Straight answers
How do tiny house communities work, and what are your rights?
A tiny house community works in one of three ways: you buy your lot, you own the home and lease the lot, or you buy into a cooperative or association that owns the land. On a leased lot, what protects you is less the lease than the park's legal category. The same tiny house can sit in a mobile or manufactured home park, an RV park or a campground, and each is covered by a different state or provincial law. In California, for example, a mobilehome park tenancy can be ended only for a reason the law lists and on at least 60 days' notice, while a stay of 30 days or less in an RV park can end on a 72-hour notice for unpaid charges or broken rules.
Figures verified against the sources below · September 24, 2026
01 — The longer answer
Tiny home communities: the lot, the label and the law
Three ways to hold a place in a tiny home community
Buying the lot outright gives you the land under the home, and a home set on a permanent foundation there is treated like any other house on its own land. Leasing the lot means you own the home and rent the ground it stands on, so the lease and the law that governs the park decide how long you can stay and how you can be asked to leave. A cooperative or association sells a share or membership tied to a lot, and its bylaws and rules sit on top of the land-use permits. In every model, ask which of these you are actually buying before you look at anything else, because a brochure can say community about all three.
Why the park's label decides your notice: California as the example
California runs two separate laws, and a tiny house can fall under either. The Mobilehome Residency Law covers a mobilehome park, which is land where two or more mobilehome sites are rented or held out for rent (Civ. Code 798.4). There, management may end or refuse to renew a tenancy only for a reason the law lists, such as unpaid rent, a broken park rule or substantial annoyance to other residents, and must give at least 60 days' written notice to sell or remove the home (798.55, 798.56). Recreational vehicles are mostly outside that law, but a trailer or other RV, other than a motor home, truck camper or camping trailer, counts as a mobilehome once it has occupied a site in a mobilehome park for nine or more continuous months, unless the park is an RV park (798.3). An RV park falls under the Recreational Vehicle Park Occupancy Law instead. A stay of 30 days or less makes you an occupant, and management can have the vehicle removed after a 72-hour notice for unpaid charges or broken rules (799.28, 799.55 to 799.58). More than 30 consecutive days makes you a tenant, and your occupancy can be ended or not renewed on at least 30 days' written notice that need not state a cause (799.32, 799.66). At nine months you become a resident, and the law sets a 60-day notice that names one of its listed reasons, which include unpaid charges, broken rules and a change of use of the park (799.31, 799.70).
Other states draw the line in other places
Florida's Mobile Home Act applies when a mobile home sits on a rented lot in a park where 10 or more lots are offered for rent. It does not reach a space rented to recreational-vehicle-type units designed as temporary quarters for camping or travel, and it does apply to a park trailer on a mobile home lot in a mobile home park. Where both the home and the lot are rented, or fewer than 10 lots are offered, the general residential landlord and tenant law governs instead (Fla. Stat. 723.002). Every state sets these lines itself, so the first question for any leased-lot community is which statute its lots fall under, and the answer is worth having in writing.
Tiny home communities in BC
British Columbia's Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act defines a manufactured home as a structure, whether or not ordinarily equipped with wheels, that is designed to be moved by being towed or carried and is used or intended to be used as living accommodation, and it covers sites rented in a park for a manufactured home to occupy (s.1). It does not apply where the same tenant rents both the site and the home (s.4). If a landlord ends tenancies to convert the park to another use, the notice must give at least 12 months and the landlord must hold the permits for the new use (s.42). A site rented as vacation or travel accommodation is a different case: the province's Residential Tenancy Act does not apply to living accommodation occupied that way (s.4(e)). So ask whether the community operates as a manufactured home park or as a campground or RV park, and read the tenancy agreement against the answer.
Park models, 55+ communities and what the home itself is
The park model is the unit most often sold for community lots, and the federal rule that exempts it from the manufactured-home code covers only a unit designed for recreational use and not as a primary residence or for permanent occupancy (24 CFR 3282.15), so a community that welcomes park models may still not be a lawful full-time address. An age-restricted community limits who may live there, housing intended and operated for occupants 55 or older where at least 80 percent of occupied units have one such occupant (42 U.S.C. 3607(b)(2)(C)); it says nothing about which homes are accepted. Whether a community takes homes on wheels, foundation homes or both, and at what sizes, is set by its own rules, not by the name on the gate.
Our tiny home communities guide covers the vetting checklist: permit status, utilities, lease term, resale rules and short-term rentals. If you have found a community and want to know which home fits its rules, bring the lease and the park rules to a consultation.
03 — Sources
Each figure above links to the authority it came from.
Cal. Civ. Code 798.3 and 798.4, Mobilehome Residency Law: a mobilehome park is an area where two or more mobilehome sites are rented or held out for rent; a trailer or other recreational vehicle, other than a motor home, truck camper or camping trailer, is a mobilehome for the chapter once it occupies a mobilehome site in the park for nine or more continuous months, but not in a recreational vehicle park
leginfo.legislature.ca.govCal. Civ. Code 798.55 and 798.56: management may not terminate or refuse to renew a tenancy except for a reason specified in the article, on not less than 60 days' written notice to sell or remove the mobilehome
leginfo.legislature.ca.govCal. Civ. Code 799.28, 799.31, 799.32 and 799.55 to 799.58, Recreational Vehicle Park Occupancy Law: an occupant has occupied a lot for 30 days or less, a tenant for more than 30 consecutive days, a resident for nine months or more; a defaulting occupant's vehicle may be removed after a 72-hour written notice
leginfo.legislature.ca.govCal. Civ. Code 799.66 and 799.70: a tenant's occupancy may be terminated or not renewed on not less than 30 days' written notice that need not state a cause; a defaulting resident's on not less than 60 days' notice specifying a listed reason, including nonpayment, rule violations and change of use of the park
leginfo.legislature.ca.govFla. Stat. 723.002: the Mobile Home Act applies to a mobile home on a rented or leased lot in a park where 10 or more lots are offered for rent or lease; not to spaces for recreational-vehicle-type units; it applies to a park trailer on a mobile home lot in a mobile home park; otherwise the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act governs
leg.state.fl.usBC Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act s.1, s.4 and s.42: definition of manufactured home (whether or not ordinarily equipped with wheels, designed to be towed or carried, used as living accommodation); the Act does not apply where site and home are both rented to the same tenant; a notice to convert the park takes effect no earlier than 12 months after it is received
bclaws.gov.bc.caBC Residential Tenancy Act s.4(e): the Act does not apply to living accommodation occupied as vacation or travel accommodation
bclaws.gov.bc.ca24 CFR 3282.15, exemption for recreational vehicles: a unit designed only for recreational use and not as a primary residence or for permanent occupancy
ecfr.gov42 U.S.C. 3607(b)(2)(C), housing for older persons: intended and operated for occupancy by persons 55 or older, with at least 80 percent of occupied units occupied by at least one such person
law.cornell.edu
Follow this journal
Add KYRAX as a preferred source in Google and our guides show up higher in your own search results, marked as preferred where Google cites us. It changes what you see, not what anyone else does.
Have a lot in mind?
We check your destination before you sign anything. 30 minutes, no obligation.