a total of ten percent plus the current increase in the consumer price index over the most recent one-year period before the date of the notice of the rent increase. For the purposes of this paragraph, " consumer price index" means the " west-A" index that is published by the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, and that demonstrates changes in prices in certain cities in the western United States.

B. A landlord who increases rent as prescribed by subsection A of this section shall give written notice of the applicability of this section to all affected tenants.

C. A tenant is eligible to receive relocation expenses pursuant to subsection A of this section as follows:

1. At least thirty days before the effective date of the rent increase that exceeds the limits prescribed by subsection A of this section, the tenant shall submit a contract for relocation of the mobile home to the director for approval and to the landlord.

2. Before the effective date of the rent increase, the tenant shall have a fully signed contract with a licensed installer or contractor to move the mobile home to a specific location by a specific date and must have moved the mobile home pursuant to that contract within forty-five days after the effective date of the rent increase.

3. The director shall approve or disapprove the contract submitted within fifteen days after receipt of the contract, and the contract is deemed to be approved on the sixteenth day if the director takes no action.

4. If the contract is approved, the payment of relocation expenses shall be made to the installer or contractor when both of the following are complete:

(a) The installer or contractor obtains valid permits to move the mobile or manufactured home to a new location.

(b) The installer or contractor provides documentation to the department that the installation of the mobile or manufactured home at the new location is complete and has been inspected by the department or its designee and is approved for occupancy.

5. If the contract is not approved, the tenant may appeal to an administrative law judge pursuant to title 41, chapter 37, article 5. The tenant shall provide notice pursuant to section 33-1451, subsection A, paragraph 6 if the tenant relocates.

6. On approval, the tenant is eligible for the lesser of the actual moving expenses of relocating the mobile home or seven thousand five hundred dollars for a single-section mobile home or twelve thousand five hundred dollars for a multisection mobile home. Compensable moving expenses include the cost of taking down, moving and setting up the mobile home in the new location if the mobile home is relocated to a residential location within a one hundred-mile radius of the vacated mobile home park.

D. As an alternative to receiving payment as prescribed in subsection C of this section, a tenant who is eligible to receive payment pursuant to subsection A of this section may abandon the mobile home in the mobile home park and collect an amount equal to one-fourth of the maximum allowable moving expense for that mobile home from the mobile home relocation fund. To qualify for an abandonment payment pursuant to this subsection, the tenant shall deliver to the landlord the current title to the mobile home with the notarized endorsement of the owner of record together with complete releases of all liens that are shown on the title and proof that all taxes owing on the mobile home have been paid to date. The tenant shall provide a copy of these documents to the Arizona department of housing in support of the tenant's application for payment. If the tenant chooses to abandon the mobile home pursuant to this subsection, the landlord is exempt from making the payments to the fund prescribed in section 33-1476.01, subsection D.

E. This section does not apply to rent increases that are prescribed in a written rental agreement.

F. This section does not make any rent increase unreasonable.