Section 233
New York State Real Property Law
Manufactured
Homes
Program
Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor
RuthAnne Visnauskas, Commissioner/CEO
NYS Real Property Law Section 233 / Index
Subject RPL Subsection Page
Definitions a 1
Eviction b, c, d 1, 2, 3
Change of Use b6 2
Lease e 3, 4
Lease Renewal e2 3, 4
Park Rules f 4
Fees g 4, 5
Security Deposits g4 5
Purchase/Installation Of Home/Equipment h 5, 6
Sale of Manufactured Home i 6, 7
Privacy-Entry by Park Owner j 7
Disruption of Necessary Services k 7
Designation of Park Agent for Emergencies l 7
Habitability Warranty m 7
Retaliation n 7, 8
Attorneys o 8
Essential Services p 8
Written Receipts q 8
Late Payment of Rent r 8
Occupancy Restriction s 8, 9
Lease Assignment and Subleasing t 9
Breach of 233 Statute u 10
Annual Manufactured Home Park Registration v 10
DHCR Enforcement Authority v 10
Real Property Tax Payments w
10, 11
Rent Increases x 11
New York State Real Property Law Section 233
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a. Wherever used in this section:
1. The term manufactured home tenant means one who rents space in a manufactured home
park from a manufactured home park owner or operator for the purpose of parking his
manufactured home or one who rents a manufactured home in a manufactured home park
from a manufactured home park owner or operator.
2. The term manufactured home owner means one who holds title to a manufactured home.
3. The term manufactured home park means a contiguous parcel of privately owned land which
is used for the accommodation of three or more manufactured homes occupied for year-round
living.
4. The term manufactured home means a structure, transportable in one or more sections,
which in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in
length, or, when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and which is
built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a
permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing,
heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein; except that such term shall
include a mobile home as defined in paragraph five, and shall include a structure which meets
all the requirements of this subdivision except the size requirements and with respect to which
the manufacturer voluntarily files a certification required by the secretary of housing and urban
development.
5. The term mobile home means a moveable or portable unit, manufactured prior to January
first, nineteen hundred seventy-six, designed and constructed to be towed on its own chassis,
comprised of frame and wheels, connected to utilities, and designed and constructed without a
permanent foundation for year-round living. A unit may contain parts that may be folded,
collapsed or telescoped when being towed and expanded later to provide additional cubic
capacity as well as two or more separately towable components designed to be joined into one
integral unit capable of being again separated into the components for repeated towing.
Mobile home shall mean units designed to be used exclusively for residential purposes,
excluding travel trailers.
b. A manufactured home park owner or operator may not evict a manufactured home tenant other than
for the following reasons:
1. The manufactured home tenant continues in possession of any portion of the premises after
the expiration of his term without the permission of the manufactured home park owner or
operator.
2. The manufactured home tenant has defaulted in the payment of rent, pursuant to the
agreement under which the premises are held, and a demand of the rent with at least thirty
days notice in writing has been served upon him as prescribed in section seven hundred thirty-
five of the real property actions and proceedings law. Upon the acceptance of such delinquent
rent together with allowable costs, an action instituted for nonpayment of rent shall be
terminated. Any person succeeding to the manufactured home park owner or operator's
interest in the premises may proceed under this subdivision for rent due his predecessor in
interest if he has a right thereto.
3. The premises, or any part thereof, are used or occupied as a bawdy-house, or house or place
of assignation for lewd purposes or for purposes of prostitution, or for any illegal trade or
business.
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4. The manufactured home tenant is in violation of some federal, state or local law or ordinance
which may be deemed detrimental to the safety and welfare of the other persons residing in
the manufactured home park.
5. The manufactured home tenant or anyone occupying the manufactured home is in violation of
any lease term or rule or regulation established by the manufactured home park owner or
operator pursuant to this section, and has continued in violation for more than ten days after
the manufactured home park owner or operator has given written notice of such violation to the
manufactured home tenant setting forth the lease term or rule or regulation violated and
directing that the manufactured home tenant correct or cease violation of such lease term or
rule or regulation within ten days from the receipt of said notice. Upon the expiration of such
period should the violation continue or should the manufactured home tenant or anyone
occupying the manufactured home be deemed a persistent violator of the lease term or rules
and regulations, the park owner or operator may serve written notice upon the manufactured
home tenant directing that he vacate the premises within thirty days of the receipt of said
notice.
