Manufactured Housing Tenant’s Bill of Rights Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3333 To ensure that federally backed financing for the construction, rehabilitation, or purchase of manufactured home communities is available only for communities whose owner has implemented minimum consumer protec- tions in the lease agreements with residents of all manufactured home communities owned by such owner, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 19, 2021 Mrs. AXNE (for herself and Mr. KHANNA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To ensure that federally backed financing for the construc- tion, rehabilitation, or purchase of manufactured home communities is available only for communities whose owner has implemented minimum consumer protections in the lease agreements with residents of all manufac- tured home communities owned by such owner, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Manufactured Housing 4 Tenant’s Bill of Rights Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3333.IH H3333 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3333 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR COVERED LOAN PROGRAMS. 1 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—No loan shall be eligible for in- 2 surance by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- 3 ment or purchase by an enterprise (as such term is defined 4 in section 1303 of the Housing and Community Develop- 5 ment Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4502)), as applicable, under 6 a covered loan program (as such term is defined under 7 section 4 of this Act) unless— 8 (1) the borrower under the loan certifies to the 9 Secretary or the applicable enterprise that the bor- 10 rower will include, in any lease agreement for a pad 11 site, or a pad site and manufactured home, located 12 in any manufactured home community that the bor- 13 rower or an affiliate of the borrower owns, the min- 14 imum consumer protections specified in subsection 15 (b) of this section; and 16 (2) the borrower complies with regulations, 17 which shall be issued by the Secretary or the Direc- 18 tor, as applicable, that require the borrower to sub- 19 mit documentation to the Secretary, or to the appli- 20 cable enterprise and Director that is sufficient, as 21 determined by the Secretary or Director, to ensure 22 that the borrower is complying with the certification 23 pursuant to paragraph (1), which shall include a 24 copy of the standard lease agreement used by the 25 borrower that includes such minimum protections. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3333.IH H3333 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3333 IH (b) MINIMUM CONSUMER PROTECTIONS.—The min- 1 imum consumer protections specified in this subsection are 2 as follows: 3 (1) One-year lease terms that are renewable for 4 additional one-year terms unless there is good cause 5 for non-renewal. 6 (2) A right to receive written notice of any 7 newly required charges (including water and other 8 utilities) or increase in the rents for pad sites, or 9 pad sites and manufactured homes, located in the 10 community, including a written justification of the 11 increase with information on increases in the costs 12 of operating, maintaining, or improving the commu- 13 nity. Such notice shall be provided to the tenant not 14 less than 60 days before the effective date of any 15 newly required charge or increase in the rents, ex- 16 cept that— 17 (A) in the case of any increase exceeding 18 5 percent of the previous monthly rent, an addi- 19 tional 30-days notice must be provided for each 20 additional 2.5-percent increase in the rent. 21 (B) Such notice must also include identi- 22 fication of the amount of, and a description of, 23 any newly required charges (including water 24 and other utilities) that the tenant is not cur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3333.IH H3333 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3333 IH rently responsible for but will be responsible for 1 upon the rent increase and, if available, an esti- 2 mate of the monthly amount of such charges. 3 (C) MONTHLY RENT.—For purposes of the 4 calculation in subparagraph (A), the amount of 5 any increase in the monthly rent for a dwelling 6 unit shall be considered to include any newly re- 7 quired charges described in subparagraph (B), 8 and any charges without an estimate of the 9 monthly amount shall be estimated at 5 percent 10 of the previous monthly rent. 11 (3) A 5-day grace period for rent payments. 12 (4) A right to cure defaults on rent payments. 13 (5) A right for a tenant to sell a manufactured 14 home owned by the tenant without having to first re- 15 locate it out of the community. 