Is it more advantageous for a mobilehome owner to sign a 12-month rental agreement each year, or just go along on a month-to-month basis?
Civil Code Section 798.18 (a) states that a homeowner shall be offered a rental agreement for (1) a term of 12 months, or (2) a lesser period as the homeowner may request or (3) a longer period as mutually agreed upon by both the homeowner and management. If you have local mobilehome rent control in your city or county, you do not want to sign a rental agreement or lease for longer than 12 months, because to do so will exempt your mobilehome space from the protections of the rent control ordinance. [See Civil Code Section 798.17 (a) & (b)] Signing a 12-month or less rental agreement will still enable you to receive the protections of a local mobilehome rent control ordinance, if there is one. If there is no local ordinance, whether you want to sign a 12-month rental agreement depends upon what the “fine print” says. For example, even if the space rent to be charged by the park for your space is the same amount in the month to month agreement or the 12 month rental agreement, you would
