Can a landlord get paid to remove an abandoned manufactured home if the tenant abandoned it before the landlord ever filed a change-in-use plan?

Official title

15-IB09 Attorney General Advisory Opinion on Payments to Landowners for Removal or Disposal of Manufactured Homes Abandoned Prior to a Change in Use Application

Plain-English summary

The chairperson of the Delaware Manufactured Home Relocation Authority (DEMHRA) asked the AG to resolve a timing question about the Manufactured Home Relocation Trust Fund. In the scenario presented, a tenant abandons a manufactured home before the landlord has filed any "change in use" paperwork with DEMHRA. The landlord keeps paying the full monthly assessment (both the tenant's and landlord's share) on the now-empty lot. Later, the landlord decides to change the use of the property, files the required paperwork, and then asks DEMHRA to pay for removing or disposing of the home that was abandoned earlier. DEMHRA wanted to know whether it had to pay, and whether the landlord's continued assessment payments changed the answer.

The AG concluded DEMHRA could not make the payment. The statute authorizing landlord payments for abandoned or non-relocatable homes only reaches homes that qualify as "abandoned" or "non-relocatable" under two specific provisions of the Act, and both of those provisions require an existing change-in-use plan as the trigger: a tenant can only receive relocation assistance, or choose to abandon a home in lieu of relocating, because the landlord is changing the use of the land. Since the home here was abandoned before any change-in-use plan existed, it never qualified as an "abandoned" home in the sense the statute uses, so the landlord fell outside the narrow class of situations the General Assembly authorized for payment. The AG found that the landlord's continued assessment payments did not change this result, since assessments are only owed on "rented" lots, and this lot was no longer rented once the tenant left.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2015. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

If a tenant abandons a manufactured home for reasons unrelated to a change in use, can the landlord later get Trust Fund money to remove it once a change in use happens?

No, according to this opinion. The AG found that payment to landlords for abandoned homes only applies when the abandonment itself was the tenant's response to an existing change-in-use plan, not to homes abandoned earlier for other reasons.

Does it matter if the landlord kept paying into the Trust Fund for the empty lot after the tenant left?

No. The opinion found that continuing to pay assessments the landlord was not legally required to pay, since the assessment only applies to "rented" lots, does not create or preserve a right to payment that the statute does not otherwise provide.

Why did the AG read the statute so narrowly here?

The opinion explains that reading the statute more broadly would turn a targeted relocation-assistance program into a general assistance program for removing any abandoned manufactured home, regardless of cause. The AG reasoned that if the General Assembly wanted to create that kind of broader program, it would have said so in clear and explicit language.

Is this kind of Attorney General opinion the final word on how the statute applies?

No. The opinion notes that no Delaware court has addressed this exact question, so this is the AG's best legal advice to DEMHRA based on the statute's language, not a binding judicial ruling.

Background and statutory framework

DEMHRA was created in 2003 by the Manufactured Home Owners and Community Owners Act, 74 Del. Laws Ch. 35; 25 Del. C. § 7001, et seq., to provide financial assistance to tenants and landlords affected by a change in use of manufactured home community land. The Act funds this assistance through a monthly per-lot assessment, split between tenant and landlord, 25 Del. C. § 7012(f)(1)-(2), paid into a Trust Fund. Tenants facing a change in use can choose to relocate their home and receive relocation assistance, 25 Del. C. § 7013(a), or, if the home cannot reasonably be relocated, receive non-relocatable home compensation, 25 Del. C. § 7013(c); alternatively, in lieu of seeking relocation assistance, a tenant may simply abandon the home and receive an abandoned-home payment, 25 Del. C. § 7013(f). Landlords undertaking a change in use are separately entitled to Trust Fund payment "sufficient to remove and/or dispose of a non-relocatable or abandoned manufactured home pursuant to § 7013(c) and (f)," 25 Del. C. § 7014(a).

