Massachusetts Mobile Home Park Eviction Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

Evicting a lot tenant for nonpayment of rent

A Massachusetts manufactured housing community is not an ordinary rental. Your resident owns the home and rents only the lot, so lot evictions run under the Manufactured Housing Act, M.G.L. c.140 §§32A–32S — not just the general landlord-tenant statutes. Under §32J, nonpayment of rent is a valid ground, but you cannot use the ordinary 14-day notice-to-quit shortcut that applies to apartments.

For nonpayment, §32J requires you to serve at least thirty days' written notice, delivered by certified or registered mail, stating the reasons for termination. The notice must tell the resident they have fifteen days from the date of the mailing of the notice in which to pay the overdue rent. If the resident pays the overdue lot rent within that window, the tenancy continues and you cannot proceed. This is more protective than the general c.186 §12 14-day notice to quit, so always use the §32J procedure in a community.

Keep the notice clean: it may demand unpaid lot rent only — not late fees, utility charges, constable fees, or attorney's costs. Save your certified or registered mailing receipts. Defective or improperly mailed notice is the single most common reason manufactured-housing nonpayment cases get dismissed at the courthouse.

Other grounds for eviction

§32J lets you terminate a lot tenancy only for one or more enumerated reasons. Beyond nonpayment, those are: a substantial violation of any enforceable rule of the manufactured housing community; a violation of any laws or ordinances which protect the health or safety of other residents; a good-faith discontinuance of the use of part or all of the land as a community; and, for an existing tenancy at will, creating a new tenancy at an increased rent. There is no no-cause or end-of-term eviction of a lot tenant in Massachusetts.

A rule violation alone is not enough — it must be substantial, meaning it endangers health or safety, unreasonably interferes with other residents' use and quiet enjoyment, or damages (or risks damaging) property. Serve the same 30-day certified or registered mail notice and give the resident 15 days to cure the violation.

You only have to give one cure notice for the same substantial violation within a six-month period. If that same substantial violation (anything other than nonpayment) recurs within six months, §32J lets you proceed without further notice or opportunity to cure. Note that the rules you enforce must actually be enforceable and disclosed — the Attorney General's regulations at 940 CMR 10 govern your community rules and require a bona fide, good-faith offer of a five-year occupancy agreement at fair-market rent.

Filing the eviction: summary process

Once the §32J notice period has run and the resident has not cured, you recover possession the same way as any Massachusetts eviction: a summary process action under M.G.L. c.239. 940 CMR 10.08 confirms the community owner may seek to recover possession of the manufactured home site by summary process under M.G.L. c.239, and the resident may raise all rights and defenses at the hearing.

File in the Housing Court for the community's location — Housing Court hears these cases statewide — or in the District Court or Boston Municipal Court for that area. Summary process moves quickly on paper, but budget for weeks to a few months in practice once you account for the answer, possible discovery, mediation, and any resident defenses.

If your community sits in one of the few Massachusetts municipalities with a local rent-control or eviction board, 940 CMR 10 bars you from even applying for a certificate of eviction except on a §32J ground — and a certificate issued on any other basis has no legal effect in the later summary process case.

The resident owns the home: sale in place and removal

This is the biggest difference from an apartment eviction: even after you win possession of the lot, the resident still owns the physical home sitting on it. §32J gives an evicted resident one hundred and twenty days after such eviction in which to sell the resident's manufactured home, and the resident stays responsible for lot rent and upkeep during that period.

During that 120-day window, 940 CMR 10.08 forbids you from cutting or interfering with utilities or having the home moved, and 940 CMR 10.03 bars you from unreasonably restricting for-sale signs or showings to prospective buyers. You cannot engineer a failed in-place resale just to clear the lot. In practice most operators reach a negotiated resolution far faster and cheaper than fighting over a stranded home.

If the resident cannot sell and abandons the home, do not resort to self-help. Moving, disabling, or disposing of the home without following the statutory abandonment and lien procedures exposes you to Attorney General enforcement and damages. Confirm the correct process with counsel before you touch the home.

Typical timeline in Massachusetts

• 30-day termination notice
  §32J requires at least 30 days' written notice by certified or registered mail stating the specific reason for termination.
• 15-day right to cure
  The resident has 15 days from the date of mailing to pay the overdue rent or cure a substantial violation; a timely cure stops the eviction.
• File summary process
  After the notice and cure period expire without a cure, file a c.239 summary process case in Housing Court (or District/Boston Municipal Court).
• Court to judgment
  Entry, the resident's answer, and possible discovery or mediation typically run several weeks to a few months depending on defenses.
• Execution plus 120-day sale
  After judgment and issuance of the execution, the resident still has 120 days to sell the home in place; utilities and the home must remain.

Operator best practices in Massachusetts

• Use the §32J notice, not a generic one
  Serve at least 30 days by certified or registered mail, state the exact reason, and grant the 15-day cure — generic 14-day notices get MHP cases dismissed.
• Demand only lot rent
  A nonpayment notice may seek unpaid lot rent alone; leaving out late fees and other charges keeps the notice valid.
• Keep enforceable, disclosed rules
  Only substantial rule violations support eviction, and 940 CMR 10 requires proper rules plus a bona fide five-year occupancy agreement offer.
• Protect the 120-day sale window
  Leave utilities on, allow for-sale signs and showings, and never move or disable the home during the resident's right-to-sell period.
• Document everything
  Save certified mailing receipts, dated notices, rule-violation evidence, and rent ledgers — this paper trail wins or loses the summary process hearing.
• Consider cash-for-keys
  A negotiated cash-for-keys buyout is common market practice and often clears a stranded home faster and cheaper than litigation.
• Build a relationship with a Massachusetts MHP attorney
  Manufactured-housing law and any local rent-control overlay are technical and strongly pro-resident — retain counsel who handles c.140 §32J cases before you file.