Out of House and Home: The Disparate Application of Louisiana's Eviction Laws to Mobile Home Owners

• Author: Jared A. Clark
• Position: J.D./D.C.L., 2016, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University.
• Pages: 1115-1142

Out of House and Home: The Disparate Application of Louisiana’s Eviction Laws to Mobile Home Owners INTRODUCTION Natasha Thompson, with her partner John and children, moved into the Pine Haven mobile home park five years ago in Moss Bluff, Louisiana. 1 Natasha spearheaded the family’s move into the park and even convinced her sister to move her family from South Carolina into Pine Haven. 2 The family owned the mobile home they lived in, but leased the land underneath the home from Pine Haven. 3 Natasha thought she was finally settled until one day she was served with a 15-day notice to vacate the premises. 4 The landowner’s decision to evict Natasha was not because of any failure by Natasha to comply with her lease, but rather because the landowner had sold the land on which Natasha’s mobile home was situated, and the buyer had no intention to maintain the land as a mobile home community. 5 Many of the Pine Haven residents lived on Social Security or held hourly wage jobs, barely earning enough to make the lot payments of $145 per month, and many faced homelessness as a result of the eviction. 6 Moving Natasha’s home in particular would cost 34 times her monthly rent, a significant amount in such a short time. 7 Natasha’s situation occurred because Louisiana does not have legislation specifically addressing the unique circumstances of mobile home owners facing eviction. Currently, Louisiana eviction laws subject mobile home owners to the same speedy eviction procedures as a typical apartment dweller. 8 If a lessee fails to pay rent on time, Louisiana law only allows additional time to cure nonpayment of the rent, and even that remedy is left to the discretion of the court. 9 Considering the financial Copyright 2017, by JARED A. CLARK. 1. Shannon Sims, Trailer Park Nation: The Great Eviction, OZY (May 4, 2015), http://www.ozy.com/true-story/trailer-park-nation-the-great-eviction/400 29 [https://perma.cc/W9QS-SDKR]. 2. Id. 3. Id. 4. Id. 5. Id. 6. Id. 7. Id. 8. See Monroe Hous. Auth. v. Coleman, 70 So. 3d 871, 872–73 (La. Ct. App. 2011) (applying summary eviction to an apartment dweller); see also Williams v. Reynolds, 448 So. 2d 845, 846–47 (La. Ct. App. 1984) (applying summary eviction to a mobile home owner). 9. LA. CIV. CODE art. 2013 (2017). 1116 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 77 position of most mobile home owners, 10 and the heavy costs associated with moving a mobile home, 11 these laws are detrimental to mobile home owners. Many states have enacted eviction statutes tailored to the circumstances of mobile home owners who lease the land underneath their homes. 12 Some have gone as far as to require the landowner to establish “good cause” to evict the tenant. 13 Other states have addressed the issue by enacting legislation that extends the period of notice required to evict the mobile home owner beyond the time normally granted to residential tenants, without the requirement that the landowner establish good cause. 14 To balance the needs of the landowner and tenant, Louisiana should not adopt a good-cause statute. Instead, Louisiana should simply extend the notice period required to evict a mobile home owner, requiring a minimum term of one year and providing a statutory right to cure rent instead of the current regime based on judicial discretion. 15 Part I of this Comment provides background on mobile homes and the demographics of the people who own these homes. Part II discusses Louisiana’s laws on eviction in general and the problems these laws cause for mobile home owners in particular. Part III surveys mobile home eviction laws in other jurisdictions to find a more equitable approach for Louisiana. Part IV proposes a unique solution for Louisiana to alleviate the problems mobile home owners face in eviction. Specifically, this Comment argues that Louisiana should move away from the trend of other states in promulgating “good-cause” statutes and instead apply a different regime that more fairly balances the rights of both the landowner and the mobile home owner. I. THE MODERN MOBILE HOME Mobile homes have undergone a significant transformation since their beginnings. They have grown not only in size and complexity throughout 10. See Roger Colton & Michael Sheehan, The Problem of Mass Evictions in Mobile Home Parks Subject to Conversion, 8 J. AFFORDABLE HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEV. L. 231, 233 (1999); see also J. Royce Fichtner, Note, The Iowa Mobile Home Park Landlord – Tenant Relationship: Present Eviction Procedures and Needed Reforms, 53 DRAKE L. REV. 181, 185 (2004). 11. See, e.g., Colton & Sheehan, supra note 10, at 232. 12. See discussion infra Part III. 13. E.g., DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 25, § 7010 (West 2017). 14. E.g., N.C. GEN. STAT. ANN. § 42−14 (West 2016). 15. LA. CIV. CODE art. 2013 (2017). 2017] COMMENT 1117 the years, but also in popularity. 