6. (i) The manufactured home park owner or operator proposes a change in the use of the land
comprising the manufactured home park, or a portion thereof, on which the manufactured
home is located, from manufactured home lot rentals to some other use, provided the
manufactured home owner is given written notice of the proposed change of use and the
manufactured home owner's need to secure other accommodations. Whenever a
manufactured home park owner or operator gives a notice of proposed change of use to any
manufactured home owner, the manufactured home park owner or operator shall, at the same
time, give notice of the proposed change of use to all other manufactured home owners in the
manufactured home park who will be required to secure other accommodations as a result of
such proposed change of use. Eviction proceedings based on a change in
use shall not be commenced prior to six months from the service of notice of proposed change
in use or the end of the lease term, whichever is later. Such notice shall be served in the
manner prescribed in section seven hundred thirty-five of the real
property actions and proceedings law or by certified mail, return receipt requested.
* (ii) Where a purchaser of a manufactured home park certified that such purchaser did not intend to
change the use of the land pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision two of section two hundred
thirty-three-a of this article, no eviction proceedings based on a change of use shall be
commenced until the expiration of sixty months from the date of the closing on the sale of the
park.
*Effective January 2, 2009
c. If the manufactured home park owner or operator does not have one of the above grounds available,
the manufactured home tenant may raise the same by affirmative defense to an action for eviction.
d. The proceedings to evict shall be governed by the procedures set forth in article seven of the real
property actions and proceedings law, except for the provisions of subdivision two of section seven
hundred forty-nine of the real property actions and proceedings law which shall be superseded by
the provisions of this subdivision.
1. The officer to whom the warrant is directed and delivered shall give at least ninety days notice,
in writing and in the manner prescribed in article seven of the real property actions and
proceedings law for the service of notice of petition, to the person or persons to be evicted or
dispossessed and shall execute the warrant between the hours of sunrise and sunset.
2. The court may order that such warrant be directed and delivered with only thirty days written
notice to the person or persons to be evicted or dispossessed if the conditions upon which the
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eviction is founded pose an imminent threat to the health, safety, or welfare of the other
manufactured home tenants in the manufactured home park.
3. The court shall order that such warrant be directed and delivered with thirty days written notice
to the person or persons to be evicted or dispossessed if the condition upon which the eviction
is founded is that such person is in default in the payment of rent.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs one and two of this subdivision, nor of any other
general, special or local law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the officer to whom the warrant
is directed and delivered shall give seventy-two hours written notice to the person or persons
to be evicted or dispossessed, if such person or persons rents a manufactured home in a
manufactured home park from a manufactured home park owner or operator and such officer
shall execute such warrant between the hours of sunrise and sunset.
e. Leases
1. The manufactured home park owner or operator shall offer every manufactured home tenant
prior to occupancy, the opportunity to sign a lease for a minimum of one year, which offer shall
be made in; writing.
2. (i) On or before, as appropriate, (a) the first day of October of each calendar year with respect
to a manufactured home owner then in good standing who is not currently a party to a written
lease with a manufactured home park owner or operator or (b) the ninetieth day next preceding
the expiration date of any existing written lease between a manufactured home owner then in
good standing and a manufactured home park owner or operator, the manufactured home park
owner or operator shall submit to each such manufactured home owner a written offer to lease
for a term of at least twelve months from the commencement date thereof unless the
manufactured home park owner or operator has previously furnished the manufactured home
owner with written notification of a proposed change of use pursuant to paragraph six of
subdivision b of this section. Any such offer shall include a copy of the proposed lease
containing such terms and conditions, including provisions for rent and other charges, as the
manufactured home park owner shall deem appropriate; provided such terms and conditions
are consistent with all rules and regulations promulgated by the manufactured home park
operator prior to the date of the offer and are not otherwise prohibited or limited by applicable
law. Such offer shall also contain a statement advising the manufactured home owner that if he
or she fails to execute and return the lease to the manufactured home park owner or operator
within thirty days after submission of such lease, the manufactured home owner shall be
deemed to have declined the offer of a lease and shall not have any right to a lease from the
manufactured home park owner or operator for the next succeeding twelve months.
