Residential Tenancies Branch

Mobile Home Parks – Licence Fees and Municipal Taxes

s.1(1.3), 1(1.4), 1(1.5), 1(1.6), 14, The Residential Tenancies Act
s. 232(2), The Municipal Act
s.11(3), 22(1), The Municipal Assessment Act

Definitions

Licence: a permit issued by a municipality to a mobile home owner; the mobile home owner pays a fee for the licence.

Mobile home park: a residential complex where two or more mobile homes are located for 60 days or more.

Privately owned mobile home parks

Some municipalities have bylaws that require mobile home owners to licence their mobile homes. In many cases, the landlord of the mobile home park acts as an agent for the municipality. The landlord collects the licence fees and passes the money on to the municipality. The municipality requires the landlord to collect the licence fees for each occupied lot in the mobile home park.

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The Branch does not consider a licence fee to be part of a tenant‘s rent. Since a licence fee is not considered rent, the landlord is not required to give three months’ notice if the municipality increases the licence fee. The landlord advises the tenants of the increase and can collect the increased amount on the date set by the municipality.

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When a landlord applies for a rent increase above the guideline, the landlord does not include the licence fees they collect as part of their revenue.

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Municipal Taxes

Some municipalities assess municipal taxes against mobile homes and any other property on a mobile home site, such as garages or tool sheds.  The municipality assesses the landlord the taxes as the registered owner of the mobile home park.  The landlord can then determine the portion of the taxes that apply to each  mobile home site and collect that amount from the tenants.  On a tenancy agreement, a landlord of a mobile home park must clearly show the amount of the monthly rent.  The landlord must also show that the tenant will be responsible to pay a portion of municipal taxes when the municipality bills the landlord.

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There are several municipalities that own mobile home parks and rent sites to mobile home owners. When a municipality owns rental property, the property is exempt from rent regulation. The land is also considered exempt from taxation. When land is exempt from taxation, The Municipal Assessment Act gives a municipality the right to assess a mobile home and collect taxes on the mobile home directly from the mobile home owner.

When the municipality collects taxes, it’s acting as a taxing authority, not as a landlord. The money collected for taxes is not considered rent. Since it’s not considered rent, the municipality doesn’t need to give the mobile home owners three months’ notice to increase the charge. The municipality can increase taxes as frequently as their bylaws allow. When the municipality increases rent, it is still required to give three months notice of the increase. The municipality can only increase the rent once every 12 months. The increase in the taxes and the increase in the rent don’t need to happen at the same time.

Procedure

Overview   

This policy is included as information for landlords, tenants and officers. If a tenant and landlord aren’t able to solve a problem with licence fees or municipal taxes on their own, they can ask the Branch for help.

Steps ▼   

1.   A landlord or tenant asks the Branch for information about a licence fee or       municipal taxes.

2.   The officer discusses the circumstances with the landlord and tenant. The       officer may ask the parties for a copy of the tenancy agreement and any       relevant by-laws or legislation.

3.   The officer provides information to the landlord and tenant on their rights       and responsibilities.

Forms & Form Letters

Standard Residential Tenancy Agreement (Mobile Homes and Sites)
................................................................Form 2/Residential Tenancies Regulation

X-Referencing

For information on mobile home tenancies, see Section 1.
For more information on giving notice, see Notice - Mobile Home Park Owner For Non-Payment of Mobile Home Licence Fee or Municipal Taxes in Section 7.

Policy Developed

March, 2004 *

Last Revision

August, 2015

Other Resources

None

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