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S. B. No. 51 As IntroducedAs Introduced
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Hite, Beagle, Jones, Schaffer
A BILL
To amend sections 4781.40, 5301.072, and 5311.191 and
to enact section 5321.131 of the Revised Code to
prohibit manufactured homes park operators,
condominium associations, neighborhood
associations, and landlords from restricting the
display of blue star banners, gold star banners,
and other service flags, and to prohibit
manufactured homes park operators and landlords
from restricting the display of the United States
flag.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 4781.40, 5301.072, and 5311.191 be
amended and section 5321.131 of the Revised Code be enacted to
read as follows:
Sec. 4781.40. (A)(1) The park operator shall offer each home
owner a written rental agreement for a manufactured home park lot
for a term of one year or more that contains terms essentially the
same as any alternative month-to-month rental agreement offered to
current and prospective tenants and owners. The park operator
shall offer the minimum one-year rental agreement to the owner
prior to installation of the home in the manufactured home park
or, if the home is in the manufactured home park, prior to the
expiration of the owner's existing rental agreement.
(2) The park operator shall deliver the offer to the owner by
certified mail, return receipt requested, or in person. If the
park operator delivers the offer to the owner in person, the owner
shall complete a return showing receipt of the offer. If the owner
does not accept the offer, the park operator is discharged from
any obligation to make any further such offers. If the owner
accepts the offer, the park operator shall, at the expiration of
each successive rental agreement, offer the owner another rental
agreement, for a term that is mutually agreed upon, and that
contains terms essentially the same as the alternative
month-to-month agreement. The park operator shall deliver
subsequent rental offers by ordinary mail or personal delivery. If
the park operator sells the manufactured home park to another
manufactured home park operator, the purchaser is bound by the
rental agreements entered into by the purchaser's predecessor.
(3) If the park operator sells the manufactured home park for
a use other than as a manufactured home park, the park operator
shall give each tenant and owner a written notification by
certified mail, return receipt requested, or by handing it to the
tenant or owner in person. If the park operator delivers the
notification in person, the recipient shall complete a return
showing receipt of the notification. This notification shall
contain notice of the sale of the manufactured home park, and
notice of the date by which the tenant or owner shall vacate. The
date by which the tenant shall vacate shall be at least one
hundred twenty days after receipt of the written notification, and
the date by which the owner shall vacate shall be at least one
hundred eighty days after receipt of the written notification.
(B) A park operator shall fully disclose in writing all fees,
charges, assessments, including rental fees, and rules prior to a
tenant or owner executing a rental agreement and assuming
occupancy in the manufactured home park. No fees, charges,
assessments, or rental fees so disclosed may be increased nor
rules changed by a park operator without specifying the date of
implementation of the changed fees, charges, assessments, rental
fees, or rules, which date shall be not less than thirty days
after written notice of the change and its effective date to all
tenants or owners in the manufactured home park, and no fee,
charge, assessment, or rental fee shall be increased during the
term of any tenant's or owner's rental agreement. Failure on the
part of the park operator to fully disclose all fees, charges, or
assessments shall prevent the park operator from collecting the
undisclosed fees, charges, or assessments. If a tenant or owner
refuses to pay any undisclosed fees, charges, or assessments, the
refusal shall not be used by the park operator as a cause for
eviction in any court.
(C)(1) A park operator shall promulgate rules governing the
rental or occupancy of a lot in the manufactured home park. The
rules shall not be unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious. A copy
of the rules and any amendments to them shall be delivered by the
park operator to the tenant or owner prior to signing the rental
agreement. A copy of the rules and any amendments to them shall be
posted in a conspicuous place upon the manufactured home park
grounds.
(2) No park operator shall include any restriction in a
rental agreement, or otherwise prohibit on a tenant's or owner's
rental property, either of the following:
(a) The display of the flag of the United States if the flag
is displayed in accordance with any of the following:
(i) The patriotic customs set forth in 4 U.S.C.A. 5-10, as
amended, governing the display and use of the flag of the United
States;
(ii) Federal law, state law, or any local ordinance or
resolution;
(iii) A proclamation of the president of the United States or
the governor of the state.