16 (6) A right for a tenant to sell a manufactured 17 home owned by the tenant in place within a reason- 18 able time period, but not shorter than 45 days, after 19 eviction by the manufactured housing community 20 owner. 21 (7) A right for a tenant who owns a manufac- 22 tured home— 23 (A) to sublease or assign the pad site lease 24 for the unexpired term to a new buyer of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3333.IH H3333 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3333 IH tenant’s manufactured home unless the pro- 1 spective tenant fails to meet the community’s 2 reasonable and uniformly applied application 3 criteria; and 4 (B) in such a case of denial, a right to 5 written notice provided by the owner of the 6 community informing the tenant of the denial 7 and the prospective tenant of the denial and the 8 specific reason or reasons for denial. 9 (8) A right for a tenant who owns a manufac- 10 tured home to post ‘‘For Sale’’ signs. 11 (9) A right to receive 60-day advance written 12 notice of the planned sale or closure of the manufac- 13 tured housing community. 14 (10)(A) A right against termination of tenancy 15 except in cases in which a tenant engages in a mate- 16 rial noncompliance with the rental agreement, a ten- 17 ant commits a material violation of the manufac- 18 tured home community reasonable rules or regula- 19 tions, or the community has a material, legitimate, 20 and uniformly applied business reason for termi- 21 nation that was included in the lease agreement as 22 grounds for termination. 23 (B) In such a case of termination, a right to 24 written notice provided by the owner of the commu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3333.IH H3333 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3333 IH nity informing the tenant of the termination and the 1 specific reason or reasons for termination. 2 Nothing in this subsection may be construed to annul, 3 alter, or affect any State or local law providing greater 4 protections to tenants of manufactured home communities 5 than the protections afforded under this subsection. 6 (c) PRICING INCENTIVES.—Any covered pricing in- 7 centive offered for loans issued after the date of the enact- 8 ment of this Act shall reward implementation of resident 9 protections that are more protective than those specified 10 in subsection (b). Any covered pricing incentive that does 11 not comply with this requirement may not be offered for 12 any loan issued after the date of the enactment of this 13 Act. 14 (d) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary and Director shall 15 make the list of properties covered by the protections in 16 subsection (b) publicly available on a single website. Prop- 17 erties which are covered as of the date of enactment by 18 the Federal National Mortgage Association’s Tenant Site 19 Lease Protections or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage 20 Corporation’s MHC Tenant Protections shall also be made 21 publicly available, and shall include an explanation of the 22 differences between those protections and the minimum 23 consumer protections in subsection (b). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3333.IH H3333 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3333 IH (e) PENALTIES.—The Secretary and Director shall 1 prohibit the borrower or an affiliate of the borrower from 2 securing future federally backed financing or other hous- 3 ing-related Federal assistance for at least 3 years, and 4 shall also determine appropriate penalties for any bor- 5 rower who fails to include the consumer protections in sub- 6 section (b) in any lease agreement, or fails to comply with 7 a lease agreement including the protections in subsection 8 (b). Such penalties shall be in addition to minimum pay- 9 ments to the injured tenant(s) as follows: 10 (1) For a violation of paragraph (1) or (10), 6 11 months of the current monthly rent. 12 (2) For a violation of paragraph (2), any in- 13 creased rent must be paid back to the tenant with 14 interest, plus 25 percent. 15 (3) For a violation of paragraph (3), any pen- 16 alties or late fees must be paid back to the tenant 17 with interest, plus 25 percent. 18 (4) For a violation of paragraph (4), (5), or 19 (6), the greater of the sale price of the manufac- 20 tured home if the borrower or an affiliate sells it 21 within 12 months of the violation or 12 months of 22 the prior monthly rent. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3333.IH H3333 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3333 IH (5) For a violation of paragraph (7) or (8), the 1 total remaining monthly rent owed on the tenant’s 2 lease. 3 (6) For a violation of paragraph (9), the great- 4 er of 12 months rent, or 20 percent of the sale price 5 of the community divided by the number of tenants 6 in the manufactured housing community. 