SB218: relative to notice of sale requirements for manufactured housing parks.

SB 218 – AS INTRODUCED

2007 SESSION

07-1294

05/01

SENATE BILL 218

AN ACT relative to notice of sale requirements for manufactured housing parks.

SPONSORS: Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 24

COMMITTEE: Commerce, Labor and Consumer Protection

ANALYSIS

This bill makes a violation of the notice of sale requirements for manufactured housing parks a violation of the consumer protection act. The bill also increases the potential damages for failing to give the required notice and prohibits undisclosed side agreements between a park owner and a buyer.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

07-1294

05/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven

AN ACT relative to notice of sale requirements for manufactured housing parks.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Regulation of Manufactured Housing Parks; Unfair Trade Practice. Amend RSA 205-A:13-a to read as follows:

205-A:13-a Unfair Trade Practice. Any violation of the provisions of RSA 205-A:2 and RSA 205-A:21 shall also constitute an unfair trade practice within the meaning of RSA 358-A and may be enforced as provided in RSA 358-A.

2 New Paragraph; Notice Required Before Sale; Side Agreements Prohibited. Amend RSA 205-A:21 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:

IV. No manufactured housing park owner or purchaser, or their agents, shall enter into any agreement, written or oral, for the purpose of circumventing the provisions of this section by offering to compensate or hold harmless any party to the transaction from losses or liability or other imposition of the provisions of this section. Any resident owned entity or tenant association that presents an offer to purchase in compliance with this subdivision which is not accepted by the seller shall be furnished with a notarized affidavit signed by the park owner and the party whose offer was instead accepted that no such agreement exists.

3 Penalty. Amend RSA 205-A:22, I to read as follows:

I. The owner of a manufactured housing park who sells or transfers a park and willfully fails to comply with RSA 205-A:21 shall be liable to the tenants in the amount of $10,000 or 10 percent of the total sales price. The [total of] minimum damages to all tenants, in the aggregate, shall [not exceed] be $10,000 or 10 percent, whichever is greater, of the total sales price. [This civil penalty shall constitute the sole and exclusive remedy for violation of RSA 205-A:21 and] The failure by a park owner to comply with [said section] RSA 205-A:21 shall not affect the validity of any sale or transfer of title [nor shall such noncompliance constitute grounds to set aside a sale or transfer in any court proceedings. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to permit a tenant to attach the real estate for the penalty established by this section]. Tenants shall be entitled to an award of attorneys fees if temporary injunctive relief is granted, unless it is reversed at a final hearing.

II. Lack of knowledge of this section [by a park owner] shall not be deemed to be a defense to an action for damages based on failure to comply with RSA 205-A:21, I.

4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2008.