(ii) For purposes of this paragraph, a manufactured home owner shall be deemed in good
standing if he or she is not in default in the payment of more than one month's rent to the
manufactured home park owner, and is not in violation of paragraph three, four or five of
subdivision b of this section. No manufactured home park owner or operator shall refuse to
provide a written offer to lease based on a default of rent payments or a violation of paragraph
three, four or five of subdivision b of this section unless, at least thirty days prior to the last
date on which the owner or operator would otherwise be required to provide such written offer
to lease, the owner or operator notifies the manufactured home owner, in writing, of the default
in rent or the specific grounds constituting the violation and such grounds continues up and
until the fifth calendar day immediately preceding the last date on which the written offer would
otherwise be required to be made.
(iii) For purposes of this paragraph, the commencement date of any lease offered by the
manufactured home park owner to the manufactured home owner shall be the ninetieth day
after the date upon which the manufactured home park owner shall have provided the offer
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required pursuant to this paragraph; provided, however, that no such lease shall be effective if,
on such commencement date, the manufactured home owner is in default of more than one
month's rent. In the event the manufactured home owner shall have failed to execute and
return said lease to the manufactured home park owner or operator within thirty days after it is
submitted to the manufactured home owner as required by subparagraph (i) of this paragraph
the manufactured home owner shall be deemed to have declined to enter said lease.
3. No lease provision shall be inconsistent with any rule or regulation in effect at the
commencement of the lease.
f. Rules and Regulations
1. A manufactured home park owner or operator may promulgate rules and regulations governing
the rental or occupancy of a manufactured home lot provided such rules and regulations shall
not be unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious. A copy of all rules and regulations shall be
delivered by the manufactured home park owner or operator to all manufactured home tenants
at the same time such owner or operator initially offers the written lease provided for in
subdivision e of this section. A copy of the rules and regulations shall be posted in a
conspicuous place upon the manufactured home park grounds.
2. If a rule or regulation is not applied uniformly to all manufactured home tenants of the
manufactured home park there shall be a rebuttable presumption that such rule or regulation is
unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious, provided, however, that an inconsistency between a
rule or regulation and a lease term contained in a lease signed before the date the rule or
regulation is effective shall not raise a rebuttable presumption that such rule is unreasonable,
arbitrary or capricious.
3. Any rule or regulation which does not conform to the requirements of this section or which has
not been supplied or posted as required by paragraph one of this subdivision shall be
unenforceable and may be raised by the manufactured home tenant as an affirmative defense
in any action to evict on the basis of a violation of such rule or regulation.
4. No rules or regulations may be changed by the manufactured home park owner or operator
without specifying the date of implementation of said changed rules and regulations, which
date shall be no fewer than thirty days after written notice to all tenants.
5. A manufactured home park owner or operator may not prohibit the placement of a for sale sign
on any manufactured home. A rule or regulation may be promulgated limiting the maximum
size of such sign; provided, that it does not prohibit signs the size of which do not exceed the
smaller of three feet by two feet or the maximum size allowed by law or governmental
regulation or ordinance, if any.
g. Fees
1. No tenant shall be charged a fee for other than rent, utilities and charges for facilities and
services available to the tenant. All fees, charges or assessments must be reasonably related
to services actually rendered.
2. A manufactured home park owner or operator shall be required to fully disclose in writing all
fees, charges, assessments, including rental fees, rules and regulations prior to a
manufactured home tenant assuming occupancy in the manufactured home park.
