Park insurance written for parks.

Manager training and the emergency plan

Two California duties sit with park management, and both connect to the permit.

Manager training. Health and Safety Code section 18876.1 requires at least one person per mobilehome or RV park who acts as a manager, onsite or offsite, to complete six to eight hours of initial training plus an online exam, within one year of hire or by May 1, 2026, whichever is later. After that, it's two to four hours of follow-up coursework and an online exam every two years. Topics include the park and residency laws, Title 25 park rules, complaint response and emergency preparedness. The certificate lasts two years and must be posted in a conspicuous spot in the park. The statute lists limited exemptions. If a park is out of compliance, HCD gives 60 days' written notice to fix it, then may impose a civil penalty and, after notice and a chance to be heard, suspend the operating permit.

Emergency preparedness plan. Health and Safety Code section 18603 required existing parks to adopt a plan by September 1, 2010, and a park built after that date must adopt one before its permit to operate is issued. The plan goes up in the clubhouse or another publicly accessible area. Residents get yearly notice of how to see it and how to get it in a language other than English. Every park needs a person reachable by phone who responds to operational and maintenance emergencies. In a park with 50 or more units, that person or a designee must live in the park and know the plan and the emergency procedures for utilities and common facilities. A violation counts as an unreasonable risk to life, health or safety and must be corrected within 60 days of notice. HCD publishes a completeness checklist, form HCD-MP-250.

A posted certificate and a current plan show an underwriter how the park is run. I ask for both when I put together a liability submission.

RV guests, tenants and residents are not the same

California's Recreational Vehicle Park Occupancy Law (Civil Code section 799.20 and following) sorts RV owners and operators by how long they've occupied a lot.

• Occupant: has occupied a lot for 30 days or less (section 799.28).
• Tenant: has occupied a lot for more than 30 consecutive days (section 799.32). Management may offer a rental agreement to an occupant who intends to stay more than 30 consecutive days (section 799.45).
• Resident: a tenant who has occupied a lot for nine months or more (section 799.31).

For short stays, Civil Code section 1866 lets special occupancy park management remove a guest who doesn't leave by the posted checkout time, but only under strict conditions. The guest must have signed a written notice when accommodations were provided, or received notice at least 24 hours before checkout. Management must have a contractual obligation to give the site to an arriving guest, with no substantially similar site available, and must offer the holdover guest another site if one is available. For an RV or motor vehicle, management must speak with the guest face to face, warn that towing costs are substantial and fall on the guest, point to a spot in the park where the vehicle can go temporarily, and allow two hours. The window is 72 hours if the guest is physically unable to move the vehicle, it isn't motorized and the guest's own vehicle can't move it, or it's inoperable. Late notice given in bad faith exposes the park to actual damages plus a $250 civil penalty. The section doesn't apply to manufactured homes or mobilehomes.

Section 1866 also lets management have an adult accept full written liability for an unaccompanied minor's charges and any injury or damage the minor causes, and require a written promise not to leave a minor 12 or younger unattended. If your park uses these forms, I include copies with a liability submission.