PARK UTILITY COSTS
Q. Utility bills charged to residents in our park have skyrocketed recently and the local utility says park residents are not their customers and we can only speak to the park owner or management. Is there any recourse for utility overcharges in mobilehome parks?
A. Most parks are so-called “master-meter” operators, which own, operate and maintain the electric, gas and water distribution system within the park and bill their residents with the monthly rent statement. Although under the Public Utilities Code master-meter customers are supposed to charge no more than the serving utility, like Edison, would charge a resident, including passing on any low-income rebates or discounts, such as “CARE,” enforcement is somewhat lacking. Residents can call County Weights and Measures (W&M) to have them check the accuracy of their meters and assure they have been sealed. Some W&M offices are willing to look into billing complaints, such as failure to provide proper billings or post rates, but most only check the accuracy of the meters. SB 1163 (Dunn, 2004) required the CPUC to take informal complaints from master-meter customers (park residents) and that the names and phone numbers of private billing agents be disclosed by the management in the master-meter billings to individual residents. The CPUC often refers these complaints to the serving utility to work out with the park management. The process can often be lengthy with mixed results. Lastly, if a resident can document errors in his/her billings, or refusal of the park to apply the proper gas or electric rate, or CARE or other discount, the resident can seek damages in Small Claims Court.
SEPARATING CHARGES
Q. On last month’s billing, the park suddenly started charging us for sewer, water and garbage previously included in the rent. Can the park impose these extra charges on top of the rent?
A. It depends on your rental agreement. If your rental agreement provides that sewer, water and garbage were included in the rent, the park management can then itemize or charge you separately for these utilities only if they follow the requirements of MRL Section 798.41. Otherwise they may be in breach of the rental agreement. This section requires that they simultaneously deduct the average monthly amount of these utility charges from the rent when they itemize and charge you separately for them. If the management refuses to deduct the charges from the rent, you should then pay the amount under protest and seek redress in the courts. This is the type of issue where it is advantageous to have a homeowners’ association help in seeking legal action on behalf of a group of homeowners all facing the same problem. If your rental agreement does not indicate that these charges are included in the rent, then the park owner could charge you for them but only after complying with the 60-day written notice requirement of Section 798.32.
PARK CABLE TV OR COMMON ANTENNA SYSTEM FEES
Q. We are paying a monthly fee to the park for cable TV. Because quality is poor we wish to discontinue the park’s cable system and subscribe independently to satellite with our own roof antenna. But park rules prohibit antennas on homes, and the manager says that in any case we have to pay for the park’s cable TV system whether we use it or not. Is this true?
A. Yes and No. It depends on the circumstances. The Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL Sections 798.31 and 798.32) provides that the park can charge a fee for services actually rendered with a 60-day notice if it is not already provided for in the rental agreement. If you have signed a long-term lease, as opposed to a month-to-month rental agreement, agreeing to pay the fee, you may be obligated to continue to pay it until the end of the term of the lease. But a 1997 California appellate case, Greening v. Johnson, held that cable TV is not an essential utility and a park cannot charge a resident a fee for such a service not actually used by the resident. Moreover, the Telecommunication Act of 1996 provides that community rules and regulations or local ordinances cannot prohibit the installation of a dish antenna on one’s home or property if it is not more than 39 inches in diameter and does not constitute a health and safety problem. Park rules can regulate placement or design of the antenna on the home if reasonable (e.g. rules don’t preclude acceptable reception) but cannot ban satellite antennas outright.
WATER CHARGES IN PARK
Q. Despite the fact we are not using any more water than usual and what little landscaping we have is served by a drip system, our water bills for sub-metered water in the park have increased significantly in the last two months. How do we find out whether we are being overcharged?
A. If you have metered water, compare your most recent bills with previous bills to determine whether your usage or the rate applied against the volume of water used has changed and is accurately calculated. If not, you should contact the management. Parks are supposed to itemize this information on your billing as well as post the utility rates in a conspicuous public place in the park. If the park cannot give you any answers or help, call the County Sealer (Weights and Measures) and ask them to check the accuracy of your meter. You may also wish to check to make sure there are no plumbing leaks under your home or in your fixtures of which you are not aware. But if none of these steps resolve the problem, you may also file a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) about rate issues and overcharges but only if the park receives water from a water utility or supplier regulated by the CPUC. If water is CPUC regulated, the end customer (park resident) may only be charged a water rate that the regulated utility would be able to charge residents if they were served directly by the utility. This would include a usage or volumetric rate and a customer service charge (meter reading and service). However, the majority of parks are not served by regulated water utilities but by municipalities, water districts, utility districts, or even the park’s own water well system, and are not really regulated by the CPUC. One exception is that the CPUC may take complaints from residents of parks about service or rates charged by parks using their own water systems or underground wells or, if the park is subject to local mobilehome park rent control, rent control authorities may be able to provide some relief depending upon how the rent ordinance is written or administered. Otherwise, the resident would have to complain to the appropriate governing board of the municipality, water or utility district actually furnishing water to the park or consider filing a civil action in small claims court when bill calculations are obviously incorrect. In a civil action, generally speaking, even for non-CPUC regulated water, the most reasonable rate – though not legally required – would be the same rate that could be charged in a CPUC regulated case – i.e. the same rates that any other residential customer in the jurisdiction would be charged (volumetric rate plus a customer charge) if served by the municipality, water district, or utility directly.
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