HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1706

BYRepresentatives Todd, J. Williams, Patrick, Sanders, Nutley, Leonard and Sayan

Amending mobile home dealer licensure requirements.

House Committe on Housing

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  (8)

      Signed by Representatives Nutley, Chair; Leonard, Vice Chair; Armstrong, Barnes, Sanders, Todd, J. Williams and Wineberry.

House Staff:Charlie Gavigan (786-7340)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING FEBRUARY 4, 1988

BACKGROUND:

Dealers and manufacturers of motor vehicles, including mobile or manufactured homes, are regulated by law.  Persons who engage in the business of selling motor vehicles or mobile homes are defined as dealers and are subject to these statutes.  Mobile home park owners who sell mobile homes must meet the dealer requirements, unless the sale is an isolated one and the park owner is the registered or legal owner of the mobile home.

The requirements established for dealers by law include regulations regarding an established place of business.  Other requirements include obtaining a bond, qualifying for and obtaining a dealer's license, and providing warranties.

The director of the Department of Licensing may waive the requirements regarding an established place of business if the waiver is consistent with the purposes of the statutes regulating dealers and if unique circumstances are involved.

SUMMARY:

SUBSTITUTE BILL:  A mobile home park owner who sells mobile homes located on lots within the park can be licensed as a dealer without meeting the following requirements: (1) having a commercial building or office with signs and a display area, (2) remaining open to the public during normal business hours, (3) complying with applicable zoning and land use requirements, and (4) not conducting a business in a dwelling.  Only dealer licensing requirements are affected; local zoning or land use regulations are not changed.

A homeowner in a park who sells his or her mobile home in the park has all the rights available under the landlord-tenant act.

SUBSTITUTE BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL:  Clarification is made that: (1) only dealer licensing requirements are affected; (2) licensing dealers will continue to be a state function, and (3) a homeowner in a park who sells his or her mobile home in the park has all the rights available under the landlord-tenant act.

Fiscal Note:      Requested January 26, 1988.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    John Woodring, Washington Mobile Park Owners Association; and Len Bouge, Washington Mobile Park Owners Association.

House Committee - Testified Against:      Doug Baker, Association of Washington Cities.

House Committee - Testimony For:    Park owners who are also licensed as mobile home dealers can provide additional services to homeowners in their park by selling mobile homes in the park. These dealers should not have to meet all the dealer licensing requirements, such as zoning and place of business, because the park owner/dealer lives in the park.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      The bill may seriously compromise local zoning, and may involve local government in a licensing procedure that is regulated by the state. There are also conflict of interest concerns where the landlord is also the dealer.