55-248.44:1 - Rent; liability of secured party taking possession of an abandoned manufactured home
§ 55-248.44:1. Rent; liability of secured party taking possession of anabandoned manufactured home.
A. A secured party shall have no liability for rent or other charges to alandlord except as provided in this section.
B. In the event a manufactured home subject to a security interest becomes anabandoned manufactured home, notice of abandonment shall be sent by thelandlord to the owner, the secured party and the dealer as provided for in §55-248.6, at the addresses shown in the lease or rental application. Thenotice of abandonment shall state the amount of rent and the amount andnature of any reasonable charges in addition to rent that the secured partywill become liable for payment to the landlord. The notice shall include anyrental agreement previously signed by the tenant and the landlord.
C. A secured party who has a security interest in an abandoned manufacturedhome, and who has a right to possession of the manufactured home under §8.9A-609 or under the applicable security agreement, shall be liable to thelandlord under the same terms as the tenant was paying prior to the accrualof the right of possession, and any other reasonable charges in addition torent incurred, for the period which begins fifteen days from receipt of thenotice of abandonment by the secured party and ends upon the earlier to occurof the removal of the abandoned manufactured home from the manufactured homepark or disposition of the abandoned manufactured home under § 8.9A-610 etseq. or under the applicable security agreement.
D. This section shall not affect the availability of the landlord's lien asprovided in § 55-230 et seq. of Chapter 13 of Title 55, nor shall thissection impact the priority of the secured party's lien as provided in §46.2-640.
E. As used in this section, "security interest" shall have the same meaningas the term is defined in § 8.1A-201, and "secured party" shall have thesame meaning as the term is defined in § 8.9A-102.
F. For purposes of this section, "reasonable charges in addition to rent"means any routine maintenance and utility charges for which the tenant isliable under the rental agreement.
G. Any rent or reasonable charges in addition to rent owed by the securedparty to the landlord pursuant to this section shall also be paid to thelandlord prior to the removal of the manufactured home from the manufacturedhome park.
H. If a secured party who has a secured interest in an abandoned manufacturedhome becomes liable to the landlord pursuant to this section, then therelationship between the secured party and the landlord shall be governed bythe rental agreement previously signed by the tenant and the landlord unlessotherwise agreed, except that the term of the rental agreement shall convertto a month-to-month tenancy. No waiver is required to convert the rentalagreement to a month-to-month tenancy. Either the landlord or the securedparty may terminate the month-to-month tenancy upon giving written notice ofthirty days or more. The secured party and the landlord are not required toexecute a new rental agreement. Nothing in this section shall be construed tobe a waiver of any rights by the tenant.
(1991, c. 500; 1992, c. 709.)