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

What must a mobile home lot lease include in Vermont?

In Vermont, every mobile home park lot lease must be in writing and it must carry all the terms that govern how a resident uses and occupies the lot. Under 10 V.S.A. Section 6236(a), all terms governing use and occupancy of a lot must be contained in a written lease, and those terms must be reasonable and fair. There is no separate rulebook that can live outside the lease. If a rule governs the leaseholder, it belongs in the written lease.

Before a prospect ever commits, you must hand them a copy of the proposed lease. Section 6236(c) requires that prospective leaseholders be furnished a copy of the proposed lease prior to any agreement, and the lease is then signed by both lessor and lessee. Section 6236(e) sets out eight categories of content that every lot lease must contain, ranging from charges to nondiscrimination notices to a flood-hazard disclosure.

One caution before you build your template: Vermont law does not require you to attach a document called a leaseholders bill of rights, and Chapter 153 does not create one. The mandatory disclosures are exactly the items listed in Section 6236(e). Do not represent a nonexistent statutory document as a lease requirement; instead, make sure each Section 6236(e) item is actually present.

The eight required lease contents under Section 6236(e)

Section 6236(e) states that all mobile home lot leases shall contain the following, and operators should treat this as a checklist. First, the rental and utility charges plus any other reasonable incidental service charges. Critically, the statute adds that no charges other than properly disclosed charges for rent, utilities, or other reasonable incidental services may be imposed or collected, so undisclosed or junk fees are not collectible.

Second, the names and addresses of the park owners. Third, a notice that the owner will not discriminate for reasons of race, religious creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, national origin, or because a person receives public assistance. Fourth, a notice that the owner will not discriminate based on age or the presence of minor children, except as permitted under 9 V.S.A. Section 4503; if age restrictions apply to all or part of the park, the specific restrictions and the geographic sections must be documented in the lease.

Fifth, the requirement that a resident obtain the owner's permission before leasing or selling a home or assigning or subleasing a lot lease. Sixth, the notice a leaseholder must give to terminate the lease or occupancy. Seventh, an effective date of the lease. Eighth, a flood-hazard-area notice: if any lot in the park is wholly or partially in a flood hazard area under the effective flood insurance rate map, the lease must include a clear and conspicuous notice in a separate written document, on the model form prescribed by the Department of Housing and Community Development, attached as an addendum to the proposed lease.

Prohibited and unenforceable lease provisions

Vermont voids several categories of lease terms outright, so review your template against each. Under Section 6236(a), any lease term that prohibits or in any manner obstructs a leaseholder's ability to act under Chapter 153 is unenforceable, and any term that is not uniformly applied to leaseholders of the same or a similar category is unenforceable. The only carve-out lets you set a different lot-rent rate for a park, or new lots in an expanded park, built after June 1, 1995.

You cannot make residents waive habitability. Section 6262(c) provides that no rental agreement may contain any provision by which the leaseholder waives the implied warranty of habitability, and any such waiver is contrary to public policy and void. You also cannot force residents to buy from the park. Under Section 6239, a leaseholder may not be restricted in the choice of vendors for goods and services, and while you may contract to supply goods or services, that contract cannot be required as a condition of entrance to the park.

Finally, watch fees. Section 6238(a) prohibits charging an entrance fee for the privilege of leasing or occupying a lot, though a reasonable charge for the fair value of services in placing a home on a lot is allowed. A capped site improvement fee (not exceeding 8,000 dollars) is available only to a qualified park owner, meaning a limited-equity housing cooperative or a qualifying nonprofit. Combined with Section 6236(e)(1), the rule is simple: if a charge is not properly disclosed rent, utilities, or a reasonable incidental service, you cannot collect it.

Rules, amendments, and disclosures you must handle correctly

Because Section 6236(a) folds all use-and-occupancy rules into the written lease and requires them to be reasonable and fair, your park rules effectively are your lease terms. The statute also bars you from restricting Department representatives' access to leaseholders. One targeted allowance: Section 6236(b) says a term requiring removal of a home that is detrimental to other residents for health, safety, or aesthetic reasons is not, by itself, unreasonable or unfair.

When you change the deal, timing is mandatory. Under Section 6236(f), a copy of all new lease terms must be furnished to every leaseholder at least 30 days before the effective date of any amendment, addition, or deletion, and on request you must give a leaseholder a copy of the current lease for their lot. For money, any rental or utility provision is effective for a minimum of one year, and Section 6236(c) requires at least 60 days notice before any rent increase (with additional restrictions tied to park-closure notices).

On disclosures, the two you must not miss are the proposed lease itself, delivered before any agreement under Section 6236(c), and the flood-hazard addendum on the DHCD model form under Section 6236(e)(8) where applicable. Habitability standards themselves are set by DHCD rule under Section 6262(b), and the underlying warranty to deliver and maintain safe, clean, and fit premises runs throughout the tenancy under Section 6262(a).

Lease requirements at a glance in Vermont

• Written lease is mandatory
  All use-and-occupancy terms must be in one written lease that is reasonable and fair, per 10 V.S.A. Section 6236(a).
• Deliver before signing
  Furnish the proposed lease to the prospect before any agreement; both parties sign (Section 6236(c)).
• Eight required contents
  Include charges, owner names and addresses, two nondiscrimination notices, transfer-permission requirement, resident termination notice, effective date, and a flood-hazard notice (Section 6236(e)).
• No undisclosed charges
  Only properly disclosed rent, utilities, or reasonable incidental services may be imposed or collected (Section 6236(e)(1)).
• No entrance fee
  You cannot charge an entrance fee to lease or occupy a lot; a capped site improvement fee is limited to qualified nonprofit or co-op owners (Section 6238).
• No forced vendor purchases
  Residents choose their own vendors; a goods or services contract cannot be a condition of entrance (Section 6239).
• No habitability waiver
  Any term waiving the implied warranty of habitability is void as against public policy (Section 6262(c)).
• Uniform application
  Terms not applied uniformly to similar leaseholders are unenforceable, aside from the post-June-1-1995 lot-rent exception (Section 6236(a)).
• 30-day amendment notice
  Give every leaseholder new lease terms at least 30 days before any amendment, addition, or deletion takes effect (Section 6236(f)).
• 60-day rent-increase notice
  Provide at least 60 days notice before any rent increase; rental and utility terms hold for at least one year (Section 6236(c)).

Operator best practices in Vermont

• Turn Section 6236(e) into a template checklist
  Map each of the eight required contents to a labeled clause so no mandatory item is ever omitted from a lease.
• Audit for prohibited terms
  Strike any habitability waiver, forced-vendor clause, entrance fee, undisclosed charge, or non-uniform term before a lease is offered.
• Keep flood-hazard disclosures current
  Check the effective FIRM for each lot and attach the DHCD model-form flood notice as a separate, conspicuous addendum whenever any lot is in a flood hazard area.
• Document delivery and signatures
  Record that the proposed lease was furnished before agreement and that both parties signed, satisfying Section 6236(c) and creating an evidentiary trail.
• Calendar the notice windows
  Track the 30-day amendment window and the 60-day rent-increase window so every change is delivered on time and in writing.
• Provide copies on request
  Honor a leaseholder's request for a current copy of the lease for their lot, as Section 6236(f) requires.
• Apply terms uniformly
  Use one consistent lease and fee schedule across similar leaseholders, relying only on the narrow statutory exceptions where they genuinely apply.
• Build a relationship with a Vermont MHP attorney
  Have qualified Vermont counsel who knows 10 V.S.A. Chapter 153 review your lease template and any amendment before rollout; this guidance is not legal advice.