81R16390 JAM-F
 
  By: Hamilton H.B. No. 2238
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the regulation of manufactured housing.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 1201, Occupations Code, is
  amended by adding Section 1201.009 to read as follows:
         Sec. 1201.009.  ELECTRONIC MEANS AUTHORIZED. If feasible,
  any action required under this chapter may be accomplished by
  electronic means.
         SECTION 2.  Section 1201.058, Occupations Code, is amended
  by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  If the governor by executive order or proclamation
  declares a state of disaster under Chapter 418, Government Code,
  the director, in accordance with rules adopted by the board, may
  waive the imposition of any fee under this chapter in the affected
  area.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 1201.104(c), (e), and (f), Occupations
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (c)  An applicant for a salesperson's license may apply for a
  license without having completed the course of instruction if 
  [provided that] the person successfully completes the [next
  scheduled] course not later than the 90th day [offered] after the
  date of the person's licensure. If the person fails to complete
  such course successfully and in a timely manner, the person's
  license is automatically suspended until the person successfully
  completes the course.
         (e)  The board shall adopt rules relating to course content
  and approval. [Classes must be live. Online or other electronic
  classes are not permitted.]
         (f)  An applicant for an initial installer's license shall
  receive a license on a provisional [probationary] basis. The
  person's provisional [probationary] status remains [shall remain]
  in effect until [such time as] a sufficient number of installations
  completed by the person have been inspected by the department and
  found not to have any identified material violations of the
  department's rules. The board, with the advice of the advisory
  committee to be established under Section 1201.251, shall adopt
  rules to establish what constitutes a sufficient number of
  installations under this subsection.
         SECTION 4.  Section 1201.113(b), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  Completion of [Attendance at] an approved or
  administered continuing education course described by Subsection
  (a) is a prerequisite to renewal of a license.
         SECTION 5.  Section 1201.114, Occupations Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         Sec. 1201.114.  LICENSE EXPIRATION[; PROBATIONARY LICENSE].
  [(a)]  Any license under this chapter [other than a probationary
  license] is valid for two years.  A license may be renewed as
  provided by the director.  A person whose license has been suspended
  or revoked or whose license has expired may not engage in activities
  that require a license until the license has been reinstated or
  renewed.
         [(b)     If the director determines that a licensed salesperson
  or installer should receive a probationary license, the director
  may issue a probationary license on such terms and for such period
  as are deemed reasonable.   The issuance of a license on a
  probationary basis, any one or more of the specific terms of the
  probation, or the period of probation may be appealed before the
  31st day after issuance of the probationary license by written
  notice to the director. If appeal is made, the director shall set
  the matter for a hearing before the State Office of Administrative
  Hearings, and all administrative proceedings relating to the
  issuance of the probationary license shall be deemed to be a
  contested case under Chapter 2001, Government Code.   If no appeal is
  made, the probationary license shall be issued and shall remain in
  effect in accordance with the terms specified.]
         SECTION 6.  Sections 1201.116(a) and (c), Occupations Code,
  are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The department shall renew a license if the department
  receives the renewal application and payment of the required 
  [annual] fee before the expiration date of the license.
         (c)  The renewal license expires on the second [first]
  anniversary of the date the license was renewed.
         SECTION 7.  Section 1201.204(c), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  After the first retail sale of a manufactured home, the
  retailer must submit the original manufacturer's certificate for
  that home to the department. If an application for an initial
  statement of ownership is made without the required manufacturer's
  certificate and the retailer does not provide it as required, the
  department shall, on or before the issuance of the requested
  statement of ownership and location, send written notice to each
  party currently reflected on the department's records as having a
  recorded lien on the inventory of that retailer with respect to that
  home. Failure to include the original manufacturer's certificate
  with such an application does not impair a consumer's ability to
  obtain, on submittal of an otherwise complete application, a
  statement of ownership and location free and clear of any liens
  other than liens created by or consented to by the consumer.
