Opinion ID: 3158033
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Structure, Language, and Purposes of the MHLTA

Text: The plain language of chapter 59.20 RCW, supported by the structure of Title 59 RCW, the context in which the statute appears, and the purpose of the MHLTA all support our conclusion that the MHLTA statute of frauds is the only statute of frauds contract creating or evidencing any encumbrance upon real estate, shall· be by deed ....  Under RCW 64.04.020, [e]very deed shall be in writing, si.gned by the party bound thereby, and acknowledged by the party before some person authorized by this act to take acknowledgement of deeds. (Reviser's note omitted.) 9 A tenancy from year to year is a periodic tenancy that automatically renews for a year unless terminated at the end of the year by notice. BLACK'S, supra, at 1694. The default lease under the MHLTA is a tenancy from year to year. RCW 59.20.090(1). 7 Western Plaza, LLC v. Tison, No. 90179-1 that applies to manufactured home lot leases. First, the plain language of RCW 59.20.040 supports this conclusion: This chapter shall regulate and determine legal rights, remedies, and obligations arising from any rental agreement between a landlord and a tenant regarding a mobile home lot and including specified amenities . ' within the mobile home park, mobile home park cooperative, or mobile home park subdivision, where the tenant has no ownership interest in the property or in the association which owns the property, whose uses are referred to as a part of the· rent structure paid by the tenant. ... Rentals of mobile homes, manufactured homes, or park models themselves are governed by the residential landlord-tenant act, chapter 59.18 RCW. This action was brought to enforce or determine legal rights, remedies, and obligations arising from [a] rental agreement between a landlord and a tenant regarding a mobile home lot. RCW 59.20.040 tells us that [t]his chapter-the MHLTA-regulates and determines these rights. The conclusion is inescapable that the statute of frauds established by RCW 59.20.060, requiring a writing but not an acknowledgement, regulates and determines this case. 2. The specific language of RCW 59.20.060 controls Principles of statutory interpretation also support the conclusion that we apply the MHLTA statute of frauds to the MHLTA, instead of the earlier enacted and more general tenancy statute of frauds. A general statutory provision normally yields to a more specific statutory provision. Waste Mgmt. of Seattle, Inc. v. Utils. & Transp. Comm'n, 123 Wn.2d 621, 629-30, 869 P.2d 1034 (1994). To resolve apparent conflicts between statutes, courts generally give preference to the more specific and more recently enacted statute. Tunstall v. Bergeson, 141 Wn.2d 201, 211, 5 P.3d 691 (2000). 8 Western Plaza, LLC v. Tison, No. 90179-1 RCW 59.04.010 modifies RCW 64.04.010 and is the general statute of frauds governing tenancies. These statutes, read together, require tenancies for more than a year to be in writing and to be acknowledged. They have been in effect since the territorial days. Neither statute expressly incorporates mobile homes or any other specific type of tenancy. In contrast, RCW 59.20.060 is a statute of frauds that relates specifically to rental agreements for mobile home lots. Mobile home space tenancies shall be based upon a written rental agreement [that is] signed by the parties. RCW 59.20.060(1 ). This is the requirement, regardless of the duration of the tenancy. /d. Additionally, as discussed in Part 111.8.1 of this opinion, supra, RCW 59.20.040 of the MHLTAexplicitly distinguishes between the rules governing the rental of mobile home lots from the rules governing . other. tenancies,. such as the rental of mobile homes themselves. It would be illogical to apply two different statutes of frauds with different requirements to the same transaction, here a MHLTA rental agreement. Both statutes require a writing, but only one, the general tenancy statute of frauds, requires acknowledgement. These statutes can be harmonized only by applying each statute to the specific transactions they regulate. RCW 64.04.010 applies to the transfer of title and requires that all conveyances of real estate be in writing and acknowledged, regardless of the duration of the conveyance. RCW 59.04.010 applies to tenancies generally and requires that leases over one year be in writing and acknowledged. RCW 59.20.060 applies specifically to mobile horne lots and provides that leases over one year are valid if they are in writing; it does not require acknowledgement. It is otherwise 9 Western Plaza, LLC v. Tison, No. 90179-1 impossible to reconcile the statutes: a MHLTA lease lasting over a year is either governed by RCW 59.04.010 and requires acknowledgement or it is governed by RCW 59.20.060 and it does not. There are other irreconcilable differences between the two statutory schemes. As mentioned earlier, RCW 59.04.01 o; titled Tenancies from year to year abolished except under written contract, abolishes tenancies from year to year except when those tenancies are in writing and acknowledged. (Boldface omitted.) In the absence of a written agreement, tenancies under chapter 59.04 RCW result in a month-tomonth tenancy, terminable at the will of either party upon proper notice. RCW 59.04.020. In contrast, the default lease under the MHLTA is a tenancy from year to year. RCW 59.20.090(1 ). In the absence of a written agreement, an unwritten term is deemed to be for one year and is automatically renewed, at the option of the tenant, for one year on the anniversary of the tenancy. Gillette v. Zakarison, 68 Wn. App. 838, 842, 846 P.2d 574 (1993) (citing RCW 59.20.090(1)). 