ATTENTION CALIFORNIA MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY

CARE NOTICE REQUIREMENT

February 1 of each year is a big day in the manufactured housing industry. You must pass out copies of the new MRL to residents each year, and if you are a master-meter community, you must distribute California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) notice to all homeowners and residents as well.

798.43.1. [a] The management of a master-meter park shall give written notice to homeowners and residents on or before February 1 of each year in their utility billing statements about assistance to low-income persons for utility costs available under the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program, established pursuant to Section 739.1 of the Public Utilities Code. The notice shall include CARE information available to mater-meter customers from their serving utility, to include, at a minimumL1) the fact the CARE offers a discount on monthly gas or electric bills for qualifying low-income residents; and (2) the telephone number of the serving utility, which provides CARE information and applications. The park shall also post the notice in a conspicuous place in the clubhouse, or if there is no clubhouse, in a conspicuous public place in the park.

[b] The management of a master-meter park may accept and help process Care program applications from homeowners and residents in the park, fill in the necessary account or other park information required by the serving utility. The management shall not deny a homeowner or resident who chooses to submit a CARE application to the utility himself or herself any park information, including a utility account number, the serving utility requires to process a homeowner or resident CARE program application.

[c] The management of a master-meter park shall pass through the full amount of the CARE program discount in monthly utility billings to homeowners and residents who have qualified for the CARE rate schedule, as defined in the serving utility's applicable rate schedule. The management shall notice the discount on the billing statement of any homeowners and residents who have qualified for the CARE rate schedule, as either the itemized amount of the discount or a notation of the statement that the homeowner or resident is receiving the CARE discount on the electric bill, the gas bill, or both the electric and gas bills.

[d] "Master-meter park" as used in this section means "master-meter customer" as used in Section 739.5 of the Public Utilities Code.

MRL DISTRIBUTION

798.15 [c] A copy of the text of this chapter shall be attached as an exhibit and shall be incorporated into the rental agreement by reference. Management shall provide all homeowners with a copy of this chapter prior to February 1 of each year, if a significant change was made in the chapter by legislation enacted in the prior year.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSON BY: Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association [WMA] Reporter January 2006 edition website: http://www.wma.org