HOUSE BILL REPORT
HB 1393
As Reported by House Committee On:
Housing
Title: An act relating to movement of mobile homes.
Brief Description: Regulating movement of older mobile homes.
Sponsors: Representatives Buri, Grant, Cox, B. Sullivan, Condotta, Dunshee and Chase.
Brief History:
Housing: 2/1/05, 3/1/05 [DPS].
Brief Summary of Substitute Bill |
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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HOUSING
Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 9 members: Representatives Miloscia, Chair; Springer, Vice Chair; Holmquist, Ranking Minority Member; Dunn, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; McCune, Ormsby, Pettigrew, Schindler and Sells.
Staff: CeCe Clynch (786-7168).
Background:
Currently, before moving any mobile home on a public highway, a person is required to
obtain a special permit from the Department of Transportation and local authorities. No
permit or certification is required from the Department of Labor and Industries (Department)
in connection with the movement of a mobile home.
The Department has adopted safety rules for mobile homes. Compliance with Department
safety rules is deemed compliance with county or city ordinances. The Department is also
responsible for establishing uniform installation standards for mobile homes. An installation
inspection, by its nature, occurs after the mobile home has been moved to a new location,
and a safety inspection is generally done at this time.
If a mobile home does not meet the Department rules and standards, the local jurisdiction will
not permit occupancy. Mobile homes which do not meet the safety rules are often abandoned
by their owners at the new location, leaving landowners and local jurisdictions to deal with
disposal.
Summary of Substitute Bill:
A certificate from the Department that mobile homes constructed before 1976 meet
Department safety rules is required before movement of the mobile home on the public
highways. An exception to this requirement, in the form of an affidavit signed under penalty
of perjury by the owner, is made for mobile homes being transferred for disposal. An
exception is also made for owners who sign an affidavit that they are moving the home for
his or her continued occupation or use. No change is made with respect to the timing of an
installation inspection. The amended bill requires that by January 1, 2006, the Department
adopt procedures to notify destination local jurisdictions about the arrival of mobile homes
that failed safety inspections.
In the case of homes manufactured prior to June 15, 1976, the registered owner of a home
must provide notice to a purchaser that failure of the mobile home to meet U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development or Department standards may result in denial of a local
jurisdiction to site the home.
Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date of Substitute Bill: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.
Testimony For: (In support) Some older mobile homes are being dumped when they fail the
safety inspection which is requested by the local jurisdiction to which the mobile home has
been moved. The burden falls on the landowner or the county to get rid of them. It is not
necessarily illegal to sell a mobile home which does not meet with the Departments safety
regulations. The bill would prevent homes which cannot pass the safety inspection from
being moved in the first place and then they would not be abandoned at their destination
point.
(With concerns) Some of the older homes are good quality. A consequence of the bill would
be to strip all equity from these older homes because they would not be able to be moved.
Some mobile home parks have empty spaces and if older homes cannot be moved these
spaces may not be filled and eventually the park will have to close.
Testimony Against: None.
Persons Testifying: (In support) Representative Buri, prime sponsor; and Michael Shaw.
(With concerns) Bruce Neas, Columbia Legal Services; John Woodring, Manufactured
Housing Community of Washington; and Nick Federici, Washington Low Income Housing
Alliance.