3. No fees, charges, assessments or rental fees may be increased by manufactured home park
owner or operator without specifying the date of implementation of said fees, charges,
assessments or rental fees which date shall be no less than ninety days after written notice to
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all manufactured home tenants. Failure on the part of the manufactured home park owner or
operator to fully disclose all fees, charges or assessments shall prevent the manufactured
home park owner or operator from collecting said fees, charges or assessments, and refusal
by the manufactured home tenant to pay any undisclosed charges shall not be used by the
manufactured home park owner or operator as a cause for eviction in any court of law.
4. (a) Whenever money shall be deposited or advanced on a contract or license agreement for
the use or rental of premises and the manufactured home, if rented, in a manufactured home
park as security for performance of the contract or agreement or to be applied to payments
upon such contract or agreement when due, such money with interest accruing thereon, if any,
until repaid or so applied, shall continue to be the money of the person making such deposit or
advance and shall be a trust fund in the possession of the person with whom such deposit or
advance shall be made and shall not be mingled with other funds or become an asset of the
park owner, operator or his agent.
(b) Whenever the person receiving money so deposited or advanced shall deposit such money
in a banking organization, such person shall thereupon notify in writing each of the persons
making such security deposit or advance, giving the name and address of the banking
organization in which the deposit of security money is made, and the amount of such deposit.
Deposits in a banking organization pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision shall be made
in a banking organization having a place of business within the state. If the person depositing
such security money in a banking organization shall deposit same in an interest bearing
account, he shall be entitled to receive, as administration expenses, a sum equivalent to one
percent per annum upon the security money so deposited, which shall be in lieu of all other
administrative and custodial expenses. The balances of the interest paid by the banking
organization shall be the money of the person making the deposit or advance and shall either
be held in trust by the person with whom such deposit or advance shall be made, until repaid
or applied for the use or rental of the leased premises, or annually paid to the person making
the deposit of security money.
(c) Whenever the money so deposited or advanced is for the rental of a manufactured home
park lot on property on which are located six or more manufactured home park lots, the person
receiving such money shall, subject to the provisions of this section, deposit it in an interest
bearing account in a banking organization within the state which account shall earn interest at
a rate which shall be the prevailing rate earned by other such deposits made with the banking
organizations in such area.
(d) In the event that a lease terminates other than at the time that a banking organization in
such area regularly pays interest, the person depositing such security money shall pay over to
his manufactured home tenant such interest as he is able to collect at the date of such lease
termination.
(e) Any provision of such a contract or agreement whereby a person who so deposits or
advances money waives any provision of this subdivision is void.
h. No manufactured home park owner shall:
1. Require a manufactured home tenant therein to purchase from said manufactured home park
owner or operator skirting or equipment for tying down manufactured homes, or any other
equipment. However, the manufactured home park owner or operator may determine by rule
or regulation the style or quality of such equipment to be purchased by the manufactured home
tenant from the vendor of the manufactured home tenant's choosing, providing such equipment
is readily available.
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2. Charge any manufactured home tenant who chooses to install an electric or gas appliance in
his manufactured home an additional fee solely on the basis of such installation unless such
installation is performed by the manufactured home park owner or operator at the request of
the manufactured home tenant, nor shall the manufactured home park owner or operator
restrict the installation, service or maintenance of any such appliance, restrict the ingress or
egress of repairers to enter the manufactured home park for the purpose of installation, service
or maintenance of any such appliance, or restrict the making of any interior improvement in
such manufactured home, so long as such an installation or improvement is in compliance with
applicable building codes and other provisions of law and further provided that adequate
utilities are available for such installation or improvement.
3. Require, by contract, rule, regulation or otherwise, a manufactured home dweller to purchase
from the manufactured home park owner or any person acting directly or indirectly on behalf of
the park owner, commodities or services incidental to placement or rental within such park; nor
shall the park owner restrict access to the manufactured home park to any person employed,
retained or requested by the, manufactured home dweller to provide such commodity or
service, unless the manufactured home park owner establishes that such requirement or
restriction is necessary to protect the property of such park owner from substantial harm or
impairment.
