Oversight on Mobile Home Inspectors Strengthened in New Legislation by Assemblymember Connolly

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael) highlighted the introduction of new legislation, Assembly Bill (AB) 319, which resolves inadequacies within the conflict of interest code that regulates the inspectors of mobile home parks. These loopholes were identified in a report published by the California State Auditor, which found that the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) did not require inspectors to report certain investments in mobile home park properties and failed to address these potential conflicts of interest when reviewing inspectors’ disclosure forms. The report noted that some inspectors owned properties adjacent to mobile home parks that they were tasked with supervising and two inspectors had ties to construction businesses in areas they were assigned to oversee. AB 319 fixes these issues by requiring mobile home inspectors to provide greater transparency regarding their investment in properties, implementing a more thorough annual review of such disclosures, and by requiring HCD to establish firm policies to document complaints against inspectors and the steps taken to address those complaints.

“Californians living in mobile home parks should feel confident that the inspectors supervising their properties are making decisions based on what’s best for residents, not what’s best for the inspectors’ personal financial interests,” said Assemblymember Connolly. “AB 319 creates greater transparency and eliminates the potential for conflicts of interest that could put housing inspectors in ethically compromising situations.”

In 2019, there were 3,640 active mobile home parks within HCD’s jurisdiction. Through its two field offices, HCD conducts various types of inspections to ensure that parks comply with health and safety requirements, including inspections of entire mobile home parks and inspections in response to complaints about specific issues stemming from sources such as park owners or residents. AB 319 addresses inadequacies within the conflict of interest code that regulates mobile home inspectors by codifying the State Auditor’s recommendations for greater transparency and strengthened ethics. The bill requires all inspectors to disclose their interests/investments in real property and directs HCD to review the inspectors’ annual statement of economic interests to identify any potential conflicts of interest. The bill would also require the department to establish better policies to document complaints against inspectors and the steps taken to address those complaints.

AB 319 now resides in the Assembly Rules Committee, awaiting referral to its first policy committee.

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Assemblymember Connolly represents Assembly District 12, consisting of Marin County and Southern Sonoma County.