70-24-432. Disposition of abandoned mobile home occupying a mobile home park space. (1) If a tenancy terminates and the landlord reasonably believes that the tenant has abandoned a mobile home occupying a mobile home park space and a period of time of at least 5 days has elapsed since the occurrence of events upon which the landlord formed that belief, the landlord may remove the mobile home from the premises.
     (2) If the landlord moves the mobile home from the premises, the landlord shall store the mobile home in a place of safekeeping and shall exercise reasonable care for the mobile home. The landlord may charge the mobile home owner a reasonable removal and storage charge.
     (3) If the landlord stores the mobile home, the landlord shall:
     (a) notify the local law enforcement office of the removal and storage;
     (b) make a reasonable effort to determine if the mobile home is secured or otherwise encumbered; and
     (c) send a notice by certified mail to the last-known address of the mobile home owner and to any person or entity found by the landlord to have an interest referred to in subsection (3)(b), stating that at a specified time, not less than 15 days after mailing the notice, the mobile home will be disposed of if the mobile home owner does not respond and remove the mobile home under subsection (4).
     (4) If the mobile home owner, within 15 days after receipt of the notice provided for in subsection (3)(c), responds in writing to the landlord that the owner intends to remove the mobile home from storage and does not do so within 20 days after delivery of the owner's response, the mobile home is conclusively presumed to be abandoned. A landlord is entitled to payment of the removal and storage costs allowed under subsection (2) before the owner may remove the mobile home.
     (5) The landlord may dispose of the mobile home after complying with subsection (3) by:
     (a) selling the mobile home at a public or private sale; or
     (b) destroying or otherwise disposing of the mobile home if the landlord reasonably believes that the value of the mobile home is so low that the cost of a sale would exceed the reasonable value of the mobile home. Disposal may include having the mobile home removed to an appropriate disposal site.
     (6) A public or private sale authorized by this section must be conducted under the sheriff's sale provisions of Title 25, chapter 13, part 7.
     (7) The landlord may deduct from the proceeds of a sale the reasonable costs of removal, storage, notice, and sale and any delinquent rent or damages owing on the premises and shall remit to the mobile home owner the remaining proceeds, if any. If the owner cannot after due diligence be found, the remaining proceeds must be deposited in the general fund of the county in which the sale occurred and, if not claimed within 3 years, are forfeited to the county.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 483, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 483, L. 1999.