104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB1940 Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Laura M. Murphy SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: New Act Creates the Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson Act. Creates the Office of Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson within the Department of Public Health. Provides that the Ombudsperson shall offer training, educational materials and course offerings for residents, owners, and other interested persons or groups on the operation and management of mobile and manufactured home parks and the relevant laws that are applicable. Requires the Ombudsperson to establish a written policy for resolving complaints made by residents and a dispute resolution process to assist resolving disputes between owners of mobile home parks and residents. LRB104 08330 JRC 18381 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB1940 Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Laura M. Murphy SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: New Act New Act Creates the Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson Act. Creates the Office of Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson within the Department of Public Health. Provides that the Ombudsperson shall offer training, educational materials and course offerings for residents, owners, and other interested persons or groups on the operation and management of mobile and manufactured home parks and the relevant laws that are applicable. Requires the Ombudsperson to establish a written policy for resolving complaints made by residents and a dispute resolution process to assist resolving disputes between owners of mobile home parks and residents. LRB104 08330 JRC 18381 b LRB104 08330 JRC 18381 b A BILL FOR
104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB1940 Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Laura M. Murphy SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act New Act
New Act
Creates the Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson Act. Creates the Office of Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson within the Department of Public Health. Provides that the Ombudsperson shall offer training, educational materials and course offerings for residents, owners, and other interested persons or groups on the operation and management of mobile and manufactured home parks and the relevant laws that are applicable. Requires the Ombudsperson to establish a written policy for resolving complaints made by residents and a dispute resolution process to assist resolving disputes between owners of mobile home parks and residents.
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LRB104 08330 JRC 18381 b
A BILL FOR
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1 AN ACT concerning property.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Mobile
5 and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson Act.
6 Section 5. Applicability. This Act applies to all mobile
7 and manufactured home parks governed by the Mobile Home Park
8 Act and Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act.
9 Section 10. Definitions. As used in the Act:
10 "Manufactured home" means a factory-assembled, completely
11 integrated structure designed for permanent habitation, with a
12 permanent chassis, and so constructed as to permit its
13 transport, on wheels temporarily or permanently attached to
14 its frame, and is a movable or portable unit that is (i) 8 body
15 feet or more in width, (ii) 40 body feet or more in length, and
16 (iii) 320 or more square feet, constructed to be towed on its
17 own chassis (comprised of frame and wheels) from the place of
18 its construction to the location, or subsequent locations, at
19 which it is connected to utilities for year-round occupancy
20 for use as a permanent habitation, and designed and situated
21 so as to permit its occupancy as a dwelling place for one or
22 more persons, and specifically includes a "manufactured home"
104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026 SB1940 Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Laura M. Murphy SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act New Act
New Act
Creates the Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson Act. Creates the Office of Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson within the Department of Public Health. Provides that the Ombudsperson shall offer training, educational materials and course offerings for residents, owners, and other interested persons or groups on the operation and management of mobile and manufactured home parks and the relevant laws that are applicable. Requires the Ombudsperson to establish a written policy for resolving complaints made by residents and a dispute resolution process to assist resolving disputes between owners of mobile home parks and residents.
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A BILL FOR
New Act
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1 as defined in subdivision (53) of Section 9-102 of the Uniform
2 Commercial Code. The term shall include units containing parts
3 that may be folded, collapsed, or telescoped when being towed
4 and that may be expected to provide additional cubic capacity,
5 and that are designed to be joined into one integral unit
6 capable of being separated again into the components for
7 repeated towing. The term excludes campers and recreational
8 vehicles. The words "mobile home" and "manufactured home" are
9 synonymous for the purposes of this Act, but the term "mobile
10 home" does not include modular homes and their support
11 systems.
12 "Mobile home park" means a tract of land or 2 or more
13 contiguous tracts of land upon which contain sites with the
14 necessary utilities for 5 or more independent mobile homes for
15 permanent habitation either free of charge or for revenue
16 purposes, and shall include any building, structure, vehicle,
17 or enclosure used or intended for use as a part of the
18 equipment of such mobile home park. Separate ownership of
19 contiguous tracts of land shall not preclude the tracts of
20 land from common licensure as a mobile home park if they are
21 maintained and operated jointly. Neither an immobilized mobile
22 home nor a motorized recreational vehicle shall be construed
23 as being a part of a mobile home park. The terms "mobile home
24 park" and "park" are synonymous for the purposes of this Act.
25 "Department" means the Department of Public Health, unless
26 otherwise indicated.
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1 "Site" means the lot on which the mobile home is located
2 for a period of 2 or more months.
3 "Owner" means the owner of a mobile home site and any
4 person authorized to exercise any aspect of the management of
5 the premises, including any person who directly or indirectly
6 receives rents and has no obligation to deliver the whole of
7 such receipts to another person.
8 "Resident" means any person who occupies a mobile home for
9 dwelling purposes or a lot on which the person parks a mobile
10 home for an agreed upon consideration.
11 "Managing agent" means any person or entity responsible
12 for the operation, management, or maintenance of a mobile home
13 park or manufactured home community.
