BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1163
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Date of Hearing: June 9, 2004
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
SB 1163 (Dunn) - As Amended: May 27, 2004
SENATE VOTE : 23-13
SUBJECT : Mobilehome park: utilities.
SUMMARY : This bill makes changes to the utility statements
provided by the management of a mobilehome park to residents and
requires the consumer affairs branch of the California Public
Utilities Commission to accept and respond to complaints made by
submetered customers in mobilehome parks or apartment complexes.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires management to provide residents who receive master
meter and submeter utility services a bill for electricity and
gas services which identifies all rates and quantities
attributable to each block in the attributable rate structure
as if the resident were receiving services directly from the
utility company.
2)Requires management to disclose the name, address, and the
telephone number of a third-party billing agent or company
that prepares the utility billing for the park on each billing
statement.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires master meter customers to provide the opening and
closing readings for submetered mobilehome park customers each
billing period. (Civil Code Section 798.38)
2)Requires management to post the residential utilities rate
schedule as published by the utility company. (Civil Code
Section 798. 38)
3)Establishes requirements regarding the rates charged by master
meter customers to submetered tenants, specifies the general
form and content of the bills rendered by the master meter
customer, and makes it a duty of mater-meter customers to
maintain and repair the facilities between the master meter
and the submetered tenant.
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(Public Utilities Code Section 739.5)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
Background: There are approximately 4,850 mobilehome parks and
manufactured communities in California, which house more than
600,000 people. Each mobilehome space consists of a utility
pedestal for electric and gas as well as sewer and water
hookups. In most parks utility service is provided by the park
owner to individual mobilehome spaces through a "master meter"
system, with a public utility providing gas, electricity and
sometimes water to the park master meter but not to individual
spaces. The park operator maintains the park utility system,
reads the submeters where applicable, and bills the residents.
Many parks hire third party billing companies or agents to
perform these functions. Master meter parks receive a
"differential" or discount on residential rates from the utility
in recognition of their costs of operating and maintaining the
submeter system but charge residents at the same rate the
serving public utility would charge if it served the residents
directly. The differential is negotiated between the parks and
the serving utility and approved by the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC). The majority of statutory
requirements governing master meter utility systems in
mobilehome parks are located in the Public Utilities Codes;
although, there are some duplicate provisions in the Civil Code,
the Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL).
The Senate Select Committee on Mobile and Manufactured Housing
has received a number of complaints from residents of mobilehome
parks regarding their master meter service over the last few
years regarding the utility billing practices of the management.
The committee held a hearing in 2001 during which residents
offered numerous complaints including questions as to the
accuracy of park's utility billings and meter readings, the
inability to speak to third party billing companies regarding a
resident's statement, and CPUC's lack of response to individual
complaints from residents.
Clarifying the role of CPUC:
According to the author, there is some disagreement as to CPUC's
authority to address resident complaints regarding their master
meter utility service. CPUC representatives who have been
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contacted by the author regarding complaints contend CPUC does
not have authority to oversee master meter billing practices or
take complaints from residents or to require parks to adhere to,
billing practices required by the code. CPUC representatives say
they can only require the serving utility to request the parks
to comply with the code. In an effort to clarify and
strengthen the role of CPUC in dealing with complaints from
residents of master meter residential communities, this bill
specifically states the consumer affairs branch of the agency
will accept and respond to these complaints from residents
regarding violations of master meter requirements.
Billing Statements :
MRL governs interactions between mobilehome park management and
residents and also includes a provision relating to master meter
requirements that closely parallels Public Utilities Code (PUC).
In order to clarify the MRL this bill adds language from the PUC
that requires the form and content of bills provided to
residents by the park match that provided by the utility to the
master meter mobilehome park. This language already exists in
the PUC but the author has received complaints from residents
that it is not being followed by some mobilehome parks. By
moving the language to the MRL the author seeks to ensure
enforcement.
Third-Party Billing :
Many mobilehome parks hire third party billing companies to read
meters and bill residents. But, when residents have questions
about their bills, they do not have access to the billing
company. According to the author, the management cannot address
the questions because they do not issue the bill and management
generally will not provide the billing companies contact
information so the resident can speak with them directly. This
bill requires that if park management uses a third party billing
company they must provide the contact information of that
company on each bill the resident receives.
Opposition:
The opposition argues moving the provision of the PUC code
regarding billing statements to the MRL will place the
mobilehome park owners and managers at greater civil liability
and will result in more lawsuits. Mobilehome park owners are
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subject to a $2,000 fine for violating the provisions of the
MRL. The opposition argues if owners do not comply with the
billing requirements added to the MRL they will be subject to
civil liability. However, the provisions added to the MRL do not
specify requirements as to the accuracy of the bill-this
provision remains in the PUC.
If residents believed the park management did not follow the new
provisions added to the MRL, they would have to prove the park
intentionally misread the meter. To do so the resident would
have to have collateral proof such as photographs with a
time-date-stamp indicating the meter reading. According to the
author, park residents who are often low income or seniors, have
difficulty suing a park unless they are involved in a class
action suit. Court cases are costly and it is difficult to get
an attorney to take an individual resident's case, which has the
potential for limited returns.
The opposition also contends including the section of PUC, which
defines the billing requirements in the MRL, is unnecessary,
because CPUC already enforces the requirement. The author's
office contends duplicating the language in the MRL will remove
confusion and provide uniformity in applying existing
requirements.
Double Referred : The Assembly Committee on Rules referred SB
1163 to Housing and Community Development Committee and
Utilities and Commerce Committee. If SB 1163 passes this
committee, the bill must be referred to the Assembly Committee
on Utilities and Commerce.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Mobilehome Resource and Action Association
Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League
Opposition
California Mobilehome Parkowners Alliance
Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association
Analysis Prepared by : Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085
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