§ 31-44-1. Definitions. As used in this chapter:

(1) "Department" means the department of business regulation.

(2) "Director" means the director of the department of business regulation.

(3) "Entry requirements" means any written, nondiscriminatory criteria for resident selection incorporated into the rules and regulations of a mobile- and manufactured-home park which are equally applied by the licensee to all purchasers and prospective residents.

(4) "Fee schedule" means an itemized list of fees for goods or services sold or performed by a mobile- and manufactured-home park licensee including, but not limited to, the entrance fee, hook-up fee, and maintenance fee, if any.

(5) "Hook-up fee" means a reasonable fee for the services required to install a mobile and manufactured home on a mobile- and manufactured-home space or lot. The charge shall include the cost of connecting water and sewer lines, electrical connections, tie-downs, removal of wheels or axles, steps, if necessary, and other necessary services, including, but not limited to, the creation of new pads or piers.

(6) "Household" means one or more persons occupying a housing unit.

(7) "Licensee" means any person or agent licensed under § 31-44-1.6 who is directly or indirectly engaged in the business of selling mobile and manufactured homes or who operates and maintains a mobile- and manufactured-home park under the provisions of this chapter.

(8) "Mobile and manufactured home" means a detached residential unit designed:

(i) For a long term occupancy and containing sleeping accommodations, a flush toilet, and a tub or shower bath and kitchen facilities, and having both permanent plumbing and electrical connections for attachment to outside systems;

(ii) To be transported on its own wheels or on a flatbed or other trailer or detachable wheels; and

(iii) To be placed on pads, piers, or tied down, at the site where it is to be occupied as a residence complete and ready for occupancy, except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations and connection to utilities systems.

(9) "Mobile- and manufactured-home park" or "park" means a plot of ground upon which four (4) or more mobile and manufactured homes, occupied for residential purposes are located.

(10) "Mobile- and manufactured-home space or lot" means a plot of ground within a mobile- and manufactured-home park designed for the accommodation of one mobile and manufactured home.

(11) "Owner" means a licensee or permittee or any person who owns, operates, or maintains a mobile- and manufactured-home park.

(12) "Prospective resident" means an applicant for admission to a mobile- and manufactured-home park who is ready, willing, and able to buy a mobile and manufactured home owned and offered for sale by a licensee or resident, and who is able to meet the entrance requirements of the rules of the park.

(13) "Protected lawful action" means any report of a violation of this chapter, or of any applicable building or health code, or any other justified complaint to a governmental authority, or any other justified lawful act by the resident(s) or prospective resident(s).

(14) "Qualified sale" means the sale of a mobile- and manufactured-home park to a resident organization with the goal of resident ownership by at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the homeowner households residing in the park.

(15) "Reprisal" means any act taken against the resident(s) which is intended as a penalty for any protected lawful action taken by the resident(s).

(16) "Resident" means an owner or renter occupying a mobile and manufactured home in a mobile- and manufactured-home park with the consent of the owner as defined in subdivision (11) of this section.

(17) "Resident organization" means a group of mobile- and manufactured-home park residents who have formed a nonprofit corporation, cooperative corporation, or other entity or organization for the purpose of acquiring the mobile home park in which they reside and converting the mobile home park to resident ownership.

(18) "Resident ownership" means, depending on the context, either the ownership, by a resident organization, as defined in this section, of an interest in a mobile- and manufactured-home park which entitles the resident organization to control the operations of the mobile home park, or the ownership of individual interests in a mobile home park, or both.

(19) "Security deposit" means a sum not to exceed the monthly rental which a licensee may require a resident of a rented mobile or manufactured home to deposit as security in case of damage caused by the resident in excess of ordinary wear and tear.

(20) "Standards for mobile and manufactured homes" means any written, nondiscriminatory minimum specifications for structural soundness, safety, and habitability adopted by the department or any other government agency.

History of Section. (P.L. 1984, ch. 382, § 2; P.L. 1985, ch. 150, § 41; P.L. 1993, ch. 309, § 1; P.L. 1994, ch. 198, § 1; P.L. 1995, ch. 134, § 2; P.L. 1999, ch. 248, § 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 364, § 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 391, § 1.)