10 Any other reading ignores both the differences in the statutory provisions of Title 59 RCW and the legislature's decision to include an MHLTA-specific statute of frauds in chapter 59.20 RCW. Chapter 59.18 RCW is the Residential Landlord Tenant Act of 1973; RCW 59.18.210 continues to provide the formal requirements for 10 We reject Western Plaza's attempts to harmonize the statutes. Western Plaza asserts that the writing expressly required in all leases by RCW 59.20.060(1) does not establish an irreconcilable conflict with RCW 64.04.01 O's requirement for greater formality in longer term leases. However, RCW 64.04.010 requires the same formality for every conveyance regardless of length; these formalities include writing and acknowledgement. RCW 64.01.01 0, .020. Additionally, even RCW 59.04.010 explicitly requires a writing for every lease; leases governed by that statute that last for over one year also require acknowledgement. The requirement of a writing always exists; Western Plaza's reading would render RCW 59.20.060(1) superfluous. 10 Western Plaza, LLC v. Tison, No. 90179-'1 residential leases. Similarly, RCW 59.04.010 governs leases generally. This statute continues to apply to commercial leases and other leases not specifically covered by a separate chapter in Title 59 RCW. The legislature specifically enacted the MHLTA separately from the Residential Landlord Tenant Act because that act did not address the need, unique 'to mobile home owners, for stable, long-term tenancy. See 1977 FINAL LEGISLATIVE REPORT, 45th Wash. Leg. at 168. We hold that the specific language of the MHLTA statute of frauds trumps the general requirement that leases for over a year be acknowledged under RCW 59.04.01 0, the general tenancy statute of frauds. RCW 59.20.060 specifically describes the requirements for complying with the statute of frauds under the MHLTA: all rental agreements must be based on a written rental agreement that is signed by the parties, regardless of the duration of the rental. RCW 59.20.060(1 ). 3. Purpose of the MHLTA In addition to being supported by the plain language of RCW 59.20.040 and .060, this reading best gives effect to the very purposes for which the MHLTA was enacted. The legislature enacted the MHLTA, chapter 59.20 RCW, in 1977. The bill report echoes the findings of a 1975 staff report on landlord/tenant relationship problems in mobile home parks. See OFFICE OF PROGRAM RESEARCH, WASH. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, STAFF REPORT ON LANDLORD-TENANT RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS IN MOBILE HOME PARKS (1975). The bill report specifically notes that the tenants of manufactured/mobile home parks have a unique problem: the expense of relocating their mobile homes if their tenancy is terminated: 11 Western Plaza, LLC v. Tison, No. 90179-1 The most difficult problem currently experienced by the mobile home plot tenant is eviction from a lot with insufficient notice and without cause. Eviction can often be more devastating for a mobile home plot tenant than for the traditional residential tenant because the tenant of a mobile home plot must not only move all of his or her personal possessions, but must also expend in the vicinity of $1,000 - $2,000 to move his or her mobile home and, what is sometimes even more difficult, find a mover and a new lot. 1977 FINAL LEGISLATIVE REPORT, supra, at 168; see a/so Holiday Resort Cmty. Ass'n v. Echo Lake Assocs., 134 Wn. App. 210, 224, 135 P.3d 499 (legislative purpose in enacting the MHLTA was to regulate and protect mobile home owners by providing stable, long-term tenancy for homeowners living in a mobile home park). The MHLTA provides for stable, long-term tenancy by creating the presumption of a year-to-year periodic tenancy. Though it may seem counterintuitive to require only a writing for long-term leases of mobile home lots when other tenancies expressly require, acknowledgement for leases over a year, MHLTA leases are fundamentally different from other tenancies. This difference is deliberate, due at least in part to the fact that '[t]he park resident is in the unique position of owning his home while renting the land on which it is placed.' OFFICE OF PROGRAM RESEARCH, supra, at 1 (quoting Lyle F. Nyberg, Note, The Community and the Park Owner Versus the Mobile Home Park Resident: . Reforming the Landlord-. Tenant Relationship, ' . . . 