16 Despite the changes in design over time, mobile homes still offer quality living at an affordable price. 17 The modern design of mobile homes, however, has changed the ability of mobile home owners to move the home once it is placed on the land, which can pose significant challenges upon eviction from the land. 18 A. The History and Affordability of Mobile Homes The modern mobile home finds its roots in the travel-trailer design of the 1920s and 1930s. 19 The aftermath of the Second World War spawned housing shortages, which prompted many to turn to mobile homes as an alternative source of housing. 20 Mobile home manufacturers, noticing the growing popularity of mobile homes, seized the opportunity during the 1950s by designing and constructing units to be used as permanent shelters. 21 The mobile home industry continued to accelerate throughout the 1950s and 1960s. 22 By 1973, mobile home production comprised more than 20% of all housing production, 23 and throughout the 1980s, the number of mobile homes in the United States increased by more than 50% to reach approximately seven million by 1990. 24 In 2007, the Manufactured Housing Institute estimated that there were more than ten million mobile homes throughout the United States, housing approximately 22.5 million people. 25 Although mobile homes account for 6% of occupied housing nationwide, the comparative data shifts dramatically based on geography. 26 In 112 counties among southern and western states, mobiles homes account for 16. See discussion infra Part I.A. 17. See discussion infra Part I.A. 18. See discussion infra Part I.C. 19. Robert R. Stubbs, The Necessity for Specific State Legislation to Deal with the Mobile Home Park Landlord – Tenant Relationship, 9 GA. L. REV. 212, 212 n.2 (1974). 20. WILLIAM APGAR ET AL., AN EXAMINATION OF MANUFACTURED HOUSING AS A COMMUNITY- AND ASSET-BUILDING STRATEGY 2 (2002). 21. Id. 22. Werner Z. Hirsch & Joel G. Hirsch, Legal-Economic Analysis of Rent Controls in a Mobile Home Context: Placement Values and Vacancy Decontrol, 35 UCLA L. REV. 399, 403 (1988). 23. Stubbs, supra note 19, at 212 n.2. 24. Esther Sullivan, Halfway Homeowners: Eviction and Forced Relocation in a Florida Manufactured Home Park, 39 L. & SOC. INQUIRY 474, 477 (2014). 25. Id. 26. See CONSUMER FIN. PROT. BUREAU, MANUFACTURED HOUSING CONSUMER FINANCE IN THE UNITED STATES 5 (2014). 1118 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 77 over one-third of occupied housing. 27 Louisiana in particular is among the top ten states that contain the most mobile homes as a percent of housing units. 28 The popularity of mobile homes is largely due to their relatively low cost in comparison to traditional homes. 29 In 2014, the average price of a traditional on-site built home with land was $345,800, with the price per square foot averaging $97.10. 30 On the other hand, the average price of a mobile home was $65,300, with the price per square foot averaging $45.41. 31 Given the low cost of mobile homes in comparison to traditional homes, their high quality and composition of a larger number of rooms on average than traditional homes is surprising. 32 B. The Demographics of Mobile Home Owners and the Landlord – Tenant Relationship The affordability of mobile homes makes them an attractive option for families living on low incomes. Mobile home dwellers generally make less than 50% of the area median income, 33 and mobile home purchases now account for a considerable portion of rural homeownership growth among low-income households. 34 Furthermore, many elderly citizens living on fixed incomes take advantage of the low cost of mobile home living. 35 Across the country, 32% of mobile home heads of household are of retirement age. 36 Mobile homes are a more attractive option for these 27. Id. 28. U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, MOBILE HOMES, PERCENT OF TOTAL HOUSING UNITS (2008), https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2011/compendia/sta tab/131ed/rankings.html [https://perma.cc/P3WA-VATL]. 29. Stubbs, supra note 19, at 213−14; see also Sullivan, supra note 24, at 477. 30. MANUFACTURED HOUS. INST., QUICK FACTS 4 (2015). 31. Id. 32. Hirsch & Hirsch, supra note 22, at 402; see also id. at 402 n.5. 33. Amy J. Schmitz, Promoting the Promise Manufactured Homes Provide for Affordable Housing, 13 J. AFFORDABLE HOUSING & COMMUNITY. DEV. L. 384, 386 (2004); see also Colton & Sheehan, supra note 10, at 233 (“Mobile home residents are typically poorer than the average rental household, with incomes lower by a third.”). 34. Katherine MacTavish et al., Housing Vulnerability Among Rural Trailer-Park Households, 13 GEO. J. POVERTY L. & POL’Y 95, 95 (2006). 35. Sullivan, supra note 24, at 478; see also Colton & Sheehan, supra note 10, at 233 (“The statistics initially seem to indicate that mobile home tenants are more likely to be older and hence more likely to live on fixed incomes than their apartment renter counterparts.” (quoting Hirsch & Hirsch, supra note 22, at 414)). 36. CONSUMER FIN. PROT. BUREAU, supra note 26, at 5. 2017] COMMENT 1119 individuals than traditional apartments because mobile homes provide owners with the opportunity to build...