(b) The display of a service flag approved by the United
States secretary of defense for display in a window of the
residence of a member of the immediate family of an individual
serving in the armed forces of the United States. A service flag
includes a blue star banner, a gold star banner, and any other
flag the secretary of defense designates as a service flag.
(3) Any violation of this division is against public policy
and unenforceable. Any provision of a rental agreement that
violates this division is an unconscionable term under section
4781.48 of the Revised Code.
(D) No park operator shall require an owner to purchase from
the park operator any personal property. The park operator may
determine by rule the style or quality of skirting, equipment for
tying down homes, manufactured or mobile home accessories, or
other equipment to be purchased by an owner from a vendor of the
owner's choosing, provided that the equipment is readily available
to the owner. Any such equipment shall be installed in accordance
with the manufactured home park rules.
(E) No park operator shall charge any owner who chooses to
install an electric or gas appliance in a home an additional fee
solely on the basis of the installation, unless the installation
is performed by the park operator at the request of the owner, nor
shall the park operator restrict the installation, service, or
maintenance of the appliance, restrict the ingress or egress of
repairpersons to the manufactured home park for the purpose of
installation, service, or maintenance of the appliance, nor
restrict the making of any interior improvement in a home, if the
installation or improvement is in compliance with applicable
building codes and other provisions of law and if adequate utility
services are available for the installation or improvement.
(F) No park operator shall require a tenant to lease or an
owner to purchase a manufactured or mobile home from the park
operator or any specific person as a condition of or prerequisite
to entering into a rental agreement.
(G) No park operator shall require an owner to use the
services of the park operator or any other specific person for
installation of the manufactured or mobile home on the residential
premises or for the performance of any service.
(H) No park operator shall:
(1) Deny any owner the right to sell the owner's manufactured
home within the manufactured home park if the owner gives the park
operator ten days' notice of the intention to sell the home;
(2) Require the owner to remove the home from the
manufactured home park solely on the basis of the sale of the
home;
(3) Unreasonably refuse to enter into a rental agreement with
a purchaser of a home located within the operator's manufactured
home park;
(4) Charge any tenant or owner any fee, charge, or
assessment, including a rental fee, that is not set forth in the
rental agreement or, if the rental agreement is oral, is not set
forth in a written disclosure given to the tenant or owner prior
to the tenant or owner entering into a rental agreement;
(5) Charge any owner any fee, charge, or assessment because
of the transfer of ownership of a home or because a home is moved
out of or into the manufactured home park, except a charge for the
actual costs and expenses that are incurred by the park operator
in moving the home out of or into the manufactured home park, or
in installing the home in the manufactured home park and that have
not been reimbursed by another tenant or owner.
(I) If the park operator violates any provision of divisions
(A) to (H) of this section, the tenant or owner may recover actual
damages resulting from the violation, and, if the tenant or owner
obtains a judgment, reasonable attorneys' fees, or terminate the
rental agreement.
(J) No rental agreement shall require a tenant or owner to
sell, lease, or sublet the tenant's or owner's interest in the
rental agreement or the manufactured or mobile home that is or
will be located on the lot that is the subject of the rental
agreement to any specific person or through any specific person as
the person's agent.
(K) No park operator shall enter into a rental agreement with
the owner of a manufactured or mobile home for the use of
residential premises, if the rental agreement requires the owner
of the home, as a condition to the owner's renting, occupying, or
remaining on the residential premises, to pay the park operator or
any other person specified in the rental agreement a fee or any
sum of money based on the sale of the home, unless the owner of
the home uses the park operator or other person as the owner's
agent in the sale of the home.
(L) A park operator and a tenant or owner may include in a
rental agreement any terms and conditions, including any term
relating to rent, the duration of an agreement, and any other
provisions governing the rights and obligations of the parties
that are not inconsistent with or prohibited by sections 3733.09
4781.36 to 3733.20 4781.52 of the Revised Code or any other rule
of law.