4. Require a manufactured home owner or a prospective manufactured home owner to purchase
his or her manufactured home from the manufactured home park owner or operator, or from
any person or persons designated by the manufactured home park owner or operator. Nothing
herein shall be construed to prevent a manufactured home park owner or operator from
requiring that any new manufactured home to be installed in his or her manufactured home
park comply with the rules and regulations of said manufactured home park or conform to the
physical facilities then existing for installation of a manufactured home in said manufactured
home park.
i. Sale of Manufactured Home
1. No manufactured home park owner or operator shall deny any manufactured home tenant the
right to sell his manufactured home within the manufactured home park provided the
manufactured home tenant shall give to the manufactured home park owner or operator twenty
days' written notice of his intention to sell, provided that if the manufactured home owner is
deceased no such notice shall be required from the administrator or executor of the home
owner's estate, and provided further that no manufactured home park owner or operator shall
restrict access to the manufactured home park to any potential purchaser or representatives of
any seller unless the manufactured home park owner establishes that such restriction is
necessary to protect the property of such park owner or operator from substantial harm or
impairment. No manufactured home park owner or operator shall require the manufactured
home owner or subsequent purchaser to remove the manufactured home from the
manufactured home park solely on the basis of the sale thereof. The manufactured home park
owner or operator may reserve the right to approve the purchaser of said manufactured home
as a manufactured home tenant for the remainder of the seller's or deceased tenant's term but
such permission may not be unreasonably withheld. If the manufactured home park owner or
operator unreasonably withholds his permission or unreasonably restricts access to the
manufactured home park, the manufactured home tenant or the executor or administrator of a
deceased tenant's estate may recover the costs of the proceedings and attorneys' fees if it is
found that the manufactured home park owner or operator acted in bad faith by withholding
permission or restricting access.
2. The manufactured home park owner or operator shall not exact a commission or fee with
respect to the price realized by the seller unless the manufactured home park owner or
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operator has acted as agent for the manufactured home owner in the sale pursuant to a written
contract.
3. If the ownership or management rejects a purchaser as a prospective tenant, the selling tenant
must be informed in writing of the reasons therefore.
j. The owner or operator of a manufactured home park may enter a manufactured home owner's
manufactured home without the prior consent of the occupant only in case of emergency. The owner
or operator of a manufactured home park may enter a manufactured home tenant's manufactured
home during reasonable hours on reasonable notice.
k. The owner or operator shall provide reasonable notice where practicable to all manufactured home
tenants who would be affected by any planned disruption of necessary services caused by the
owner, operator or his agent.
l. The park owner shall designate an agent on the premises or in close proximity to the manufactured
home park to insure the availability of emergency response actions in matters affecting the health,
safety, well-being and welfare of manufactured home tenants in the park. The designated agent's
name, address and telephone number shall be posted in a conspicuous location in the park, given in
writing to each tenant and registered with appropriate county law enforcement and health officials
and local fire officials.
m. Warranty of habitability, maintenance, disruption of services. In every written or oral lease or rental
agreement entered into by a manufactured home tenant, the manufactured home park owner or
operator shall be deemed to covenant and warrant that the premises so leased or rented and the
manufactured home if rented and all areas used in connection therewith in common with other
manufactured home tenants or residents including all roads within the manufactured home park are
fit for human habitation and for the uses reasonably intended by the parties and that the occupants
of such premises and such manufactured homes if rented shall not be subjected to any conditions
which would be dangerous, hazardous or detrimental to their life, health or safety. When any such
condition has been caused by the misconduct of the manufactured home tenant or lessee or
persons under his direction or control, it shall not constitute a breach of such covenants and
warranties. The rights and obligations of the manufactured home park owner or operator and the
manufactured home tenant shall be governed by the provisions of this subdivision and subdivisions
two and three of section two hundred thirty-five-b of this article.
n. Retaliation
1. No manufactured home park owner or operator shall serve a notice to quit upon any
manufactured home tenant or commence any action to recover real property or summary
proceeding to recover possession of real property in retaliation for:
(a) A good faith complaint, by or in behalf of the tenant, to a governmental authority of the
manufactured home park owner's or operator's alleged violation of any health or safety law,
regulation, code, or ordinance, or any law or regulation which has as its objective the
regulation of premises used for dwelling purposes; or
(b) Actions taken in good faith, by or in behalf of the manufactured home tenant, to secure or
enforce any rights under the lease or rental agreement, under subdivision m of this section and
subdivisions two and three of section two hundred thirty-five-b of this article, or under any other
local law, law of the state of New York, or of its governmental subdivisions, or of the United
States which has as its objective the regulation of premises used for dwelling purposes; or
(c) The manufactured home tenant's participation in the activities of a tenant's organization.
