Virginia Code 55.1-1305: Rent; liability of secured party taking possession of an abandoned manufactured home
A. A secured party shall have no liability for rent or other charges to a landlord except as provided in this section.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 55.1-1305
- Abandoned manufactured home: means a manufactured home occupying a manufactured home lot pursuant to a written agreement under which (i) the tenant has defaulted in rent or (ii) the landlord has the right to terminate the written rental agreement pursuant to § 55. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
- Landlord: means the manufactured home park owner or the lessor or sublessor of a manufactured home park. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Manufactured home: means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, that in the traveling mode is eight body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, is 320 or more square feet, and that 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 in the structure. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
- Manufactured home park: means a parcel of land under single or common ownership upon which five or more manufactured homes are located on a continual, nonrecreational basis together with any structure, equipment, road, or facility intended for use incidental to the occupancy of the manufactured homes. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
- Owner: includes a mortgagee in possession. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
- Reasonable charges in addition to rent: means any routine maintenance and utility charges for which the tenant is liable under the rental agreement. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
- Rent: means payments made by the tenant to the landlord for use of a manufactured home lot and other facilities or services provided by the landlord. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
- Rental agreement: means any agreement, written or oral, and valid rules and regulations adopted in conformance with § 55. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
- Secured party: means the same as that term is defined in § 8. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
- Security interest: means the same as that term is defined in § 8. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Tenant: means a person entitled as under a rental agreement to occupy a manufactured home lot to the exclusion of others. See Virginia Code 55.1-1300
B. In the event that a manufactured home subject to a security interest becomes an abandoned manufactured home, the landlord shall send notice of abandonment to the manufactured home owner, the secured party, and the dealer as provided for in § 55.1-1202 at the addresses shown in the written rental agreement or rental application. The notice of abandonment shall state the amount of rent and the amount and nature of any reasonable charges in addition to rent for which the secured party will be liable. The notice shall include any written rental agreement previously signed by the tenant and the landlord.
C. A secured party that has a security interest in an abandoned manufactured home, and that has a right to possession of the manufactured home under § 8.9A-609 or under the applicable security agreement, is liable to the landlord under the same payment terms as the tenant prior to the secured party’s accrual of the right of possession and for any other reasonable charges in addition to rent incurred. Such liability is for the period that begins 15 days from receipt of the notice of abandonment by the secured party and ends upon the earlier to occur of the removal of the abandoned manufactured home from the manufactured home park or disposition of the abandoned manufactured home under §§ 8.9A-610 through 8.9A-624 or under the applicable security agreement.
D. This section shall not affect the availability of the landlord’s lien as provided in § 55.1-1316, nor shall this section impact the priority of the secured party’s lien as provided in § 46.2-640.
E. Any rent or reasonable charges in addition to rent owed by the secured party to the landlord pursuant to this section shall be paid to the landlord prior to the removal of the manufactured home from the manufactured home park.
F. If a secured party that has a secured interest in an abandoned manufactured home becomes liable to the landlord pursuant to this section, then the relationship between the secured party and the landlord shall be governed by the rental agreement previously signed by the tenant and the landlord unless otherwise agreed, except that the term of the rental agreement shall convert to a month-to-month tenancy. No waiver is required to convert the rental agreement to a month-to-month tenancy. Either the landlord or the secured party may terminate the month-to-month tenancy upon giving written notice of at least 30 days. The secured party and the landlord are not required to execute a new rental agreement. Nothing in this section shall be construed to be a waiver of any rights by the tenant.
1991, c. 500, § 55-248.44:1; 1992, c. 709; 2019, c. 712.