The opinion reads Section 7014(a)'s cross-reference to Sections 7013(c) and (f) as a deliberate limitation: a home only counts as "non-relocatable" or "abandoned" for purposes of landlord payment if it became so under those specific provisions, both of which presuppose an existing change-in-use plan. Section 7013(f) lets a tenant abandon a home only "in lieu of" seeking relocation assistance under Section 7013(a), and Section 7013(a) itself only applies when a tenant "is required to relocate due to a change in use." Applying Delaware's standard statutory-construction principles, that unambiguous statutory language controls once the legislature's intent is clear, Dir. of Rev. v. CNA Holdings, Inc., and that a statute must be read as a harmonious whole with each part given meaning in light of the others, Chase Alexa, LLC v. Kent County Levy Court; Oceanport Indus., Inc. v. Wilmington Stevedores, Inc., the opinion concluded that a home abandoned before any change-in-use plan existed simply does not fall within the categories of "abandoned" or "non-relocatable" homes the Act authorizes landlord payment for. The opinion further reasoned that the landlord's continued assessment payments could not create a payment right the statute does not otherwise provide, since the per-lot assessment applies only to "rented" lots, 25 Del. C. § 7012(f)(1), and this lot ceased being rented once the tenant left.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• 25 Del. C. § 7014(a) (landlord entitlement to Trust Fund payment for removing or disposing of a non-relocatable or abandoned manufactured home)
• 25 Del. C. § 7012(f)(1) (establishes the per-lot monthly assessment funding the Trust Fund)
• 25 Del. C. § 7012(f)(2) (splits the assessment between tenant and landlord; landlord's collection and remittance duty)
• 25 Del. C. § 7013(a) (tenant relocation assistance when required to relocate due to a change in use)
• 25 Del. C. § 7013(c) (compensation when a home cannot be relocated due to a change in use)
• 25 Del. C. § 7013(f) (tenant may abandon a home in lieu of seeking relocation assistance)
• 74 Del. Laws Ch. 35 (enacted the Manufactured Home Owners and Community Owners Act creating DEMHRA)
• 25 Del. C. § 7001, et seq. (the Manufactured Home Owners and Community Owners Act)

Cases:

• Dir. of Rev. v. CNA Holdings, Inc., 818 A.2d 953 (Del. 2003) (unambiguous statutory language controls once legislative intent is clear)
• Chase Alexa, LLC v. Kent County Levy Court, 991 A.2d 1148 (Del. 2010) (statutory construction ascertains and gives effect to legislative intent)
• Oceanport Indus., Inc. v. Wilmington Stevedores, Inc., 636 A.2d 892 (Del. 1994) (a statute's provisions must be read together as a harmonious whole)

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/2015/11/04/15-ib09-attorney-general-advisory-opinion-on-payments-to-landowners-for-removal-or-disposal-of-manufactured-homes-abandoned-prior-to-a-change-in-use-application/
• Original PDF: not linked from landing page

Original opinion text

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION No. 15-IB09

November 4, 2015

VIA Email

Kevin M. Carroll

Chairperson

Delaware Manufactured Home Relocation Authority

110 N. Main Street, Suite G

Camden, Delaware 19934

DEMHRA Chair [email protected]

RE: Advisory Opinion on Payments to Landowners for Removal or Disposal of Manufactured Homes Abandoned Prior to a Change in Use Application

Dear Chairperson Carroll:

You have asked for advice on two questions regarding the Delaware Manufactured Home Relocation Authority ("DEMHRA") and its ability to provide relocation payments to landowners that apply for abandoned home benefits. More specifically, you have asked (i) whether 25 Del. C. § 7014(a) requires DEMHRA to grant abandoned home benefits to an applying landowner when "the home in question has been abandoned before the landowner announced its intent to engage in a change of use in the park"; and (ii) whether the landowner's continued payment of DEMHRA assessments between the time of a homeowner's abandonment and the landowner's announcement of a change in use has any effect on that landowner's right to collect benefits.[1]

For the reasons that follow, we believe that DEMHRA's authority to provide abandoned home benefits to applying landowners is limited to situations in which the abandonment occurred as a result of the landowners' filing of a change in use application. In light of this conclusion, we believe that DEMHRA cannot make abandoned home payments to a landowner for the removal or disposal of a manufactured home that was abandoned prior to the announcement of a change in use, notwithstanding any continued payment of assessments by the landowner.

Background

DEMHRA was formed in 2003, when the General Assembly passed the Manufactured Home Owners and Community Owners Act (the "Act").[2] Among other things, the Act charged DEMHRA with an obligation to provide financial assistance to both tenants and landlords in certain circumstances where the landowner has determined to undergo a "change in use" of its property from a manufactured home community to some other purpose.

