Court Opinion

ID: 9767148
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:11:22.9782+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:28.965201
License: Public Domain

DEL SOLE, Judge:
The issue presented is whether the provisions of the Mobile Home Park Rights Act (MHPRA), 1976 Nov. 24 P.L. 1176 No. 261, apply to a mobile home park owner who seeks possession of a leased space following expiration of a lease term, or whether that owner may follow the procedures contained in The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 as amended, 68 P.S. § 250.101 et seq.
Appellant is the owner of a mobile-home park, known as Denny Estates. Appellees are owners of a mobile home who leased lot # 20 in the Appellant’s park. The term of the lease was for three years and nine months, and the lease expired on *421April 30, 1993. By written notice to quit, dated January 25, 1993, Appellant advised Appellees that their existing lease would “not be extended or renewed under any circumstances” and would be terminated on May 1, 1993. On May 3, 1993, Appellant brought an action to obtain possession before a District Justice. A judgment was entered in favor of Appellees, and Appellant appealed to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. A Board of Arbitrators entered an award in favor of Appellees. Appellant again appealed for a de novo nonjury trial. The parties agreed to submit the case on stipulated facts, and the court decided the matter in favor of Appellees.
Appellant argues that when a park tenant’s term has expired, a mobile home park owner is entitled to recover possession of the leased premises. Appellant reasons that the requirements of the MHPRA apply only during the term of the lease and after its expiration the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act govern with respect to recovery of possession. We agree and reverse.
We begin our analysis by reviewing cases previously decided by this court. We note that the cases draw a distinction between ejectment and eviction. We discussed ejectment in Childs Instant Homes, Inc. v. Miller, 416 Pa.Super. 602, 611 A.2d 1208 (1992) appeal denied, 533 Pa. 605, 618 A.2d 397, in which we upheld a park owner’s right to obtain possession of the leased premises following expiration of the lease. We specifically rejected the arguments of the tenants that the MHPRA established an exclusive scheme for landlords to recover possession. Rather, we determined that the Act does not apply following the expiration of the lease.
The trial court in this case cited to Childs but held that it required a park owner at the expiration of a lease term to proffer a new lease that complies with the act. The trial court determined that only after such an offer has been rejected and the mobile home owner refuses to leave, is the park owner permitted to begin proceedings pursuant to the Landlord and Tenant Act to recover possession. The trial court erred in *422concluding that a new lease must be proffered. While a new lease was offered in Childs, the making of such an offer is not a requirement of the Act. The Act is silent as to what occurs with a tenant whose lease has expired.
The Mobile Home Park Rights Act, 1976, Nov. 24 P.L. 1176, No. 261 § 1; 68 P.S. § 398.1 et seq. specifies the circumstances under which a mobile home park resident may be evicted. Section 398.3(a) states:
A mobile home resident shall only be evicted for any of the following reasons:
(1) Nonpayment of rent.
(2) A second or subsequent violation of the rules of the mobile home park occurring within a six-month period.
(3) If there is a change in use of the park land or parts thereof.
(4) Termination of mobile home park.
In addition, under section (b) which sets forth the procedure for evicting a mobile home resident, the owner is required to notify the resident of the particular breach or violation of the lease. Our reading of the statute leads us to conclude that the Act applies only when a lease is in effect. Childs reaffirms our ruling that the provisions in the MHPRA apply only to evictions under a leasehold. A landlord has a right to eject a tenant once the lease has expired.
The trial court in this case also relied on Malvern Courts, Inc. v. Stephens, 275 Pa.Super. 518, 419 A.2d 21 (1980). Malvern, however, concerned an eviction, not an ejectment. In Malvern, an eviction was sought during the term of the lease for one of the reasons enumerated under the MHPRA. The eviction was disallowed because the notice requirements of the MHPRA were not met. The protection referred to in Malvern applies only during the lease term and offers more protection to mobile-home park tenants than that offered by the Landlord Tenant Act. Malvern adds nothing to the argument about whether the MHPRA applies after the lease term has expired. The court in Malvern spent considerable time in discussing the intention of the legislature in promul*423gating the Act. While we agree that the legislation was designed to provide protection to mobile home owners in order to prevent arbitrary evictions at substantial expense to park residents, we note that this only pertains to situations arising during the lease term.
Appellees’ lease, in the instant case, had expired. Appellant was not evicting the resident, which would require the protection provided by the Act, but was ejecting the resident because a lease no longer existed. Therefore, the Landlord’s rights of possession in the instant case was covered by the Landlord Tenant Act, and Appellant, Landlord, is entitled to recover possession of said premises. Because there was no lease, Appellant in this present action is not bound by the MHPRA, and the verdict entered in favor of Appellees is not proper and must be reversed.
Order reversed and judgment entered in favor of Appellant. Jurisdiction relinquished.
BROSKY, J., files a concurring opinion.