52 B.U. L. REV. 810, 813 (1972)). This unique position results in unequal bargaining power between the park landlord and the mobile home tenant; these tenants require the security of a longer term. /d. at 4-5 (noting that short-term leases gave the park owner a near dictatorial authority because tenants are faced with the option of either abiding by the terms of 12 Western Plaza, LLC v. Tison, No. 90179-1 a new lease, including rent increases or other odious provisions, or relocating their residence at significant cost). The purpose of the real estate statute of frauds is to prevent fraud in contractual undertakings. Firth v. Lu, 146 Wn.2d 608, 614, 49 P.3d 117 (2002) (citing Miller v. McCamish, 78 Wn.2d 821, 828, 479 P.2d 919 (1971)). The MHLTA specifically addresses concerns of fraud by requiring that all rental agreements under the MHLTA must be based on a written rental agreement that is signed by the parties, regardless of the duration of the rental. RCW 59.20.060(1 ). In most tenancies, acknowledgement serves as an additional protection against fraud in agreements that would encumber land for over a year. But unlike most leases, the presumption under the MHLTA is for a longer-term lease; acknowledgement provides an additional burden but no additional protections from fraud than a writing provides. The legislature created these protections for renters of mobile home lots in the MHLTA. Unless otherwise agreed rental agreements shall be for a term of one year, and landlords may not offer a mobile home lot for rent to anyone without offering a written rental agreement for a term of one year or more. RCW 59.20.090(1 ), .050(1 ). Any rental agreement of whatever duration shall be automatically renewed for the term of the original rental agreement, unless a different specified term is agreed upon. RCW 59.20.090(1 ). In the absence of a written agreement, an unwritten term is deemed to be for one year and is automatically renewed, at the option of the tenant, for one year on the anniversary of the tenancy. Gillette, 68 Wn. App. at 842 (citing RCW 59.20.090(1 )). In short, the MHLTAcreates the presumption of a multiyear lease. 13 Western Plaza, LLC v. Tison, No. 90179-1 As these provisions show, the purpose of the MHLTA was to encourage longterm leases of at least a year or even longer.. But Western Plaza ignores the differences between the two statutory schemes and simply urges us to apply the general statute of frauds to the MHLTA. Under this analysis, any lease running for more than one year would have to be acknowledged. Requiring acknowledgment does not advance the legislature's intent to protect tenants through long-term leasesit is instead an additional burden that strips away the protections the legislature crafted for mobile home lot tenants. Worse yet, applying the general tenancy statute of frauds, RCW 59.04.01 0, to the MHLTA leads to the conclusion that every MHLTA lease must be acknowledged unless the parties to the lease have agreed in writing to different terms. This result follows from RCW 59.20.090, which provides that every MHLTA lease is for one year unless otherwise specified and that every lease automatically renews unless a party exercises the right to terminate in terms consistent with the MHLTA. Under Washington law, any automatic lease renewal must be added to the term of the lease for determining compliance with the statute of frauds. Danielsen, 24. Wn.2d at 85. Thus, unless otherwise agreed between the parties, a MHLTA lease is for one year and automatically renews, making the lease term longer than one year and triggering the acknowledgement requirement of RCW 59.04.01 0. This cannot have been the intent of the legislature. Indeed, Western Plaza's approach frustrates the legislature's intent to protect tenants in long-term rental agreements by eviscerating the protections of the MHLTA. Such resolution would create uncertainty for mobile home tenants in Washington 14 Western Plaza, LLC v. Tison, No. 90179-1 whose leases are similar to Tison's lea$e. Tison's lease is a standard form lease bearing the legend prepared for use of paid members of MHCW [(the Manufactured Housing Communities of Washington)] by legal counsel- 1997. Clerk's Papers (CP) at 31-32 (formatting omitted). This standard form prepared by industry counsel includes signature blocks for landlord and tenant but not for acknowledgement. /d. Assuming that other landlords used this form or a similar one, Western Plaza's position would enable those landlords to assert the statute of frauds as a defense and invalidate the lease to the detriment of tenants. We cannot reconcile this reading with the purpose of the MHLTA. We hold that the MHLTA statute of frauds, RCW 59.20.060, is the only applicable statute of frauds for a manufactured/mobile home lot lease and that Tison's lease satisfied these statutory requirements. 11