To that end, DEMHRA (through its board of directors) was required to set a $3.00 per month assessment against each "rented lot in a manufactured home community."[3] One-half of the required assessment is the responsibility of the tenant, and the remaining half is the responsibility of the landlord for each rented lot.[4] The landlord is required to collect the tenant's portion of the assessment as part of its monthly collection of rent, and to remit both the tenant and landlord's portion of the assessment to DEMHRA on a quarterly basis.[5] The assessments are paid into a Trust Fund (also established by the Act), which provides the source of the financial assistance that DEMHRA is authorized by the Act to provide.

The Act also sets forth the terms and conditions under which DEMHRA can make financial assistance payments to tenants and landlords. With respect to the former, the Act gives individuals who are tenants in a manufactured home community that is undergoing a change in use two options: they can attempt to move their manufactured home and receive relocation assistance (or, if the home cannot reasonably be relocated, non-relocatable home assistance),[6] or they can abandon their manufactured home and receive an abandoned home payment.[7] In both cases, the amount of the payment is determined by DEMHRA and cannot be challenged on appeal.[8] With respect to the latter, the Act provides that landlords undertaking a change in use of their property are "entitled to receive from the Trust Fund payment in an amount to be determined by the Board [of DEMHRA] to be sufficient to remove and/or dispose of a non-relocatable or abandoned manufactured home pursuant to § 7013(a) and (f) of this title."[9]

According to your September 4, 2015 Letter, the questions at issue here arise out of the following fact pattern:

A tenant in a manufactured home community abandons a manufactured home;

At the time of such abandonment, no "change in use" plan has been provided to the Authority, as contemplated by the Act;

The landlord continues to remit the full monthly assessment (i.e., both the tenant and landlord portions) to DEMHRA for the lot on which the abandoned manufactured home is located;

Eventually, the landlord determines to undertake a change in use of the land, and files the requisite paperwork with its tenants and DEMHRA; and

The landlord applies for financial assistance to remove and/or dispose of the previously abandoned manufactured homes pursuant to 25 Del. C. § 7014(a).

In general, you have asked whether (i) a landlord in such a fact pattern is entitled to payment pursuant to 25 Del. C. § 7014(a); and (ii) whether the landowner's continued payment of both its and the tenant's portion of the monthly assessment has any effect on any such right to payment. To our knowledge, no Delaware Court has addressed these issues.

Discussion

Section 7014(a) of the Act sets forth the limited circumstances in which a landlord undergoing a change in use can receive financial assistance for the removal and/or disposal of manufactured homes that are left on the subject property:

A landlord is entitled to receive from the Trust Fund payment in an amount determined by the Board [of DEMHRA] to be sufficient to remove and/or dispose of a non-relocatable or abandoned manufactured home pursuant to § 7013(c) and (f) of this title.[10]

In our view, the bolded language in the quote above represents a clear and unambiguous attempt by the General Assembly to limit the circumstances in which landlords can receive payment for non-relocatable or abandoned manufactured homes to those in which the homes were deemed non-relocatable or abandoned pursuant to those two sections of the Act.[11] In other words, unless the home in question would be considered "abandoned" or "non-relocatable" under those two referenced sections of the Act, the landlord is not entitled to compensation.

With respect to both of these sections of the Act, a factual predicate for a manufactured home to be considered either non-relocatable or abandoned is the existence of an ongoing change in use plan. Section 7013(c), which sets forth DEMHRA's ability to pay tenants for nonrelocatable homes, entitles a tenant to such a payment "if the home, which is on a lot subject to a change in use of land, cannot be relocated."[12] Section 7013(f), the provision relevant to the fact pattern set forth in your letter, permits a tenant to abandon its manufactured home only if it determines not to seek relocation assistance pursuant to Section 7013(a).[13] And entitlement to relocation assistance under Section 7013(a) is clearly limited to situations in which a tenant is subject to a change in use of the land on which its manufactured home is located.[14]

Reading the Act as a whole and giving meaning to each provision provided by the General Assembly, which the law requires us to do,[15] leads us to believe that Section 7014(a) of the Act only entitles landowners to compensation from DEMHRA and the Trust Fund when the home in question is abandoned by a tenant in response to a change in use application. Given this determination, we do not believe that a landowner's continued payment of assessments that it is not required by law to pay, as the lot in question is no longer a "rented lot,"[16] alters this result.

