Each state has a distinct definition of what equals a floating home, but the most standard definition is a floating structure that is:
- Designed and built to be used as a residential dwelling,
- Relatively stationary,
- Has no ability to power itself,
- Dependent on utilities from the shore, and
- Has a permanent and continuous connection to a sewage system onshore.
Floating homes are slightly different from a regular home because, while you own the floating home, you must usually still pay rent to a floating home marina for the berth or dock the floating home is tied up at.
What Is a Floating Home Marina?
A floating home marina is where floating homes are grouped together. They are typically privately owned and can only operate in precise areas that have been zoned for their use by the government. Floating home marina owners act much like traditional landlords and are generally referred to as managers.
What Rights Do Floating Home Homeowners Have?
Because the floating home marina management does not own the floating home but still collects rent, the floating home homeowner has rights comparable to but slightly different from a traditional tenant. These rights exist even if the lease between the homeowner and marina management does not address them because many states have passed specific regulations to address the issue of floating home residencies.
A floating home homeowner has the right to:
- Use the berth or dock at the floating home marina to keep and maintain their floating home,
- Use the services and facilities of the floating home marina,
- Occupy their floating home,
- Have access to their floating home, and
- Keep the management out of the floating home except with earlier written consent or in the case of an emergency.
How Long Does the Lease Run?
The length of a residential lease will depend on the terms the parties agreed to when they signed the residential lease, the laws of the jurisdiction in which the residential property is located, and the type of residential lease used to form the agreement.
In general, most residential lease agreements are signed to expect the tenant to live on the property for at least one full year. Nevertheless, residential lease agreements can be created for whatever time the landlord and residential tenant agree upon. For instance, a lease could run for one day, a week, one month, six months, etc.
The parties can also include conditions regarding how to renew the lease once it expires, whether the lease will automatically renew itself, what to do in a breach, and how much notice a tenant or landlord must give the other before moving or renting out the apartment.
On the other hand, commercial leases tend to allow for longer rental periods than their residential counterparts. Often, the contracting parties will enter into a commercial lease agreement for as long as several years. This is in direct contrast to the standards of a residential lease, which are normally for one year or less.
Commercial leases run so much longer than residential leases so that a business does not have to keep interrupting its daily operations to move to a new commercial property every year. Every year, having to relocate would also potentially hurt the business’s profits because customers would have to check that the business has not moved each time they want to frequent it.
Are There Different Types of Tenancy Periods?
A tenancy period is the amount of time designated on a lease agreement for real property. This duration of time that the lessee owes money and the time for which the lessor gives up possession of the property.
The following are the most common tenancy periods utilized in lease agreements for residential or commercial property:
- Tenancy for a Term: A tenancy for a term occurs when the parties have agreed on a termination date for the leasehold estate. If the term is for longer than one year, the Statute of Frauds usually requires that the agreement be written. Upon expiration of the term, the tenancy ends automatically.
- Periodic Tenancy: Periodic tenancy arises when the parties have agreed on regular payment of rent but have not established any termination date. The period is automatically renewed when it expires unless either party has indicated they want to terminate the tenancy.
- Tenancy at Will: A tenancy at will exists when someone possesses another’s land with their consent but without any agreement on the termination or payment of rent. Either party may terminate it at any time, though most jurisdictions require some notice period.
- Tenancy at Sufferance: A tenancy at sufferance arises when a tenant holds over after the expiration of their term without the landlord’s consent. The landlord can elect to treat them as a trespasser or as a tenant for another time.
When Can a Floating Home Tenancy be Destroyed?
Floating home tenancies act identical to the traditional landlord and tenant tenancies, but they can typically only be destroyed in five situations:
- The floating home homeowner fails to comply with local zoning ordinances or state law and regulations,
- The floating home homeowner substantially annoys the other homeowners,
- The floating home homeowner fails to comply with the rules or regulations of the lease for the berth or dock,
- The government condemns the floating home marina through eminent domain, or
- The floating home homeowner fails to pay their rent.
Remember, just because the tenancy is destroyed does not mean that the floating home homeowner loses their floating home. It only means their rights involved in renting a berth or dock from the floating home marina are gone.
A marina may not evict a tenant solely in vindication of the tenant’s exercise of a legal right (known as a “retaliatory eviction”). This occasionally happens when a tenant reports a marina operator for criminal activity on a marina property, and the marina responds by evicting the tenant, but this is extremely rare.
Other forms of discrimination may be more common, but unfortunately, “discrimination” has a very narrow legal application. Generally speaking, it applies to classes of people that the U.S. Supreme Court has found to be historically “suspect classes.” Most commonly, suspect classes are based on race or a recognized ethnic minority. Owners of floating homes are simply not going to qualify.
A marina tenancy may best be likened to renting a storage unit or a space rental at a mobile home park. Notably, both of those transactions are covered by specific sections of state law. Still, both sets of laws are specifically limited to those types of tenancies, and they cannot be extended to marina agreements.
As always, there are exceptions to every legal principle. And then, of course, there are exceptions to the exceptions. Be sure to contact an experienced maritime attorney to discuss the facts of your particular case if you have questions regarding these issues.
Do I Need an Attorney for a Floating Home Problem?
Suppose you think your rights as a floating home homeowner are being violated, or your tenancy is unjustly destroyed. It is highly recommended that you contact a landlord-tenant lawyer in that case. If you are planning on entering a rental agreement regarding a floating home, it is also recommended for you to contact a real estate or landlord and tenant lawyer.
