Opinion ID: 1316068
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: landlord-tenant law

Text: ¶ 59 Even if a jury did not find that the notice was facially discriminatory or that Sparks proved a claim under sections 3604(b) and/or 3604(c) of the FHA, I would note another issue not raised by Sparks at any time during the course of this action, but which I believe is problematic. ¶ 60 The text of the notice that Sparks received from Malibu does not address whether it is specifically aimed at the removal of her grandchild, or any other complaint, such as excessive numbers of guests, that the landlord might have against her. [4] As such, the notice may have constituted a violation of her rights under both the Utah Mobile Home Park Residency Act (the MHPRA), Utah Code Ann. §§ 57-16-1 to -15.1 (1994 & Supp. 1999), and the Forcible Entry and Detainer Statute, id. §§ 78-36-1 to -12.6 (1996 & Supp.1999). ¶ 61 First, pursuant to the MHPRA, the landlord may terminate a lease for cause, including failure of a mobile home park resident's compliance with a mobile home park rule. See id. §§ 57-16-5 to -6 (Supp.1999). An action to terminate a lease for cause must be commenced with a written notice that shall set forth the cause for the notice. Id. § 57-16-1(2) (Supp.1999). ¶ 62 The notice given by the landlord arguably did not set forth the cause in a fashion that was capable of being cured. First, if the landlord's concern was that Sparks had guests living with her who were not family, this notice was too vague and lacked specific information to inform Sparks of how she might remedy the situation. Second, the landlord's notice could have been aimed at attempting to evict Sparks' newborn grandson because of her failure to register him. The notion that a failure to register an infant could be a lease violation is so extraordinary that a landlord should be required to give a clearly worded notice that it regards this as a lease violation. Finally, the landlord might also have been claiming that Sparks' grandson was not her family member. Again, given that the infant's mother was a registered resident, such an extraordinary notion must necessarily be explicitly stated. Under these circumstances, the landlord's notice may not have complied with the requirements of the MHPRA. ¶ 63 Second, the general provision in the Utah Code regarding notice to a tenant for violation of a term of the lease, the forcible entry and detainer statute, requires the landlord to give notice in writing requiring in the alternative the performance of the conditions or covenant or the surrender of the property. Utah Code Ann. § 78-36-3(1)(e) (1996) (emphasis added). Again, as in the notice requirement of the MHPRA, the landlord must specify what the conditions of performance are, so that the tenant can proceed in an attempt to cure the problem, thus avoiding the severe remedy of eviction. Regarding notice in a situation involving the nonpayment of rent, this court has long held that statutory notice provisions must be strictly complied with, and that notices which failed to offer the alternative of payment of rent or surrender of the premises were defective and void. See Sovereen v. Meadows, 595 P.2d 852, 853-54 (Utah 1979); American Holding Co. v. Hanson, 23 Utah 2d 432, 464 P.2d 592, 593 (1970); Jacobson v. Swan, 3 Utah 2d 59, 278 P.2d 294, 300 (1954). As the court in Sovereen noted, The unlawful detainer statute is a summary proceeding and in derogation of the common law. It provides a severe remedy, and this Court has previously held that it must be strictly complied with before the cause of action may be maintained. Sovereen, 595 P.2d at 853 (citation omitted). ¶ 64 As noted above, the landlord did not give the type of notice required by the general notice statute applicable in tenancies outside of the mobile home park context. The notice was unclear as to whether the landlord's claim was that the grand child was not a member of Sparks' family or that there were guests who were living in her trailer. Sparks could only speculate that there was something that the landlord wanted her to cure, but she would have no idea what that was. Given this court's rulings that a landlord must take the highest level of care in providing a tenant with clear notice, it appears that the landlord did not spell out Sparks' alleged violation to her in a manner that would be capable of remedy. ¶ 65 Finally, in analogous situations under other statutes, courts have required clear notice. Inasmuch as housing is one of the basic necessities of life, the termination of a lease is an event requiring strong safeguards to protect tenants from losing their homes without adequate opportunity to cure. The case under review involves a mobile home park, where the tenant is often likely to lack the means to defend his or her rights. [5] In a somewhat analogous context, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has promulgated a regulation requiring landlords of federally funded lower income housing programs to give specific notice to tenants of the reasons for their termination. The regulation provides that [t]he landlord's determination to terminate the tenancy shall ... state the reasons for the landlord's action with enough specificity so as to enable the tenant to prepare a defense. 24 C.F.R. § 247.4(a)(2) (1996). Noncompliance with the notice requirement will render the landlord's termination invalid. See 24 C.F.R. § 247.3(a) (1996); Hill v. Paradise Apartments, Inc., 182 Ga.App. 834, 357 S.E.2d 288, 290 (1987). [6] ¶ 66 Noting the clear reason for the HUD regulation, the court in Hill stated, The manifest purpose of the foregoing [regulation] is to afford procedural due process in eviction proceedings to tenants in federally subsidized housing projects, ... to cure the evils of discriminatory and arbitrary eviction procedures prevalent in federally-subsidized housing....' Hill, 357 S.E.2d at 290 (internal quotation and citation omitted). While this regulation is inapplicable here, the reasoning is equally apposite under the state laws discussed above. ¶ 67 The landlord's notice to Sparks is also problematic from a due process point of view because of its apparent confusion: it is unclear whether Sparks was being told to evict her guests or to evict her grandchild. If the grandchild was the cause of the alleged violation, the notice should specifically have said this. Otherwise, the landlord may be engaging in an impermissible form of discrimination while camouflaging its actions. Given the difficulties of showing any type of discriminatory intent or discriminatory treatment, the landlord should be required to state its true aims in the notice.