The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part of the
legislative instrument, were prepared by Michael Bell.
DIGEST
SB 228 Original 2017 Regular Session Barrow
Proposed law creates the "East Baton Rouge Parish Mobile Home Park Safety Act".
Proposed law provides for an owner to operate a mobile home park within East Baton Rogue Parish,
he must first obtain an occupational permit, which shall be issued on an annual basis, and expire on
December 31 of each year, and must be renewed annually. The cost of the permit is to be determined
by the governing authority of East Baton Rouge Parish.
Proposed law requires that the occupational permits must be posted in the main office of each mobile
home park, or if the mobile home park does not have a main office, the permit must be posted in a
protected area near the entrance of the mobile home park.
Proposed law requires the owner or operator of a mobile home park to be responsible for operating
and maintaining the mobile home park in accordance with all applicable laws.
Proposed law requires the owner or operator of each mobile home park to post, at the main entrance
to the mobile home park a chart or map designating and depicting the location of each lot within the
mobile home park, by lot number. Proposed law further requires the owner or operator to maintain
a current record of all mobile home owners and/or occupants of the mobile home park. The records
shall contain the make, model, and year of each mobile home and the lot number which it occupies,
and the name of owner or occupant each mobile home within the mobile home park.
Proposed law provides for every mobile home lot located within the parish to be equipped with
adequate foundations and tiedowns to secure such mobile home against movement, settling, and
overturning. Proposed law further provides that it is the responsibility of the mobile home park
owner or operator to notify tenants of the foundation and tiedown requirements and should the tenant
refuse to comply with such requirements, it shall be the responsibility of the owner or operator to
notify the governing authority of East Baton Rouge of such refusal.
Proposed law requires all owners and managers, whether corporation, partnership or individual
owners, of mobile home parks to erect a sign designating the name and address of the mobile home
park.
Proposed law authorizes the public authority to enforce health, safety and welfare statutes or
ordinances to eliminate blighted property, unsafe structures and equipment, unlawful structures and
structures unfit for human occupancy, housing violations, or public nuisances in any court of
competent jurisdiction in accordance with law.
Proposed law provides for the following definitions: (1)"Blighted property" means residential premises, including lots, which are vacant,
uninhabitable, and hazardous and because of their physical condition are considered
hazardous to persons or property or have been declared or certified blighted and have been
declared to be a public nuisance by a court of competent jurisdiction or by an administrative
hearing officer acting pursuant to competent jurisdiction, or any other applicable law.
(2)"Deleterious premises" means any property, including any yard, garden, outhouse, accessory
structures and appurtenances upon which is located any structure which is deemed an "unsafe
structure", an "unlawful structure", a "structure unfit for human occupancy", or a structure
that contains "unsafe equipment" or "housing violations", or is otherwise defined as "blighted
property," or a "public nuisance".
(3)"Housing violations" means those conditions in privately owned structures which contravene
the provisions of state statute or local ordinances and are determined to constitute a threat
or danger to the public health, safety, and welfare or to the environment by a court of
competent jurisdiction or any other applicable law.
(4)"Manufactured home" and "manufactured housing" means a structure designed for human
habitation that is a factory-built, residential dwelling unit constructed to standards and codes,
as promulgagted by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD), under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act
of 1974, 42 U.S.C. ยง5401 et seq., as amended. Further, the terms "manufactured home" and
manufactured housing" may be used interchangeable and apply to structures bearing the
permanently affixed seal of the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development or to factory-built, residential dwellings that are mounted on a chassis.
(5)"Mobile home" means a structure designed for human habitation that is a factory-built,
residential dwelling unit built to voluntary standards prior to the passage of the National
Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974. This term includes
and is interchangeable with the term "house trailer", but does not include the term
"manufactured home", as only manufacture homes are built to federal construction standards.
It does not include recreational vehicles or travel trailers.
(6)"Mobile home park" means any parcel or tract of land where two or more lots are rented or
leased or held out for rent or lease to accommodate manufactured homes or mobile homes
used for human habitation. The term includes a parcel of land for rent either to persons
owning their own mobile homes or for rent by the owner or operator who rents a mobile
home and lot as a unit.
(7)"Owner" or "operator" means an owner or manager of a mobile home park or an agent or
representative authorized to act on his behalf in connection with matters relating to a tenancy
in the park.
(8)"Public authority" means state or local government or any department, agency, or branch
thereof charged with the enforcement of health, fire, permitting, or building regulations, or otherwise charged with the regulation of activities concerning property maintenance.
(9)"Public nuisance" means any garage, shed, barn, house, building, or structure that by reason
of the condition in which it is permitted to remain may endanger the health, life, limb, or
property of any person, or cause any hurt, harm, damages, injury, or loss to any person in any
one or more of the following conditions:
(a)The property is dilapidated, decayed, unsafe, or unsanitary, is detrimental to health,
morals, safety, public welfare and the well-being of the community, endangers life
or property, or is conducive to ill health, delinquency, and crime.
(b)The property is a fire hazard.
(c)The conditions present on the property and its surrounding grounds are not
reasonably or adequately maintained, thereby causing deterioration and creating a
blighting influence or condition on nearby properties and thereby depreciating the
value, use, and enjoyment to such an extent that it is harmful to the public health,
welfare, morals, safety and the economic stability of the area, community, or
neighborhood in which such public nuisance is located.
(10)"Public officer" means any public officer, public employee, or agent authorized by the state
or local government to exercise the powers prescribed in the laws and ordinances governed
by the provisions of proposed law.
(11)"Unfit for human occupancy structure" means any structure which is an unsafe structure or
an unlawful structure or otherwise is in such a degree of disrepair due to lack of maintenance,
it has become unsanitary, vermin or rat infested, a source of extreme filth and contamination,
or lacks ventilation, illumination, sanitary or heating facilities or other essential equipment
required by state statue or local ordinances, or because of the location of the structure
constitutes a hazard to the occupants of the structure or to the public.
(12)"Unlawful structure" means any structure, in whole or in part, that is occupied by more
persons than permitted under state statute or local ordinances or was erected, altered, or
occupied contrary to state statute or local ordinances.
(13)"Unsafe equipment" means any unsafe equipment, including but not limited to any boiler,
heating equipment, elevator, moving stairway, electrical wiring or device, flammable liquid
containers, or other equipment on the premises or within a structure which is in such
disrepair or condition that such equipment is a hazard to life, health, property or safety of the
public or occupants of the premises or structure.
(14)"Unsafe structure" means a structure that is found to be dangerous to the life, health,
property, or safety of the public or the occupants of the structure by not providing the
minimum safeguards to protect or warn occupants in the event of fire, or because such
structure contains unsafe equipment, or because such structure is so damaged, decayed, dilapidated, structurally unsafe or of such faulty construction or unstable foundation that a
partial or complete collapse is possible.
Proposed law authorizes the public officers to investigate the conditions of premises to determine
whether the premises are unfit for human habitation and to request and obtain search warrants for
entry if necessary, to obtain and receive evidence, and to enter upon any premises for the purpose
of making examinations provided the entries are made in such manner as to cause the least possible
inconvenience to the persons in possession.
Proposed law provides for a civil judicial summary proceeding to enforce any violations of law.
Effective upon signature of the governor or lapse of time for gubernatorial action.
(Adds R.S. 33:5071-5075)