Wheatland, Wyoming resident and manufactured home owner Jason Halvorsen had a busy Thursday last week.

He made the drive from his home to the Wyoming State Legislature in Cheyenne, with good reason. He wanted to be present when Governor Matt Mead signed a piece of legislation that he sparked, and that would change his life.

 

“This is the end. The nervousness was 9 months ago when I got told no at the bank,” said Halvorsen.

The piece of legislation that was signed was Bill 56, which fixes an oversight in how manufactured homes are titled. Wyoming does not currently extend the same rights to manufactured home owners as it does for site built homeowners.

And, without an accurate title, Halvorsen could not get a loan or mortgage on his property, which started the process. Frustrated, he reached out to his representative, Tyler Lindholm.

“This causes a headache for financial institutions, and ultimately limits the economic mobility of mobile [sic] homeowners,” said Lindholm.

“It affects a huge amount of people who have gone through this problem over the years, and it closes this loop hole in our law where people will actually be able to get loans on their property if they so choose.”

According to Wyoming Public Media, when Lindholm presented the bill to the governor, he said it was by far the hardest piece of legislation he had ever worked on.

“Title law is tough as it turns out. And I’m really really glad we’re closing up this hole for individuals like Jason.”

Governor Mead thanked both men for their work on the issue, and then signed the bill into law. For Halvorsen, it was a relief. After getting a job offer, he needed to find a home, and his manufactured home was the only one that would work.

“I made seven trips down here in two weeks to find homes. I looked at homes. Looked at homes. Looked at homes,” said Halvorsen.

“This was the only one that would remotely fit what I needed. I knew it wasn’t perfect but the price was ok. And I could make it work.”

After making a number of upgrades to the home, he wanted to refinance.

And then the issues began.

After going to see a banker, Halvorsen was told that they couldn’t help him, because he didn’t have the Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin for his manufactured home.

“The Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin is kind of like a flimsy piece of paper. So people don’t realize it’s important and that it needs to be taken down to the courthouse,” said banker Georgann Martinez.

The former owner of Halvorsen’s house never did, and when he reached out to the man, he got word that he had passed away.

He went to the County Clerk to get a duplicate, and the clerk told him it was not possible.

After that, Halvorsen went to a co-worker who he thought might be able to help. Turns out that co-worker was Tyler Lindholm.

“He brought me this situation one time during lunch break and said hey this is happening. Can we fix this? And that started all this,” said Lindholm.

And the rest is history.

The Daily Business News originally covered the story of Lindholm’s progress with Bill 56 in a story linked here. ##

 

(Image credits are as shown above.)

 

Submitted by RC Williams to the Daily Business News for MHProNews.