Massachusetts Mobile Home Park Lease Law: What Operators Need to Include

What must a mobile home lot lease include in Massachusetts?

If you operate a manufactured (mobile) home community in Massachusetts, the lot lease is tightly regulated by the Manufactured Housing Act, M.G.L. c.140 Sections 32A-32S, and by the Attorney General regulations at 940 CMR 10.00. Those rules control what your occupancy agreement must say, how you disclose fees, which community rules you can enforce, and which practices are prohibited outright. Getting the paperwork right is not optional: a violation is an unfair or deceptive act under M.G.L. c.93A, which exposes you to multiple damages and attorney fees.

At a minimum, a Massachusetts lot lease must be in writing, disclose the rent and an itemized list of every charge or fee, name the community owners, and incorporate the community rules. You must also make a good-faith offer of a five-year lease to each new tenant. Any fee you fail to itemize in the written agreement cannot later be collected.

The written occupancy agreement and fee disclosure in Massachusetts

Under M.G.L. c.140 Section 32P, all terms and conditions of occupancy must be fully disclosed in writing to any prospective resident at a reasonable time prior to the rental or occupancy of a manufactured home lot. That disclosure must include the amount of rent, an itemized list of any charges or fees, the names and addresses of all the owners of the community, and the rules and regulations governing use of the lot and community.

Section 32P also requires you to make a bona fide, good-faith offer to each new tenant of a rental agreement with a term of five years at fair market rental rates. You cannot quietly substitute a month-to-month or one-year lease for that offer, although the tenant is free to decline it.

The Attorney General regulation reinforces this. 940 CMR 10.03 requires the written disclosures to be delivered at least 72 hours before either the signing of the occupancy agreement or the start of the new occupancy, and it bars you from seeking to recover any fee or charge that is not separately listed in the occupancy agreement. Practical takeaway: itemize every charge (water, sewer, trash, utilities, late fees) line by line, or you forfeit the right to collect it.

Community rules must be reasonable and part of the agreement in Massachusetts

Your community rules are enforceable only if they are reasonable and properly adopted. M.G.L. c.140 Section 32L lets you promulgate rules governing the rental or occupancy of a manufactured home site, but provides that no such rule shall be unreasonable, unfair or unconscionable. 940 CMR 10.04 requires rules to be in writing, reasonably related to a permissible purpose, and applied in a nondiscriminatory manner.

Before you adopt or change any rule, Section 32L requires you to send the new rules to the Attorney General and the Secretary at least sixty days before the effective date, and to furnish a copy to each resident at least thirty days before the effective date. Skipping either step makes the rule unenforceable.

Section 32L is explicit that any rule or condition of occupancy which is unfair or deceptive or which does not conform to the requirements of the section shall be unenforceable. Charging a rent increase or penalty under an unapproved rule invites a c.93A claim.

Prohibited and unfair practices under 940 CMR 10.03 in Massachusetts

The Attorney General regulation lists practices you must avoid. You may not charge any entrance or exit fee for assuming or leaving occupancy, and you may not charge a fee for costs associated with the processing of any residency application, which includes credit-check costs. Guest fees are barred except as specifically allowed.

You also cannot force residents to buy from you. M.G.L. c.140 Section 32L prohibits any condition of occupancy that would restrict the resident in his choice of a seller of fuel, furnishings, goods, services or accessories. In practice that means no requiring residents to purchase their home, propane, skirting, or lawn service through the community.

Occupancy decisions may not discriminate on protected grounds, including race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, ancestry, marital or familial status, veteran status, or disability. Every violation of the Act or 940 CMR 10.00 is an unfair or deceptive practice under M.G.L. c.93A Section 2, so treat these as hard compliance obligations, not guidelines.

Lease requirements at a glance in Massachusetts

• Written agreement required
  Disclose all terms and conditions of occupancy in writing before move-in (M.G.L. c.140 Section 32P).
• Itemize every fee
  Rent and each charge must be separately listed; a fee not itemized in the agreement is uncollectible (940 CMR 10.03).
• 72-hour disclosure
  Deliver the written disclosures at least 72 hours before signing or the start of occupancy (940 CMR 10.03).
• Five-year lease offer
  Make a bona fide, good-faith five-year lease offer to each new tenant at fair market rent (Section 32P).
• Reasonable rules only
  Community rules must be in writing, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (Section 32L; 940 CMR 10.04).
• Rule-change notice
  Give 60 days notice to the Attorney General and Secretary and 30 days to residents before any rule change (Section 32L).
• No entrance, exit, or application fees
  Entrance/exit fees and residency-application or credit-check fees are prohibited (940 CMR 10.03).
• No forced purchases
  You cannot restrict a resident choice of seller of fuel, goods, or services (Section 32L).
• c.93A exposure
  Any violation of the Act or 940 CMR 10.00 is an unfair or deceptive act carrying multiple-damages risk.

Operator best practices in Massachusetts

• Use a compliant written template
  Maintain a single written occupancy agreement that itemizes rent and every fee and incorporates the current approved community rules.
• Pre-approve rules before enforcing
  Submit new or changed rules to the Attorney General and Secretary and wait out the 60-day and 30-day notice periods before enforcing them.
• Time your disclosures
  Deliver the full written disclosure packet at least 72 hours before signing or move-in and keep proof of delivery.
• Run a periodic fee audit
  Confirm every charge you bill appears as a line item in the agreement; stop billing, or add-disclose, anything that does not.
• Document the five-year lease offer
  Put the good-faith five-year lease offer in writing and record the tenant acceptance or declination.
• Train staff on prohibited fees
  Ensure office staff never charge entrance, exit, application, or credit-check fees or steer residents to your own vendors.
• Keep the Attorney General Guide on hand
  Reference the Attorney General Guide to Manufactured Housing Community Law and make sure residents receive the required disclosures and a copy of the community rules.
• Build a relationship with a Massachusetts MHP attorney
  Have counsel experienced in M.G.L. c.140 Sections 32A-32S and 940 CMR 10.00 review your agreement, rules, and rule-change notices before you use them.