         SECTION 8.  Section 1201.206(g), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (g)  When [the seller files] an application for the issuance
  of a statement of ownership and location for a used manufactured
  home that is not in a retailer's inventory is filed, [the seller
  shall also file with the department] a statement from the tax
  assessor-collector for the taxing unit having power to tax the
  manufactured home shall also be filed with the department.  The
  statement from the tax assessor-collector must indicate that there
  are no personal property taxes due on the manufactured home that may
  have accrued on each January 1 that falls within the 18 months
  before the date of the sale.
         SECTION 9.  Section 1201.207(c), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  Except with respect to any change in use, servicing of a
  loan on a manufactured home, or change in ownership of a lien on a
  manufactured home, but subject to Section 1201.2075, if the
  department has issued a statement of ownership and location for a
  manufactured home, the department may issue a subsequent statement
  of ownership and location for the home only if all owners [parties]
  reflected in the department's records as having an ownership
  interest in the manufactured home give their written consent or
  release their interest, either in writing or by operation of law, or
  the department has followed the procedures provided by Section
  1201.206(k) to document ownership and lien status. Once the
  department issues a statement of ownership and location, the
  department may [shall] not alter the record of the ownership or lien
  status, other than to change the record to accurately reflect the
  proper owner's or lienholder's identity, of a manufactured home for
  any activity occurring before the issuance of the statement of
  ownership and location without either the written permission of the
  owner of record for the manufactured home, their legal
  representative, or a court order.
         SECTION 10.  Sections 1201.217(b) and (c), Occupations Code,
  are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  Before declaring a manufactured home abandoned, the
  owner of real property on which the home is located must send a
  notice of intent to declare the home abandoned to the record owner
  of the home, all lienholders at the addresses listed on the home's
  statement of ownership and location on file with the department,
  [and] the tax collector for each taxing unit that imposes ad valorem
  taxes on the real property where the home is located, and any
  intervening owners of liens or equitable interests.  The notice
  must include the address where the home is currently located.  If
  the person giving such notice knows that a [the] person to whom the
  notice is being given no longer resides and is no longer receiving
  mail at a known [such] address, a reasonable effort shall be made to
  locate the person and give the person notice at an address where the
  person is receiving mail.  Mailing of the notice by certified mail,
  return receipt requested, postage prepaid, to the persons required
  to be notified by this subsection constitutes conclusive proof of
  compliance with this subsection.
         (c)  On receipt of a notice of intent to declare a
  manufactured home abandoned, the record owner of the home, a
  lienholder, [or] a tax assessor-collector for a taxing unit that
  imposes ad valorem taxes on the real property on which the home is
  located, or an intervening owner of a lien or equitable interest may
  enter the real property on which the home is located to remove the
  home.  The real property owner must disclose to the record owner,
  lienholder, [or] tax assessor-collector, or intervening owner
  seeking to remove the home the location of the home and grant the
  person reasonable access to the home.  A person removing a home is
  responsible to the real property owner for any damage to the real
  property resulting from the removal of the home.
         SECTION 11.  Section 1201.219, Occupations Code, is amended
  by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
  follows:
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (a) and subject to
  Subsection (d), a lien on a manufactured home is perfected only by
  filing with the department the notice of lien on a form provided by
  the department. [The form shall require the disclosure of the
  original dollar amount of the lien and, if a tax lien, the name and
  address of the person in whose name the manufactured home is listed
  on the tax roll.] The department shall disclose on its website the
  date of each lien filing.  A[, the original amount of the lien
  claimed by each filing, and the fact that the amount shown does not
  include additional sums including interest, penalties, and
  attorney's fees. The statement required by Section 1201.205(7) is
  notice to all persons that the tax lien exists. Except as expressly
  provided by Chapter 32, Tax Code, a] lien recorded with the
  department has priority, according to the chronological order of
  recordation, over another lien or claim against the manufactured
  home[. Tax liens shall be filed by the tax collector for any taxing
  unit having the power to tax the manufactured home. A single filing
  by a tax collector is a filing for all the taxing units for which the
  tax collector is empowered to collect].
