A New Way to Deal with Dilapidated Mobile Homes

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

The Municipal Law and Finance Group recently advised a client regarding the use of a relatively new statute – 30-A M.R.S. § 3106 – which provides municipalities with authority to take possession and dispose of mobile homes that have been abandoned. While the statute uses the term “abandoned,” it seems to also include mobile homes that are in a substantial state of disrepair. Code Enforcement Officers should consult municipal counsel before using the statute for a mobile home that is still inhabited. 

Section 3106 provides that the municipal officers may take corrective action after determining at a hearing that a mobile home has been abandoned. Notice of the hearing must be published or delivered at least seven days prior. 

The standards for making this determination are listed in 14 M.R.S. § 6326 and allow for a determination of abandonment if doors and windows have been boarded up, broken, or left unlocked; trash and debris has accumulated on the mortgaged premises; the premises constitute a threat to public health or safety; or the premises are unfit for occupancy. Only one of these must be proven true in order for the municipal officers to make a lawful finding of abandonment. 

After making such a determination at the hearing, the municipal officers must order that the conditions be addressed. Contents for the order are outlined in the statute. The order must give the property owner 60 days to correct the situation. If that deadline passes without action, the municipal officers are authorized to take possession of the mobile home and dispose of, it as well as any personal property located inside. Costs of doing so, including legal and administrative costs, may be assessed to the owner as a special tax if they remain unpaid after 30 days. 

Experienced CEOs will notice many parallels between this procedure and the more commonly used “dangerous building” statute (17 M.R.S. § 2851). Both allow for the process to be conducted either by the municipal officers or in court, and both allow for costs to be assessed as a personal tax. However, because Section 3106 sets a lower trigger for action, provides clear authority to dispose of personal property, and is more directly addressed to mobile homes, we recommend its use when dealing with dilapidated mobile homes.