(a) Refusal of manufactured home resident to pay space rent. A manufactured home resident may refuse to pay any space rent which is in violation of this chapter. Such a violation shall be a defense in any action brought to recover possession of manufactured home space or to collect the illegally charged space rent.
(b) Restraining or enjoining violations. The city of Woodland, manufactured home residents thereof, or manufactured home park owners therefore, may seek relief from the appropriate court to restrain or enjoin any violation of this chapter or the rules and regulations or decisions of the commission.
(c) Suspension of provisions.
(1) The provisions of this chapter shall remain in full force and effect unless and until the space vacancy rate of all manufactured home parks regulated hereunder, except as provided below, exceeds five percent. The space vacancy rate shall be calculated by dividing the total number of rental spaces in the applicable parks into the total number of such spaces, which are not occupied by manufactured homes. Parks which have not been in operation for more than two years from the date of occupancy of the first manufactured home, not including manufactured homes occupied by park owners or employees thereof, shall not be included in the vacancy calculation.
(2) Upon recognition by the city council by resolution that the vacancy rate exceeds five percent, the provisions of this chapter shall be suspended. The provisions shall be automatically re-instituted upon the adoption of a resolution by the city council declaring the vacancy rate to be five percent or less.
(d) Civil Code Section 798.17 exemption.
(1) Rental agreements between a park owner and resident, which meet the criteria of Civil Code Section 798.17, are exempt from the rental rate restrictions of this chapter.
(2) For all such rental agreements which expire, the last monthly rental rate charged under the rental agreement shall be the space rent ceiling used to calculate the annual adjustment for that space.
(3) Any other provision or agreement, whether oral or written, in or pertaining to a rental agreement whereby any provision of this chapter or decision or regulation of the commission for the benefit of a resident is waived shall be deemed to be against public policy and shall be void.
(e) Severability. If any provision or clause of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional or to be otherwise invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity shall not affect other chapter provisions or clauses or applications thereof, which can be implemented without the invalid provision or clause or application; and to this end the provision and clauses of this chapter are declared to be severable.
(f) Subpoenas. The city council may issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses and/or the production of books or other documents necessary for evidence of testimony in any action or proceeding before the commission upon request by the commission. Said subpoenas shall be signed by the mayor or his or her designated substitute and attested by the city clerk. Failure to comply with such a subpoena shall result in contempt proceedings under Government Code Sections 37106 through 37109.
(g) Violation of chapter prohibited. No person, as defined in Chapter 1 of the city code, shall own, operate or manage any manufactured home park, as defined in Section 16B-2, in violation of any provision of this chapter. Violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable as provided in the city code.
(h) Anti-discrimination clause. It is unlawful for a mobile home park owner, or any agent or representative of the owner, to discriminate against any tenant because of the tenants exercise of any rights under this chapter. It is also unlawful for any mobile home park owner, or any agent or representative of the owner, to discriminate against any purchaser or prospective purchaser of a mobile home because of the purchasers or prospective purchasers choice to enter into a rental agreement subject to the provisions of this chapter.
(i) Remedies. All remedies set forth in this chapter shall be cumulative and nonexclusive.
(j) Repeal. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, the city council may, without voter approval, repeal this entire chapter by a majority vote of its members upon a finding that less than fifty manufactured home park spaces within the city of Woodland are subject to the space rent ceiling. (Ord. No. 1362, § 1 (part).)