14 Section 15. Office of the Mobile and Manufactured Home
15 Ombudsperson.
16 (a) There is created within the Department of Public
17 Health, under the supervision and control of the Director, the
18 Office of the Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson.
19 (b) The Department shall name an Ombudsperson and other
20 persons necessary to discharge the requirements of this Act.
21 The Ombudsperson shall have the powers delegated to them by
22 the Department in addition to the powers set forth in this Act.
23 (c) Neither the Ombudsperson nor the Department shall have
24 any authority to consider matters that may constitute grounds
25 for charges or complaints under the Illinois Human Rights Act;
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1 that are properly brought before the Department of Human
2 Rights or the Human Rights Commission; before a comparable
3 department or body established by a county, municipality, or
4 township pursuant to an ordinance prohibiting discrimination
5 and established for the purpose of investigating and
6 adjudicating charges or complaints of discrimination under the
7 ordinance; or before a federal agency or commission that
8 administers and enforces federal anti-discrimination laws and
9 investigates and adjudicates charges or complaints of
10 discrimination under such laws.
11 (d) Information and advice provided by the Ombudsperson
12 has no binding legal effect and is not subject to the
13 provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
14 Section 20. Training and education. On or before July 1,
15 2026, the Ombudsperson shall begin offering training,
16 outreach, and educational materials and may also arrange for
17 the offering of courses to applicants, licensees, mobile and
18 manufactured home residents, mobile and manufactured home park
19 owners, park managers, and any other person or group the
20 Department deems appropriate in subjects relevant to: (i) the
21 operation and management of mobile home and manufactured home
22 sites and parks; and (ii) the Mobile Home Park Act, the Mobile
23 Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act, the Abandoned Mobile Home
24 Act, and the Illinois Mobile Home Tiedown Act.
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1 Section 25. Website; toll-free number.
2 (a) The Office shall maintain on the Department's website
3 the following information:
4 (1) the text of this Act, the Mobile Home Park Act, the
5 Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act, the Abandoned
6 Mobile Home Act, the Illinois Mobile Home Tiedown Act, and
7 any other statute, administrative rule, or regulation that
8 the Ombudsperson determines is relevant to the operation
9 and management of a mobile and manufactured home park or
10 site;
11 (2) information concerning non-judicial resolution of
12 disputes that may arise within a mobile and manufactured
13 home park, including, but not limited to, alternative
14 dispute resolution programs and contacts for locally
15 available dispute resolution programs;
16 (3) a description of the services provided by the
17 Ombudsperson and information on how to contact the
18 Ombudsperson for assistance; and
19 (4) any other information that the Ombudsperson
20 determines is useful to park managers, licensees, mobile
21 and manufactured home residents, and mobile and
22 manufactured home and site owners.
23 (b) The Office may make available during regular business
24 hours a statewide toll-free telephone number to provide
25 information and resources on matters relating to mobile and
26 manufactured home parks.
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1 Section 30. Written policy for resolving complaints.
2 (a) Each park, except for those specified in subsection
3 (b) of this Section, shall adopt a written policy for
4 resolving complaints made by residents. The park shall make
5 the policy available to all residents upon request. The policy
6 must include:
7 (1) a sample form on which a resident may make a
8 complaint to the park managing agent;
9 (2) a description of the process by which complaints
10 shall be delivered to the park managing agent;
11 (3) the park managing agent's timeline and manner of
12 making final determinations in response to a unit owner's
13 complaint; and
14 (4) a requirement that the final determination made by
15 the park's managing agent in response to a resident's
16 complaint be:
17 (i) made in writing;
18 (ii) made within 180 days after the park's
19 managing agent receives the resident's original
20 complaint; and
21 (iii) marked clearly and conspicuously as "final".
22 (b) Mobile and manufactured home parks exempted from the
23 Mobile Home Park Act are not required to have a written policy
24 for resolving complaints.
25 (c) No later than July 1, 2026, parks, except for those
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1 identified in subsection (b) of this Section, must establish
2 and adopt the policy required under this Section.
3 (d) Parks first licensed after July 1, 2026, except for
4 those identified in subsection (b) of this Section, must
5 establish and adopt the policy required under this Section
6 within 180 days following licensure.
7 (e) A resident may not bring a request for assistance
8 under Section 40 of this Act for a park's lack of or inadequacy
9 of a written policy to resolve complaints but may notify the
10 Department in writing of the park's lack of or inadequacy of a
11 written policy.
12 Section 35. Dispute resolution.
13 (a) Beginning on July 1, 2026, and subject to
14 appropriation, owners and residents meeting the requirements
15 of this Section may make a written request, as outlined in
16 subsection (f) of this Section, to the Ombudsperson for
17 assistance in resolving a dispute that involves a violation of
18 the Act.
19 (b) The Ombudsperson shall not accept requests for
20 resolutions of disputes for which there is a pending complaint
21 filed in any court or administrative tribunal in any
22 jurisdiction or for which arbitration or alternative dispute
23 resolution is scheduled to occur or has previously occurred.
