81R4092 JAM-F
By: Eltife S.B. No. 1856
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. The board
shall adopt rules to facilitate the use of electronic means for any
department action under this chapter, as appropriate.
SECTION 2. 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 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 3. 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 4. Section 1201.116(c), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The renewal license expires on the second [first]
anniversary of the date the license was renewed.
SECTION 5. 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 the
[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 6. Sections 1201.206(g) and (k), Occupations Code,
are 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, either the seller or the
office of the tax assessor-collector shall also file with the
department evidence [a statement] from the tax assessor-collector
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.
(k) Notwithstanding any provision in this chapter to the
contrary, the department may issue a statement of ownership and
location to any [if a] person who has acquired a manufactured home
and who claims ownership of that home if:
(1) there is not an existing owner of record for the
home or the existing owner of record for the home or an [any]
intervening holder [owners] of a lien [liens] or equitable interest
on the home [interests] cannot be located to assist in documenting
the chain of title; and
(2) [, the department may issue a statement of
ownership and location to the person claiming ownership if] the
person can provide a supporting affidavit describing the chain of
title and any [such] reasonable supporting proof as the director
may require.
SECTION 7. 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 and
lienholders [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 identity of the owner of record or a
lienholder, 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 8. 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, 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.
SECTION 9. 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 10. Section 1201.2055(b), Occupations Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 11. (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(c), Occupations Code,
as amended by this Act, apply only to a license that expires on or
after the effective date of this Act. A license that expires 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) Sections 1201.206(g) and (k), Occupations Code, as
amended by this Act, apply 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 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.