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2. No manufactured home park owner or operator shall substantially alter the terms of the
tenancy in retaliation for any actions set forth in subparagraphs (a), (b), and (c) of paragraph
one of this subdivision. Substantial alteration shall include, but is not limited to, the refusal to
continue a tenancy of the manufactured home tenant or, upon expiration of the manufactured
home owner's lease, to renew the lease or offer a new lease; provided, however, that a
manufactured home park owner or operator shall not be required under this subdivision to offer
a manufactured home owner a new lease or a lease renewal for a term greater than one year.
3. This subdivision shall apply to all manufactured home parks with four or more manufactured
homes. However, its provisions shall not be given effect in any case in which it is established
that the condition from which the complaint or action arose was caused by the manufactured
home tenant, a member of the manufactured home tenant's household, or a guest of the
manufactured home tenant. Nor shall it apply in a case where a tenancy was terminated
pursuant to the terms of a lease as a result of a bona fide transfer of ownership. The rights and
obligations of the manufactured home park owner or operator and the manufactured home
tenant shall be governed by the provisions of this subdivision and subdivisions three, four and
five of section two hundred twenty-three-b of this article.
o. Whenever a lease shall provide that in any action or summary proceeding the manufactured home
park owner or operator may recover attorney's fees and/or expenses incurred as the result of the
failure of the tenant to perform any covenant or agreement contained in such lease, or that amounts
paid by the manufactured home park owner or operator therefor shall be paid by the tenant as
additional rent, there shall be implied in such lease a covenant by the manufactured home park
owner or operator, to pay to the tenant the reasonable attorney's fees and/or expenses incurred by
the tenant to the same extent as is provided in section two hundred thirty-four of this article which
section shall apply in its entirety.
p. Any manufactured home park owner or operator who has agreed to provide hot or cold water, heat,
light, power, or any other service or facility to any occupant of the manufactured home park who
willfully or intentionally without just cause fails to furnish such water, heat, light, power, or other
service or facility, or who interferes with the quiet enjoyment of the leased premises, is guilty of a
violation.
q. Upon receipt of rent, fees, charges or other assessments, in the form of cash or any instrument other
than the personal check of the tenant, it shall be the duty of the manufactured home park owner or
operator to provide the payor with a written receipt containing the following:
1. the date;
2. the amount;
3. the identity of the premises and the period for which paid;
4. the signature and title of the person receiving rent.
r. Limitation on late charges. A late charge on any rental payment by a manufactured home owner
which has become due and remains unpaid shall not exceed and shall be enforced to the extent of
five percent of such delinquent payment; provided, however, that no charge shall be imposed on any
rental payment by a manufactured home owner received within ten days after the due date. In the
absence of a specific provision in the lease or the manufactured home park's rules and regulations,
no late charge on any delinquent rental payment shall be assessed or collected.
s. It shall be a violation for a manufactured home park owner, operator or his agent to restrict
occupancy of a manufactured home or manufactured home park lot intended for residential
purposes by express lease terms or otherwise, to a manufactured home tenant or tenants or to such
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tenants and immediate family. Any such restriction in a lease or rental agreement entered into or
renewed before or after the effective date of this subdivision shall be unenforceable as against public
policy. The rights and obligations of a manufactured home owner or operator and the manufactured
home tenant shall be governed by the provisions of this subdivision and subdivisions one, three,
four, five, six, seven, eight and nine of section two hundred thirty five-f of this article.
t. Lease Assignment and Subleasing
1. Unless a greater right to assign is conferred by the lease, a manufactured home tenant may
not assign his lease without the written consent of the manufactured home park owner or
operator, which consent may be unconditionally withheld without cause provided that the
manufactured home park owner or operator shall release the manufactured home tenant from
the lease upon request of the mobile [sic] home tenant upon thirty days notice if the
manufactured home park owner or operator unreasonably withholds consent which release
shall be the sole remedy of the tenant. If the owner reasonably withholds consent, there shall
be no assignment and the manufactured home tenant shall not be released from the lease.