24 (c) The assistance described in subsection (a) of this
25 Section is available only to owners and residents. For a
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1 resident to receive the assistance from the Ombudsperson
2 described in subsection (a) of this Section, the resident
3 must:
4 (1) Owe no outstanding assessments, fees, or funds to
5 the park, unless the assessments, fees, or funds are
6 central to the dispute;
7 (2) Allege a dispute that was initiated, or initially
8 occurred, within the 2 calendar years preceding the date
9 of the request;
10 (3) Have made a written complaint pursuant to the
11 Park's complaint policy, as outlined in Section 35, which
12 alleged violations of the Acts;
13 (4) Have received a final and adverse decision from
14 the Park's managing agent and attach a copy of the Park's
15 managing agent's final adverse decision marked "final" to
16 the request of the Ombudsperson; and
17 (5) Have filed the request within 30 days after the
18 receipt of the park's final adverse decision.
19 (d) A resident who has not received a response, marked
20 "final," to their complaint from the park within a reasonable
21 time may request assistance from the Ombudsperson under
22 subsection (a) of this Section if the resident meets the
23 requirements of items (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (c) of
24 this Section. A resident may not request assistance from the
25 Ombudsperson until at least 90 days after the initial written
26 complaint was submitted to the park's managing agent. The
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1 Ombudsperson may decline a resident's request for assistance
2 on the basis that a reasonable time has not yet passed.
3 (e) The request for assistance shall be in writing, on
4 forms provided electronically by the Ombudsperson, and include
5 the following:
6 (1) the name, address, and contact information of the
7 owner or resident;
8 (2) the name, address, and contact information of the
9 park;
10 (3) the applicable park governing documents unless the
11 absence of governing documents is central to the dispute;
12 (4) the date of the final adverse decision by the
13 park's managing agent;
14 (5) a copy of the park's written complaint policy
15 required under Section 35 of this Act;
16 (6) a copy of the owner or resident's complaint to the
17 park's managing agent with a specific reference to the
18 alleged violations of the Act;
19 (7) documentation verifying the owner's ownership of a
20 unit, or documentation verifying the resident's lease of
21 the property; and
22 (8) a copy of the park's managing agent adverse
23 decision marked "final," if applicable.
24 (f) On receipt of an owner or resident's request for
25 assistance that the Department determines meets the
26 requirements of this Section, the Ombudsperson shall, within
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1 the limits of the available resources, confer with the
2 interested parties and assist in efforts to resolve the
3 dispute by mutual agreement of the parties.
4 (g) The Ombudsperson shall assist only opposing parties
5 who mutually agree to participate in dispute resolution.
6 (h) An owner or resident is limited to one request for
7 assistance per dispute. The meaning of dispute is to be
8 broadly interpreted by the Department.
9 (i) The Department has the authority to determine whether
10 or not a final decision is adverse under paragraph (4) of
11 subsection (c) of this Section.
12 (j) The Department shall, on or before July 1, 2026,
13 establish rules describing the time limit, method, and manner
14 for dispute resolution.
15 Section 40. Confidentiality.
16 (a) All information collected by the Department in the
17 course of addressing a request for assistance or for any other
18 purpose pursuant to this Act shall be maintained for the
19 confidential use of the Department and shall not be disclosed.
20 The Department shall not disclose the information to anyone
21 other than law enforcement officials or regulatory agencies
22 that have an appropriate regulatory interest as determined by
23 the Director. Information and documents disclosed to a
24 federal, State, county, or local law enforcement agency shall
25 not be disclosed by that agency for any purpose to any other
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1 agency or person.
2 (b) A request for information made to the Department or
3 the Ombudsperson under this Act does not constitute a request
4 under the Freedom of Information Act.
5 (c) The confidentiality provisions of this Section do not
6 extend to educational, training, outreach material,
7 statistical data, and operational information maintained by
8 the Department in administering this Act.
9 Section 45. Reports. The Department shall submit an annual
10 written report on the activities of the Office to the General
11 Assembly. The Department shall submit the first report no
12 later than July 1, 2027. Beginning in 2028, the Department
13 shall submit the report no later than October 1 of each year.
14 The report shall include all of the following:
15 (1) annual workload and performance data, including
16 (i) the number of requests for information; (ii) training,
17 education, or other information provided; (iii) the manner
18 in which education and training was conducted; and (iv)
19 the staff time required to provide the training,
20 education, or other information. For each category of
21 data, the report shall provide subtotals based on the type
22 of question or dispute involved in the request; and
23 (2) if relevant information is available, analysis of
24 the most common and serious types of concerns happening in
25 mobile home parks, along with any recommendations for
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1 statutory reform to reduce the frequency or severity of
2 those disputes.
3 Section 50. Rules. The Department may, from time to time,
4 adopt such rules as are necessary for the administration and
5 enforcement of any provision of this Act. Any rule adopted
6 under this Act is subject to the rulemaking provisions of the
7 Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
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