46:8C-3. Sale of mobile home within park; notice to and approval by owner or operator

a. No mobile home park shall deny any resident of such mobile home park the right to sell said resident's mobile home within the park or require the resident to remove the mobile home from the park solely on the basis of the sale thereof. The park may reserve the right to approve the purchaser of said mobile home as a tenant, but such permission may not be unreasonably withheld and the park shall not exact a commission or fee with respect to the price realized by the seller unless the park owner or operator has acted as agent for the mobile home owner in the sale pursuant to a written contract.

When a resident of the park plans to sell his home, he shall give written notice to the park owner or operator. Before a home in the park may be sold, the seller shall provide the buyer with an application for park tenancy, which shall be returned to the park owner or operator by the prospective buyer in person. On the private sale of a mobile home, failure to comply with the application procedure as described, before any sales agreement is entered into, shall absolve the park owner or operator from the requirements of Sec. 2e and 2d, and Sec. 4 of this act. The preceding is not applicable if a buyer plans to immediately remove a home from the park. Either a mobile home owner, mobile home purchaser or park owner or operator aggrieved by the failure of any person to comply with the provisions of this section may seek damages and reasonable costs and attorneys fees in a complaint, cross-claim, or third party complaint in a court of competent jurisdiction.

b. No contract for the sale of a mobile home, where the buyer and the seller intend the mobile home remain in the park, shall be valid unless the seller has advised the purchaser, in writing, of the park owner or operator's right to approve the purchaser as provided for in this section.

c. If the mobile home park owner or operator shall unreasonably withhold approval of a purchaser of a mobile home as a tenant, either the mobile home owner who is selling or the intended purchaser of the mobile home may institute an action in the Superior Court. A plaintiff who shall recover a judgment in any such action shall be awarded all damages proximately caused by the unreasonable refusal of the mobile home park owner or operator to approve the sale together with the costs of the action and reasonable attorneys' fees. In any such action the court shall also be empowered to order the admission of the purchaser of the mobile home to the mobile home park.

L.1973, c. 153, s. 3. Amended by L.1977, c. 350, s. 2, eff. Jan. 30, 1978.