2. (a) A manufactured home tenant renting space or a manufactured home in a manufactured
home park with four or more manufactured homes pursuant to an existing lease shall have a
right to sublease his premises subject to the written consent of the park owner in advance of
the subletting. Such consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.
(b) The manufactured home tenant shall inform the manufactured home park owner or operator
of his intent to sublease by mailing a notice of such intent by certified mail, return receipt
requested. Such request shall be accompanied by the following information: (i) the term of the
sublease, (ii) the name of the proposed sublessee, (iii) the business and permanent home
address of the proposed sublessee, (iv) the tenant's reason for subletting, (v) the
tenant's address for the term of the sublease, (vi) the written consent of any co-tenant or
guarantor of the lease, and (vii) a copy of the proposed sublease, to which a copy of the
manufactured home tenant's lease shall be attached if available, acknowledged by the
manufactured home tenant and proposed subtenant as being a true copy of such sublease.
(c) Within ten days after the mailing of such request, the manufactured home park owner or
operator may ask the manufactured home tenant for additional information as will enable the
manufactured home park owner or operator to determine if rejection of such request shall be
unreasonable. Any such request for additional information shall not be unduly burdensome.
Within thirty days after the mailing of the request for consent, or of the additional information
reasonably asked for by the manufactured home park owner or operator, whichever is later,
the manufactured home park owner or operator shall send a notice to the manufactured home
tenant of his consent or, if he does not consent, his reasons therefore. Manufactured home
park owner's or operator's failure to send such a notice shall be deemed to be consent to the
proposed subletting. If the manufactured home park owner or operator consents, the premises
may be sublet in accordance with the request, but the manufactured home tenant thereunder,
shall nevertheless remain liable for the performance of manufactured home tenant's
obligations under said lease. If the manufactured home park owner or operator reasonably
withholds consent, there shall be no subletting and the manufactured home tenant shall not be
released from the lease. If the manufactured home park owner or operator unreasonably
withholds consent, the manufactured home tenant may sublet in accordance with the request
and may recover the costs of the proceeding and attorneys fees if it is found that the
manufactured home park owner or operator acted in bad faith by withholding consent. The
rights and obligations of the manufactured home park owner or operator and the manufactured
home tenant shall be governed by the provisions of this subdivision and subdivisions three,
five, six, seven and eight of section two hundred twenty-six-b of this article.
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u. In the event of a breach by a manufactured home park owner or operator of any of the requirements
of this section, the manufactured home tenant may commence an action for damages actually
incurred as a result of such breach, or in an action or summary proceeding commenced by such
manufactured home park owner or operator, may counterclaim for damages occasioned by such
breach.
v. On and after April first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, the commissioner of housing and community
renewal shall have the power and duty to enforce and ensure compliance with the provisions of this
section. However, the commissioner shall not have the power or duty to enforce manufactured home
park rules and regulations established under subdivision f of this section. On or before January first,
nineteen hundred eighty-nine, each manufactured home park owner or operator shall file a
registration statement with the commissioner and shall thereafter file an annual registration
statement on or before January first of each succeeding year. The commissioner, by regulation, shall
provide that such registration statement shall include only the names of all persons owning an
interest in the park, the names of all tenants of the park, all services provided by the park owner to
the tenants and a copy of all current manufactured home park rules and regulations. Whenever there
shall be a violation of this section, an application may be made by the commissioner of housing and
community renewal in the name of the people of the state of New York to a court or justice having
jurisdiction by a special proceeding to issue an injunction, and upon notice to the defendant of not
less than five days, to enjoin and restrain the continuance of such violation; and if it shall appear to
the satisfaction of the court or justice that the defendant has, in fact, violated this section, an
injunction may be issued by such court or justice, enjoining and restraining any further violation and
with respect to this subdivision, directing the filing of a registration statement. In any such
proceeding, the court may make allowances to the commissioner of housing and community renewal
of a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars against each defendant, and direct restitution.