7 SEC. 3. MANUFACTURED HOME COMPANY LENDING STAND- 8 ARDS COMMISSION. 9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com- 10 mission to be known as the Manufactured Home Company 11 Lending Standards Commission (in this section referred 12 to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 13 (b) DUTIES.— 14 (1) PROPOSED STANDARDS.—Not later than 15 the expiration of the 12-month period beginning on 16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis- 17 sion shall submit to the Congress, the Secretary of 18 Housing and Urban Development, and the Director 19 of the Federal Housing Finance Agency a report 20 that sets forth proposed consumer protection stand- 21 ards for the covered loan programs that— 22 (A) are in addition to and provide greater 23 protection than the requirements under section 24 2(b); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3333.IH H3333 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3333 IH (B) could be used as a basis for estab- 1 lishing covered pricing incentives under the cov- 2 ered loan programs that comply with section 3 2(c). 4 (2) STANDARD FOR DETERMINATIONS.—Any 5 determination by the Commission to approve a con- 6 sumer protection in the proposed standards required 7 under paragraph (1) shall be made by a vote of a 8 simple majority of the members of the Commission. 9 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 10 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com- 11 mission shall be composed of 14 members, as fol- 12 lows: 13 (A) The Secretary of Housing and Urban 14 Development (or the Secretary’s designee). 15 (B) The Director of the Federal Housing 16 Finance Agency (or the Director’s designee). 17 (C) Three each shall be appointed by the 18 Speaker of the House of Representatives, the 19 minority leader of the House of Representa- 20 tives, the majority leader of the Senate, and the 21 minority leader of the Senate. Of the three 22 members appointed by each such officer— 23 (i) one shall be employed at the time 24 of appointment as a professor or academic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3333.IH H3333 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3333 IH researcher with demonstrated background 1 in housing and consumer protection issues, 2 especially as they relate to manufactured 3 housing; 4 (ii) one shall be a current or former 5 member of Congress; and 6 (iii) one shall be a current resident 7 and tenant at a manufactured housing 8 community. 9 (2) CHAIRPERSON AND CO-CHAIRPERSON.— 10 (A) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of 11 the Commission shall be designated by the 12 President from among the members of the 13 Commission. 14 (B) CO-CHAIRPERSON.—The co-chairper- 15 son shall be selected as follows: 16 (i) DESIGNATION BY SPEAKER OF 17 THE HOUSE.—If, on the date of appoint- 18 ment, the Speaker of the House is of a dif- 19 ferent political party than the President, 20 the Speaker of the House shall designate 21 the co-chairperson from among the mem- 22 bers of the Commission. 23 (ii) DESIGNATION BY MINORITY LEAD- 24 ER OF THE HOUSE.—If, on the date of ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3333.IH H3333 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3333 IH pointment, the Speaker of the House is of 1 the same political party as the President, 2 the minority leader of the House shall des- 3 ignate the co-chairperson from among the 4 members of the Commission. 5 (3) TIMING OF APPOINTMENTS.—Appointments 6 to the Commission shall be made not later than 45 7 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 8 (4) TERMS; VACANCIES.—Each member shall be 9 appointed for the life of the Commission. Any va- 10 cancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers 11 and shall be filled within 45 days of the vacancy in 12 the manner in which the original appointment was 13 made. 14 (5) HEARINGS.—In carrying out its duties 15 under this section, the Commission is authorized to 16 hold such hearings and take testimony with respect 17 to matters to which it has a responsibility under this 18 section. The chairperson, or any member authorized 19 by the chairperson, may administer oaths or affirma- 20 tions to witnesses appearing before the Commission. 21 (6) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION.—Mem- 22 bers of the Commission shall serve without pay. 23 (d) OPERATION AND POWERS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3333.IH H3333 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3333 IH (1) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet 1 not later than 30 days after the date upon which a 2 majority of its members have been appointed and at 3 such times thereafter as the chairperson or co-chair- 4 person shall determine. Detailed minute [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]