Synopsis
Section 7042 of Title 25 of the Delaware Code lists the completion and cost of any capital improvements or rehabilitation work in a manufactured home community, as distinguished from ordinary repair, replacement, and maintenance, as a factor that may justify an increase in rent but only until the cost of the improvement has been fully recovered. This Act clarifies this provision by providing a definition of capital improvement that includes a rate of return on the improvement; identifying this assessment as a fee, rather than a rent increase; and requiring that the fee be recovered evenly over 3 or more years if the amount of the fee exceeds 10% of the prior year’s rent. Chapter 70 defines rent as including fees, preserving a community owner’s ability to enforce payment of the fee, but by identifying this assessment as a fee, it is clearly identified as separate from a base rent increase. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.