Habitability; leaseholder remedies

10 V.S.A. ch. 153, § 6263, under Manufactured Home Parks.

10 V.S.A. ch. 153, § 6263

§ 6263. Habitability; leaseholder remedies

(a)(1) If the manufactured home park owner fails to comply with the obligation of habitability, the park owner shall be deemed to have notice of the noncompliance if the park owner receives actual notice of the noncompliance from the leaseholder, a governmental entity, or a qualified independent inspector.

(2) If the park owner has received notice from any of those sources and fails to make repairs within a reasonable time and the noncompliance materially affects health and safety, the leaseholder may pursue any of the following remedies:

(A) withhold payment of lot rent during the period of the noncompliance;

(B) obtain injunctive relief;

(C) recover damages, costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees; or

(D) terminate the rental agreement on reasonable notice.

(b)(1) For purposes of subdivision (a)(2) of this section, a manufactured home park owner’s failure to maintain the roads within a manufactured home park in a condition that reasonably ensures access by emergency vehicles shall be deemed noncompliance that materially affects health and safety.

(2) This subsection does not require a manufactured home park owner to create a new road or other improvement, or to modify an existing road or other improvement, within an existing manufactured home park.

(c) The remedies under this section are not available to a leaseholder if the noncompliance was caused by the negligent or deliberate act or omission of the leaseholder or of a person on the premises with the leaseholder’s consent. (Added 1993, No. 141 (Adj. Sess.), § 11, eff. May 6, 1994; amended 2007, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), § 73; 2015, No. 8, § 2.)