         (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (a), a tax lien on a
  manufactured home is perfected only by filing with the department
  the notice of the tax lien on a form provided by the department in
  accordance with the requirements of Chapter 32, Tax Code. The form
  must require the disclosure of the original dollar amount of the tax
  lien and the name and address of the person in whose name the
  manufactured home is listed on the tax roll. The department shall
  disclose on its Internet website the date of each tax lien filing,
  the original amount of the tax lien claimed by each filing, and the
  fact that the amount shown does not include additional sums,
  including interest, penalties, and attorney's fees. The statement
  required by Section 1201.205(7) is notice to all persons that the
  tax lien exists. A tax lien recorded with the department has
  priority over another lien or claim against the manufactured home.
  Tax liens shall be filed by the tax collector for any taxing unit
  having the power to tax the manufactured home. A single filing by a
  tax collector is a filing for all the taxing units for which the tax
  collector is empowered to collect.
         SECTION 12.  Section 1201.255(b), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  An installer may not install a used manufactured home at
  a location on a site that has evidence of ponding, runoff under
  heavy rains, or bare uncompacted soil unless the installer first
  obtains the owner's signature on a form promulgated by the board
  disclosing that such conditions may contribute to problems with the
  stabilization system for that manufactured home, including
  possible damage to that home, and the owner accepts that risk.
         SECTION 13.  Section 1201.358(c), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  The director may issue an order:
               (1)  directing a manufacturer, retailer, or installer
  whose license is not revoked, suspended, or subject to an
  administrative sanction under Section 1201.357(b) and who is not
  out of business to perform the warranty obligation of a
  manufacturer, retailer, or installer whose license is revoked,
  suspended, or subject to an administrative sanction under Section
  1201.357(b) or who is out of business; and
               (2)  giving the manufacturer, retailer, or installer
  performing the obligation the right of indemnification against
  another party.
         SECTION 14.  Section 1201.361(a), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  For all installations, the installer shall give the
  manufactured home owner a written warranty that the installation of
  the home was performed in accordance with all department standards,
  rules, orders, and requirements. The warranty for the installation
  of a new HUD-code manufactured home is to be given by the retailer,
  who is responsible for installation. If the retailer subcontracts
  this function to a licensed installer, the retailer is not required
  to hold an installer's license, but the retailer and installer are
  jointly and severally responsible for performance of the warranty.
         SECTION 15.  Section 1201.404(a), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as otherwise provided by Subchapter C, the trust
  fund shall be paid directly to a consumer or, at the director's
  option, to a third party on behalf of a consumer [used] to
  compensate a consumer who sustains actual damages resulting from an
  unsatisfied claim against a licensed manufacturer, retailer,
  broker, or installer if the unsatisfied claim results from a
  violation of:
               (1)  this chapter;
               (2)  a rule adopted by the director;
               (3)  the National Manufactured Housing Construction
  and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. Section 5401 et seq.);
               (4)  a rule or regulation of the United States
  Department of Housing and Urban Development; or
               (5)  Subchapter E, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce
  Code.
         SECTION 16.  The following sections of the Occupations Code
  are repealed:
               (1)  Section 1201.160;
               (2)  Section 1201.2055(b); and
               (3)  Section 1201.405(b).
         SECTION 17.  (a)  Sections 1201.104(c) and (f), Occupations
  Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to a license application
  filed with the executive director of the manufactured housing
  division of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
  on or after the effective date of this Act. An application filed
  with the executive director of the manufactured housing division of
  the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs before the
  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
  immediately before that date, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         (b)  Sections 1201.113(b) and 1201.116(a) and (c),
  Occupations Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to a license
  that is renewed on or after the effective date of this Act. A
  license that is renewed before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         (c)  Section 1201.206(g), Occupations Code, as amended by
  this Act, applies only to an application for a statement of
  ownership and location filed on or after the effective date of this
  Act. An application for a statement of ownership and location filed
  before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
  effect immediately before that date, and the former law is
  continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 18.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.