ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 265
(Senator Claypole, original sponsor)
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[Passed April 10, 1993; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend article fifteen, chapter thirty-seven of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
six-a, relating to factory-built home site rentals; and
requiring extended notice to tenants in cases of mass
eviction.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article fifteen, chapter thirty-seven of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
six-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. HOUSE TRAILERS, MOBILE HOMES, MANUFACTURED HOMES AND
MODULAR HOMES.
§37-15-6a. Termination of tenancy of more than twenty-five
tenants.
(a) A landlord of a factory-built home rental community may
not terminate a rental agreement nor otherwise evict more thantwenty-five tenants of any factory-built home rental community
within a single eighteen-month period unless:
(1) The landlord obtains written agreement to voluntarily
vacate the premises by every tenant prior to the expiration of
the eighteen-month period;
(2) The landlord provides not less than six months' notice
to terminate the rental agreement to each tenant; or
(3) The tenant has breached a provision of the rental
agreement and the termination complies with the requirements of
this article.
(b) If a landlord violates the provisions of this section,
the tenant has a cause of action to recover actual damages, the
costs required to relocate the aggrieved tenant and, in addition,
a right to recover treble damages or the equivalent of the
aggrieved tenant's rent for one year, whichever is greater, and
reasonable attorney fees.