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Landlords: Short-term rentals in mobile home, RV communities create opportunities, challenges
Aug 04,2020
As an Arizona landlord, you do not want the Landlord-Tenant Act to apply to your short-term rentals.
Renting out a home for a vacation or short-term rental has now become desirable by hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and has created an entirely new rental industry. Some mobile home and RV community landlords are now getting into the game and offering short-term and vacation rentals of landlord-owned homes. However, most landlords I have encountered are not considering the legal and other implications of their rental activities. Merely marketing a property through a marketplace such as AirBnB®, VRBO® or others is only the beginning.
Let’s first dispense with the notion of tenants renting out their mobile homes, manufactured homes, park models or recreational vehicles (collectively, “homes”) for short-term or vacation rentals. In my opinion, allowing tenants to engage in short-term rentals of their own homes is a bad idea. Landlords should have written policies prohibiting this type of activity so that the tenants are not running their own short-term rental businesses in your community.
Now, let’s focus on the real issue of interest: landlords owning homes and renting them out on a short-term basis. Many landlords have an inventory of “park-owned” homes they seek to monetize. Some landlords have recognized that short-term rentals can be a lucrative option for these homes.
Renting out a dwelling is a business transaction. Every business transaction, including vacation and short-term rentals, must comply with the law. In some cases, landlord-tenant type relationships – including short-term rentals – and applicable laws can be complex, confusing and uncertain.