Whenever the court shall determine that a violation of this section has occurred, the court may
impose a civil penalty of not more than one thousand five hundred dollars for each violation. Such
penalty shall be deposited in the manufactured home cooperative fund, created pursuant to section
fifty-nine-h of the private housing finance law. In connection with any such proposed application, the
commissioner of housing and community renewal is authorized to take proof and make a
determination of the relevant facts and to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil practice law
and rules. The provisions of this subdivision shall not impair the rights granted under subdivision u of
this section.
w. Real property tax payments
1. A manufactured home park owner, operator or the agent of such owner or operator shall
reduce the annual rent paid by a manufactured home tenant for use of the land upon which
such manufactured home sits in an amount equal to the total of the real property taxes actually
paid by such manufactured home tenant for such manufactured home plus the amount by
which the taxes on such manufactured home were reduced as a result of the partial real
property tax exemption granted to the manufactured home tenant pursuant to article four of the
real property tax law, provided such manufactured home tenant:
(a) owns a manufactured home which is separately assessed; subject to the provisions of
paragraph two of this subdivision;
(b) is entitled to and actually receives a partial real property tax exemption pursuant to article
four of the real property tax law; and
(c) pays the real property taxes due on such home.
2. In the case of a manufactured home which is not separately assessed, but which is entitled to
and actually receives the school tax relief (STAR) exemption authorized by section four
hundred twenty-five of the Real Property Tax Law, the tenant of such manufactured home shall
11
New York State Real Property Law Section 233
be entitled to a rent reduction pursuant to this subdivision to the same extent as a tenant of a
manufactured home which satisfies the criteria set forth in paragraph one of this subdivision.
Such rent reduction shall be equal to the amount by which the taxes on such manufactured
home were reduced as a result of such exemption.
3. A manufactured home park owner or operator providing a reduction in rent as required by
paragraph one or two of this subdivision may retain, in consideration for record keeping
expenses, two percent of the amount of such reduction.
3a. Any reduction required to be provided pursuant to paragraph one or two of this subdivision
shall be provided as follows:
(a) a reduction in monthly rent (prorating the reduction in twelve parts) shall take effect upon
the first monthly rental payment due sixty days after the last date for the payment of real
property taxes with no penalty or interest for lateness and shall be extended to the next
eleven monthly payments thereafter; or
(b) with the consent of the manufactured home park owner, operator, or agent of such owner
or operator, a reduction in rent may be offset in the entire amount of such reduction
against the first monthly rental payment due sixty days after the last date for the payment
of real property taxes with no penalty or interest for lateness, and the balance thereof, if
any, may be offset against the monthly rental payments for succeeding months, until
exhausted; or
(c) at the election of the manufactured home park owner, operator, or agent of such owner
or operator, the total amount of such reduction in rent may be paid to the tenant no later
than sixty days after the last date for the payment of real property taxes with no penalty
or interest for lateness.
4. The failure of a manufactured home park owner or operator to comply with the provisions of
this subdivision shall be a violation punishable by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars for
each violation.
* x. 1. Rent and other fees, charges and assessments may not be increased by a manufactured
home park owner or operator more than once in any year.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph one of this subdivision, if a fee, charge, or
assessment in effect at the commencement of a lease or tenancy is for goods or services provided
by a party unrelated to and not controlled by the manufactured home park owner or operator, the
manufactured home park owner or operator may, upon the notice required in this section, provide
for the pass-along to the manufactured home tenant of any increases in such fee, charge or
assessment.
3. Any agreement modifying any of the rights set forth in this subdivision shall be void as contrary
to public policy.
*Effective January 2, 2009
This printing of Section 233 of the Real Property Law of New York State
includes all amendments as of January 2, 2009.
