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

What must a mobile home lot lease include in Oklahoma?

Oklahoma has no separate mobile home park or manufactured home community tenancy act. Do not rely on any citation to 41 O.S. Sections 201-231 or an Oklahoma Manufactured Home Park Landlord-Tenant Act, that citation is fabricated and circulates in secondary sources. Title 41's Residential Act runs from Section 101 to Section 136, and the only section in the 200s, Section 201, deals with felony-conviction lease conditions on income-tax-credit properties, not mobile home parks.

Instead, a lot lease for a manufactured or mobile home is governed by the general Oklahoma Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, 41 O.S. Section 101 and following. That is because Section 102 defines dwelling unit to include any site, space or lot leased to the owner or resident of a manufactured or mobile home. In plain terms: when you rent the pad or lot to a homeowner, the same Act that governs apartment leases governs you.

The Act does not spell out a long checklist of mandatory lease clauses. It works mostly by prohibiting certain provisions, requiring one written disclosure about flooding, regulating how you hold the security deposit, and supplying default rules that fill gaps when the lease is silent. Everything else in the lot lease is contractual.

The rental agreement and its prohibited provisions (41 O.S. Sections 113 and 113a)

Under Section 113 your lot lease may set the rent, term, and community rules, but it may not include five categories of provisions: a waiver of any right or remedy under the Act; a clause authorizing confession of judgment; an agreement that the tenant pays your attorney's fees; any exculpation, limitation, or indemnification of your own liability for injuries to persons or property; or an agreement to a lien except as allowed by the Act. Section 113(B) makes any such provision unenforceable, so putting it in the lease gains you nothing and signals a non-compliant template.

Section 113a adds a mandatory disclosure: if the lot or premises has flooded within the past five years and you know it, you must state that fact prominently and in writing in the written rental agreement. Failing to disclose exposes you to a damages claim from the tenant.

Security deposits (41 O.S. Section 115)

Oklahoma sets no dollar or monthly cap on how much deposit you can collect, but Section 115 controls how you handle it. Any damage or security deposit must be kept in an escrow account for the tenant, maintained in Oklahoma with a federally insured financial institution.

At move-out you must return the balance, without interest, within thirty days after termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, and the tenant's written demand. The tenant may not apply the deposit to the last month's rent, and if the tenant never demands it within six months after the tenancy ends, the deposit reverts to you.

What is left to the lease (contractual terms)

Because there is no mobile-home-park-specific code, the substance of the lot lease is contractual, subject only to the Section 113 prohibitions, the Section 113a flood disclosure, and general contract law. That includes the rent amount and any escalators, park rules and enforcement, utilities and submetering, who maintains the pad versus the home, transfer or resale of the home on the lot, guest and pet rules, and grounds and notice for termination.

Section 109 supplies defaults only where the lease is silent: fair rental value if no rent is fixed, and monthly rent due at the start of each month. Termination and notice defaults for periodic tenancies also come from the general Act (for example, thirty days' written notice for a month-to-month tenancy), so state your term and notice terms expressly rather than leaving them to the default.

Lease requirements at a glance in Oklahoma

• No mobile home park act
  Oklahoma has no dedicated MHP tenancy statute; the general Oklahoma Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, 41 O.S. Section 101 and following, governs lot leases.
• '41 O.S. 201-231' is fabricated
  There is no such mobile home park act. The Residential Act is Sections 101-136; the only Section 201 covers felony-conviction lease conditions on tax-credit properties.
• Lots are covered dwelling units
  Section 102 defines dwelling unit to include any site, space or lot leased to a manufactured or mobile home owner or resident.
• Five prohibited clauses
  Section 113 voids waivers of Act rights, confession-of-judgment, shifting your attorney's fees to the tenant, landlord self-exculpation, and non-statutory liens.
• Flood disclosure required
  Section 113a requires prominent written disclosure if the premises flooded within the past five years and you know it.
• Deposit handling, not amount
  Section 115 sets no cap but requires escrow in an Oklahoma insured institution, return within thirty days of move-out plus written demand, and no last-month application.

Operator best practices in Oklahoma

• Do not cite a phantom statute
  Never reference 41 O.S. 201-231 or a Manufactured Home Park Act in Oklahoma leases or notices; rely on 41 O.S. Section 101 and following.
• Strip prohibited clauses
  Audit your lot-lease template against Section 113 and remove confession-of-judgment, tenant-pays-your-fees, self-exculpation, and rights-waiver language.
• Disclose flooding in writing
  If the pad or lot flooded within five years and you know it, state it prominently in the written lease as required by Section 113a.
• Run deposits by the book
  Hold deposits in an Oklahoma escrow account at an insured institution and return the balance within thirty days of termination, possession, and written demand.
• Define term and notice clearly
  Because the Act supplies gap-filling defaults, state the rent, term, and termination notice expressly so the thirty-day month-to-month default does not apply by surprise.
• Build a relationship with an Oklahoma MHP attorney
  With no MHP-specific code, more rides on contract drafting and general Title 41 rules; have Oklahoma counsel review your community lease and park rules.