(1) The purchaser of a mobile home within a mobile home park may become a tenant of the park if such purchaser would otherwise qualify with the requirements of entry into the park under the park rules and regulations, subject to the approval of the park owner, but such approval may not be unreasonably withheld. The purchaser of the mobile home may cancel or rescind the contract for purchase of the mobile home if the purchaser’s tenancy has not been approved by the park owner 5 days before the closing of the purchase.

(2) Properly promulgated rules may provide for the screening of any prospective purchaser to determine whether or not such purchaser is qualified to become a tenant of the park.

(3) The purchaser of a mobile home who becomes a resident of the mobile home park in accordance with this section has the right to assume the remainder of the term of any rental agreement then in effect between the mobile home park owner and the seller and shall be entitled to rely on the terms and conditions of the prospectus or offering circular as delivered to the initial recipient.

(4) However, nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit a mobile home park owner from increasing the rental amount to be paid by the purchaser upon the expiration of the assumed rental agreement in an amount deemed appropriate by the mobile home park owner, so long as such increase is disclosed to the purchaser prior to his or her occupancy and is imposed in a manner consistent with the initial offering circular or prospectus and this act.

(5) Lifetime leases and the renewal provisions in automatically renewable leases, both those existing and those entered into after July 1, 1986, are not assumable unless otherwise provided in the mobile home lot rental agreement or unless the transferee is the home owner’s spouse. The right to an assumption of the lease by a spouse may be exercised only one time during the term of that lease.

History.—s. 1, ch. 84-80; s. 10, ch. 86-162; s. 924, ch. 97-102; s. 7, ch. 2015-90; s. 3, ch. 2016-169.