Conclusion

Based on our review of the Act, the factual scenario outlined by your letter and applicable law, we believe that the provisions of the Act that permit DEMHRA to provide financial assistance to landowners for the removal or disposal of an abandoned manufactured home are limited to situations in which the manufactured home in question was abandoned as a result of a "change in use" plan being filed by the landowner. To make the contrary determination would, in our view, expand the limited scope of the Act into a general assistance program designed to help landlords of manufactured home communities with assistance in removing and/or disposing of abandoned manufactured homes. We believe that if the General Assembly had intended to create such a program, the efficacy or desirability of which we take no position on, it would have done so in clear and explicit language. Absent such a legislative change, it is our advice that DEMHRA lacks the authority to provide financial assistance to the landowner in the factual scenario described by your letter.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Very truly yours,

/s/ Scott W. Perkins

Scott W. Perkins

Deputy Attorney General

APPROVED:

/s/ Aaron R. Goldstein

Aaron R. Goldstein

Acting State Solicitor

[1] See September 4, 2015 Letter from Kevin Carroll to Aaron Goldstein, at page 2.

[2] See 74 Del. Laws Ch. 35; 25 Del. C. § 7001, et seq.

[3] 25 Del. C. § 7012(f)(1). DEMHRA retained the ability to alter or amend the size of that assessment. Id. Currently, the monthly assessment is set at $5.00.

[4] 25 Del. C. § 7012(f)(2).

[5] Id.

[6] See 25 Del. C. § 7013(a) ("If a tenant is required to relocate due to a change in use or conversion of the land in a manufactured home community … and complies with the requirements of this section, the tenant is entitle to payment from the Trust Fund of the lesser of: (1) The actual, reasonable expenses of moving the manufactured home and existing appurtenances to a new location within a 25-mile radius … ; or (2) The maximum relocation payment, which must be established by [DEMHRA's] board of directors."); 25 Del. C. § 7013(c)(2) ("If the board determines that a manufactured home cannot be relocated …, the board shall provide compensation to the tenant. … [T]he amount of compensation may not exceed an amount set by the [DEMHRA] Board and which may be adjusted from time to time by the Board….").

[7] See 25 Del. C. § 7013(f) ("In lieu of the procedure in subsection (a) of this section, a tenant may abandon the manufactured home in the manufactured home community. A tenant shall receive a payment from the Trust Fund for the abandoned manufactured home. … The amount of the payment shall be set by [DEMHRA]. ….").

[8] 25 Del. C. § 7013(a), (f).

[9] 25 Del. C. § 7014(a).

[10] 25 Del. C. § 7014(a) (emphasis added).

[11] Dir. of Rev. v. CNA Holdings, Inc., 818 A.2d 953, 957 (Del. 2003) ("The goal of statutory construction is to 'ascertain and give effect to the intent of the legislature.' 'If a statute is unambiguous, there is no need for judicial interpretation, and the plain meaning of the statutory language controls.'") (footnotes and citations omitted).

[12] 25 Del. C. § 7013(c) (emphasis added).

[13] 25 Del. C. § 7013(f) ("In lieu of the procedure in subsection (a) of this section, a tenant may abandon the manufactured home in the manufactured home community.").

[14] 25 Del. C. § 7013(a) ("If a tenant is required to relocate due to a change in use or conversion of the land in a manufactured home community …, the tenant is entitled to payment ….").

[15] See generally Chase Alexa, LLC v. Kent County Levy Court, 991 A.2d 1148, 1151 (Del. 2010) (holding that Delaware's "rules of statutory construction are designed to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the legislators, as expressed in the statute"); Oceanport Indus., Inc. v. Wilmington Stevedores, Inc., 636 A.2d 892, 900 (Del. 1994) (providing that where "[t]he General Assembly passed the pertinent statutes as a whole and not in parts or sections …, each part or section should be read in light of every other part or section to produce an harmonious whole").

[16] 25 Del. C. § 7012(f)(1).