House Bill 5847
Sponsor: Rep. Valde Garcia
Committee: Economic Development
Complete to 10-27-00
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 5847 AS INTRODUCED 5-25-00
House Bill 5847 would amend the Mobile Home Commission Act (MCL 125.2301 et al.) to change all references to mobile homes within the act to "manufactured housing or homes." Thus, the act would be the "Manufactured Housing Commission Act," and mobile home parks would be referred to as "manufactured home parks." The bill would also revise references to certain agencies: references to the Department of Commerce would be replaced with references to the Department Consumer and Industry Services to reflect that agency's name change, and references to the Department of Public Health would be changed to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to reflect changes in departmental duties. In addition, the bill would require a manufactured home park to use a local municipality's water supply and sewage service when one had been established and was accessible, and would require a manufactured home park to use a local municipality's system if the park made a substantial change to its system.
Manufactured Housing. Under the bill, a "manufactured home" would refer to a structure, transportable in one or more section, that is built on a chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained in the structure. The definition of manufactured home would also include the definition included in Section 603(6) of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act, Title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act (Public Law 953-383, 42 USC 5402.[6]).
Water Supply and Sewage Service. The bill would specify that a manufactured home park developer or seasonal manufactured home park developer would have to use a local municipality's system for water supply and sewage service if one had been established and was accessible. However, if a local municipality established a system for water supply or sewage service after the manufactured home park or seasonal manufactured home park had been constructed, then the park would have to use the local municipality's system only if the park made a substantial change to the system.
Inspection Fee. Currently, the act specifies that the fee charged by a park owner or operator to inspect a home before sale cannot be more than $30 or the amount charged for building permit inspections by the local municipality, whichever is higher. The bill would amend this to specify only that the fee could not be more than $30.
Tie-bar. House Bill 5847 is tie-barred to House Bill 5822, which would require a municipal treasurer to transmit $2 of the $3 monthly specific tax on each mobile home to the school district in which the home was located, to pay any of the school district's bonded indebtedness or to be expended in the same manner as money from the district's sinking fund.
Repealer. Section 49 of the act states that "this act [Public Act 96 of 1987] is intended "to eliminate confusion with respect to the legal status of Public Act 419 of 1976, as a result of Attorney General Opinion 6438 of 1987." The 1987 act reenacted the Mobile Home Commission Act after an earlier attempt to extend the act's sunset date was declared unconstitutional by the attorney general, due to a defect in the act's title. Section 49 is a declaration of the legislature's intent to cure the defect and validate the mobile home commission's existence and actions during the period of uncertainty. House Bill 5847 would repeal Section 49.
Analyst: R. Young