Yesterday, February 15th, HUD proposed in the Federal Register, changes to the Manufactured Home Procedural and Enforcement Regulations, Subpart I, Consumer Complaint Handling and Remedial Actions. This rule incorporates the extensive work and recommendations of the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee which has considered the issue since at least 2004. Attached please find a copy of the proposed rule.
In 2006 HUD issued a notice in the Federal Register rejecting the Subpart I recommendations of the MHCC and put forth its own proposal for consideration. Since that time, HUD and MHCC met numerous time to discuss the MHCC recommendations and the HUD-suggested revisions. HUD’s proposed rule incorporates most but not all, the MHCC’s recommendations along with HUD’s own proposed revisions to Subpart I.
Key MHCC recommendations rejected by HUD in its proposed Subpart I rule are:
- Provisions limiting manufacturer’s notification responsibilities to only those problems caused by persons working on behalf of a manufacturer;
- Provisions establishing new responsibilities for retailers and distributions that are not authorized by the statute;
- Provisions limiting manufacturers’ pre-sale correction responsibilities;
- Provisions that would have limited methods used by manufacturers in determining which homes should be included in a class of home for which notification or correction of defects or safety hazards is required.
MHI will undertake a thorough review of the proposal, seek input from its members and submit formal comments to the federal Register which are due on April 18, 2011. Individual comments from members are also encouraged.
