Title: An act relating to prohibiting certain restrictions on the location of manufactured homes.

Brief Description: Prohibiting restrictions on the location of mobile homes or manufactured homes based exclusively on age and dimensions.

Sponsors: House Committee on Housing (originally sponsored by Representatives Simpson, Schindler, Miloscia, Sells, Chase and Holmquist).

Brief History:

Housing: 1/24/06 [DP2S].

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HOUSING

Majority Report: The second substitute bill be substituted therefor and the second 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: Robyn Dupuis (786-7166).

Background:

Under the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act, owners of manufactured and
mobile home communities are prohibited from preventing the entry of a manufactured or
mobile home for the sole reason that the home has reached a certain age. Homes may be
excluded or expelled for other reasons including failure to comply with fire, safety and other
provisions of local ordinances and state laws.

Currently there is no state law to specifically prohibit local jurisdictions from passing
ordinances restricting the entry of mobile or manufactured homes into mobile home parks or
manufactured housing communities.

Recently passed statutes state that a city, code city or county may not enact any statute or
ordinance that has the effect of discriminating against consumers' choices in the placement or
use of a home in such a manner that is not equally applicable to all homes. However, the law
also allows municipalities to require that manufactured homes be new and that the homes
comply with all local design standards applicable to all other homes within the neighborhood
within which the home is to be located.

Summary of Second Substitute Bill:

No local jurisdiction may enact any statute or ordinance that restricts the location of mobile
homes or manufactured homes in mobile home parks or manufactured housing communities
based exclusively on the age or dimensions of the mobile or manufactured home.

Current statutes (RCW 25.21.684, 35A.21.312 and 36.01.225), which allow jurisdictions to
place age and design criteria on manufactured housing, apply only to housing to be sited
outside of mobile home parks and manufactured home communities.

Second Substitute Bill Compared to Substitute Bill:

The emergency clause is removed and the effective date is changed to 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Effective Date of Second Substitute Bill: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: None.

Testimony Against: None.

Persons Testifying: None.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.