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H0347......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS FLOATING HOMES - Amends existing law relating to floating homes to provide that the changes in rents by landlords shall be reasonable; and to provide factors to be considered in determining whether a change in rent is reasonable. 01/16 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing 01/17 Rpt prt - to St Aff
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]] Fifty-ninth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2008IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 347 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO THE FLOATING HOMES RESIDENCY ACT; AMENDING SECTION 55-2708, IDAHO 3 CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT CHANGES IN RENTS BY LANDLORDS SHALL BE REASONABLE 4 AND TO PROVIDE FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN DETERMINING WHETHER A CHANGE IN 5 RENT IS REASONABLE. 6 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 7 SECTION 1. That Section 55-2708, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 8 amended to read as follows: 9 55-2708. ADJUSTMENTS TO RENT, SERVICES, UTILITIES OR RULES -- FEES. (1) A 10 landlord may increase or decrease rents only after ninety (90) days' written 11 notice to the tenants. 12 (2) Changes in rents shall be reasonable. Factors to be considered in 13 determining whether a change in rent is reasonable are as follows: 14 (a) The rent provided in the current rental agreement between the land- 15 lord and tenant; 16 (b) The rent charged by comparable marinas; 17 (c) The landlord's costs associated with owning, controlling, and main- 18 taining the marina, including the uplands that support the marina or moor- 19 age area, and the landlord's need for realizing a reasonable rate of 20 return over such costs; 21 (d) The availability and costs of alternative long-term float home moor- 22 age sites; 23 (e) The opportunity costs, if any, borne by the landlord by not convert- 24 ing the floating home marina, including adjacent uplands, to uses that 25 would exclude moorage for float homes; and 26 (f) The need to maintain price stability in a market restricted by state 27 regulation of navigable waters and limited availability of float home 28 moorage sites. 29 (3) Except as provided herein, rental increases shall be uniform through- 30 out the floating home marina. Notwithstanding the foregoing provision: 31 (a) When rents within a floating home marina are structured by reason of 32 slip or floating home size, amenities, slip location or otherwise, rental 33 increases shall be uniform among all floating homes in the same rent tier; 34 and 35 (b) A rental agreement may include an escalation clause for a pro rata 36 share of any increase or decrease in the floating home marina's property 37 taxes, utility assessments or other services as included in the monthly 38 rental charge, after the effective date of such a change. 39 (34) No fees may be charged except for rent, services and utilities actu- 40 ally provided. 41 (45) No fees can be charged for services unless the services are listed 42 in the rental agreement or unless ninety (90) days' notice is given. 43 (56) A tenant shall not be charged a fee for the enforcement of any of 2 1 the rules and regulations of the floating home marina, except as provided in 2 the rental agreement or rules and regulations of the floating home marina. 3 (67) Unless the tenant specifically requests the service from the land- 4 lord in writing, a tenant shall not be charged a fee for entry, installation, 5 hookup or improvements as a condition of tenancy except for an actual fee or 6 cost imposed by a local governmental ordinance or requirement directly related 7 to the occupancy of the specific moorage site where the floating home is 8 located and incurred as a portion of the development of the floating home 9 marina as a whole. However, reasonable improvements and maintenance require- 10 ments may be included in the floating home marina rules and regulations. The 11 landlord shall not require a tenant or prospective tenant to purchase, rent or 12 lease goods or services for improvements from any person, company or corpora- 13 tion. 14 (78) Where the landlord provides master meter utilities to a tenant, the 15 cost of the utilities must be separately stated each billing period along with 16 the opening and closing meter readings. The landlord must also post the cur- 17 rent rates charged by the utility in at least one (1) conspicuous place in the 18 floating home marina. 19 (89) The landlord shall maintain year round facilities for garbage and 20 trash disposal from the floating home marina. 21 (910) The landlord shall maintain entry lights and common area lighting, 22 if any, in good working order. 23 (101) The landlord shall not prevent the ingress or egress to watercraft 24 moorage contained within a floating home.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 17333
This legislation amendment the Floathome Residency Act to
address issues of fairness in floathome rental rates by
specifically providing for arbitration in disputes over float
home rental rate increases. Reasonableness in rate increases
will be based on the marina owner’s costs of owning or
controlling the uplands, plus profit, prorated across the
marina. The opportunity costs experienced by not converting the
uplands to uses other than supporting a marina may also be
considered.
FISCAL NOTE
No fiscal impact.
CONTACT
Name: George Bacon
Agency: Lands, Dept of
Phone: 208-334-0200
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 347