Create a mobile home park emergency relocation account
HB 873 would create a new mobile home park emergency relocation account to help mobile home owners who rent lots and are forced to move because a park is changing use or being redeveloped. The bill requires landlords to notify tenants in writing about the account when they give a change-in-use notice, and it sets out two forms of assistance: reimbursement for actual moving costs up to $10,000 for a single-section home or $15,000 for a multisection home within a 100-mile radius, or an abandonment payment equal to 50% of the maximum moving allowance if the tenant turns over title and clears liens and taxes.
To fund the account, the bill creates a new annual assessment on mobile homes, collected like personal property taxes, and directs county treasurers to remit the money to the state. It also increases campground and trailer court license fees and redirects a larger share of those fees into the relocation account. The bill amends state law governing statutory appropriations, campground and trailer court licensing, and the Montana Residential Mobile Home Park Act definitions so the new program can be administered by the Department of Commerce, with rulemaking authority and a possible nonprofit administrator.
The bill’s impact on state law would be significant for mobile home park regulation and taxation. It adds a new state special revenue account, creates a new funding stream through assessments and license-fee allocations, and authorizes payments to eligible tenants displaced by park redevelopment. It also includes a $500,000 general fund appropriation for the biennium, a statutory appropriation for ongoing spending from the account, and a sunset date of June 30, 2029.
The general sentiment reflected in the available vote history appears mixed but procedurally favorable at one point: the House Business and Labor Committee voted 13-1 to table the bill, and the bill ultimately died in process. That suggests there was some support for the concept of relocation assistance, but not enough agreement to advance it. Because there are no committee transcript excerpts, the record does not show detailed public debate, but the outcome indicates the proposal was controversial or not sufficiently supported to move forward.
The main points of contention likely centered on who should pay for the relocation assistance and how broad the program should be. The bill shifts costs onto mobile home owners through a new assessment and onto campground and trailer court operators through higher license fees, while also creating a state-administered compensation program for displaced tenants. Potential concerns include the fairness of taxing mobile home owners who may not be the ones causing redevelopment, the burden on small park operators, the administrative complexity of verifying eligibility and title/lien status, and whether the state should fund abandonment payments for homes left behind.
HB 873 would amend Montana law to create a new mobile home park emergency relocation account, establish eligibility rules for relocation or abandonment payments, impose a new annual assessment on mobile homes, and redirect a portion of campground and trailer court license fees into the account. It also expands the Department of Commerce’s administrative role, authorizes rulemaking, and provides both a statutory appropriation and a direct general fund appropriation to support the program. The bill would affect mobile home owners, mobile home park landlords, county treasurers, and campground/trailer court licensees.
The available voting history suggests the bill had some support for its policy goal of helping displaced mobile home residents, but not enough consensus to advance. The House Business and Labor Committee vote to table the bill was 13-1, and the bill ultimately died in process. With no transcript excerpts available, the record does not show detailed floor or committee arguments, but the outcome indicates the proposal was not broadly embraced.
The likely main contention was funding: the bill would finance relocation aid through a new assessment on mobile homes and higher campground/trailer court license fees, which could be viewed as shifting costs onto owners and operators rather than using general state revenue. Another likely issue was the scope of the benefit, including the 100-mile relocation limit, the capped payment amounts, and the separate abandonment payment tied to title transfer, lien release, and tax compliance. Questions may also have arisen about administrative burden, eligibility verification, and whether the state should subsidize relocation when a park changes use or is redeveloped.