(M) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code,
the owner of a manufactured or mobile home may utilize the
services of a manufactured housing dealer or broker licensed under
Chapter 4781. of the Revised Code or a person properly licensed
under Chapter 4735. of the Revised Code to sell or lease the home.
Sec. 5301.072. (A) No covenant, condition, or restriction set
forth in a deed, and no rule, regulation, bylaw, or other
governing document or agreement of a homeowners, neighborhood,
civic, or other association, shall prohibit or be construed to
prohibit the any of the following:
(1) The placement on any property of a flagpole that is to be
used for the purpose of displaying, or shall prohibit or be
construed to prohibit the flag of the United States;
(2) The display on any property of, the flag of the United
States if the flag is displayed in accordance with any of the
following:
(1)(a) The patriotic customs set forth in 4 U.S.C.A. 5-10, as
amended, governing the display and use of the flag of the United
States;
(2)(b) The consent of the property's owner or of any person
having lawful control of the property;
(3)(c) The recommended flagpole standards set forth in "Our
Flag," published pursuant to S.C.R. 61 of the 105th Congress, 1st
Session (1998);
(4)(d) Any federal law, proclamation of the president of the
United States or the governor, section of the Revised Code, or
local ordinance or resolution.
(3) The display of a service flag approved by the United
States secretary of defense for display in a window of the
residence of a member of the immediate family of an individual
serving in the armed forces of the United States. A service flag
includes a blue star banner, a gold star banner, and any other
flag the secretary of defense designates as a service flag.
(B) A covenant, condition, restriction, rule, regulation,
bylaw, governing document, or agreement or a construction of any
of these items that violates division (A) of this section is
against public policy and unenforceable in any court of this state
to the extent it violates that division.
Sec. 5311.191. (A) No declaration, bylaw, rule, regulation,
or agreement of a condominium property or construction of any of
these items by the board of managers of its unit owners
association shall prohibit the either of the following:
(1) The placement of a flagpole that is to be used for the
purpose of displaying, or shall prohibit the display of, the flag
of the United States on or within the limited common areas and
facilities of a unit owner or on the immediately adjacent exterior
of the building in which the unit of a unit owner is located, if
the flag is displayed in accordance with any of the following:
(1)(a) The patriotic customs set forth in 4 U.S.C.A. 5-10, as
amended, governing the display and use of the flag of the United
States;
(2)(b) The recommended flagpole standards set forth in "Our
Flag," published pursuant to S.C.R. 61 of the 105th Congress, 1st
Session (1998);
(3)(c) Any federal law, proclamation of the president of the
United States or the governor, section of the Revised Code, or
local ordinance or resolution.
(2) The display of a service flag approved by the United
States secretary of defense for display in a window of the
residence of a member of the immediate family of an individual
serving in the armed forces of the United States. A service flag
includes a blue star banner, a gold star banner, and any other
flag the secretary of defense designates as a service flag.
(B) A declaration, bylaw, rule, regulation, or agreement or
the construction of any of these items that violates division (A)
of this section is against public policy and unenforceable in any
court of this state to the extent it violates that division.
Sec. 5321.131. (A) No landlord shall include any restriction
in a rental agreement, or otherwise prohibit on a tenant's rental
property, either of the following:
(1) The display of the flag of the United States if the flag
is displayed in accordance with any of the following:
(a) The patriotic customs set forth in 4 U.S.C.A. 5-10, as
amended, governing the display and use of the flag of the United
States;
(b) Federal law, state law, or any local ordinance or
resolution;
(c) A proclamation of the president of the United States or
the governor of the state.
(2) The display of a service flag approved by the United
States secretary of defense for display in a window of the
residence of a member of the immediate family of an individual
serving in the armed forces of the United States. A service flag
includes a blue star banner, a gold star banner, and any other
flag the secretary of defense designates as a service flag.
(B) Any violation of this section is against public policy
and unenforceable. Any provision of a rental agreement that
violates this section is an unconscionable term under section
5321.14 of the Revised Code.
Section 2. That existing sections 4781.40, 5301.072, and
5311.191 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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