(1) The legislature finds:

(a) That manufactured housing and mobile home parks provide a source of low-cost housing to the low income, elderly, poor and infirmed, without which they could not afford private housing; but rising costs of mobile home park development and operation, as well as turnover in ownership, has resulted in mobile home park living becoming unaffordable to the low income, elderly, poor and infirmed, resulting in increased numbers of homeless persons, and persons who must look to public housing and public programs, increasing the burden on the state to meet the housing needs of its residents;

(b) That state government can play a vital role in addressing the problems confronted by mobile home park residents by providing assistance which makes it possible for mobile home park residents to acquire the mobile home parks in which they reside and convert them to resident ownership; and

(c) That to accomplish this purpose, information and technical support shall be made available through the department subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose.

(2) Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature, in order to maintain low-cost housing in mobile home parks to benefit the low income, elderly, poor and infirmed, to encourage and facilitate the conversion of mobile home parks to resident ownership, to protect low-income mobile home park residents from both physical and economic displacement, to obtain a high level of private financing for mobile home park conversions, and to help establish acceptance for resident-owned mobile home parks in the private market.

Transfer of residual funds to manufactured home installation training account—2011 c 158: See note following RCW 43.22A.100.