Manufactured Home Dealer Setup Responsibilities

PURPOSE: This rule sets forth the extent to which manufactured home dealers are responsible for proper initial setup of new manufactured homes. (1) Manufactured Home Dealer Setup. (A) A dealer who sells a new manufactured home shall arrange for the proper initial setup of the manufactured home unless the dealer obtains from the purchaser or the purchaser’s authorized agent a written waiver of that service as described in section 700.100.3(6), RSMo. (B) As used in this rule, “proper initial setup” means installation and setup of the home in accordance with the installation manual provided by the manufacturer of the home and in complete compliance with 24 CFR section 3285 and with all of the provisions regarding setup in sections 700.010 to 700.115, RSMo. (C) If a dealer fails to arrange for the proper initial setup of a manufactured home, the commission may discipline the dealer’s registration by suspending, revoking, or placing the registration on probation, pursuant to the provisions of section 700.100, RSMo, if the manager provides evidence to the commission, incident to an inspection, under subsections (2)(B) or (2)(C) of this rule, of set up deficiencies. (D) The manager, in consultation with the commission staff director, after attempting to contact the entity involved and documenting consideration of potential mitigating factors, including, but not limited to, the number of similar non-compliance issues, circumstances beyond the entity’s control, and the entity’s responsiveness to commission requirements, may assess a two hundred dollar ($200) inspection fee to dealers that fail to hire commission licensed installers to set up a home. The manager will track fees assessed or waived under this provision, along with any documented consideration of mitigating factors, and compile a quarterly report summarizing such information for review by the commission. (2) Manufactured Home Inspections. (A) A dealer who sells a new manufactured home shall submit to the manufactured housing and modular units program a property locator indicating the destination of the home within five (5) business days of the date the home leaves the dealer’s location or the manufacturer’s location if the home is shipped directly to the consumer. For multi-section homes the five (5) business days begins when the first section leaves the dealer’s or manufacturer’s location. The dealer shall use the property locator form provided by the commission. 1. The manager, in consultation with the commission staff director, after attempting to contact the entity involved and documenting consideration of potential mitigating factors, including, but not limited to, the number of similar non-compliance issues, circumstances beyond the entity’s control, and the entity’s responsiveness to commission requirements, may assess a fifty dollar ($50) per home inspection fee to dealers who fail to submit the property locator within five (5) business days from the due date. The manager will track fees assessed or waived under this provision, along with any documented consideration of mitigating factors, and compile a quarterly report summarizing such information for review by the commission. 2. The manager may commence an action to discipline a dealer’s registration for failure to timely report property locators or make payment upon property locator home inspection fees if the commission has assessed no fewer than two (2) property locator home inspection fees against the dealer within the previous twelve (12) months of the due date of the property locator at issue. (B) The manager will have a period of no more than one (1) year from the delivery date of the home to the consumer to conduct the initial inspection of the home setup. (C) Within two (2) years of the delivery date of the home to the consumer, if no initial inspection was performed pursuant to subsection (2)(B) of this rule, the manager may conduct an inspection of the home for code violations upon the receipt of a formal written complaint by the consumer. (D) A copy of an inspection report from a routine inspection of the setup of a manufactured home, which does not arise from a consumer complaint, shall be transmitted to the manufacturer, installer, or dealer, or each responsible entity, within ten (10) days from the date of the inspection. Should an inspection occur as a result of a consumer complaint, copies of the inspection report will be provided to the complainant, and shall be transmitted to the manufacturer, installer, or dealer, or each responsible entity, within ten (10) days from the date of the inspection. (E) Should an initial inspection identify no code violations, or any re-inspection verify that corrections have been made to address code violations identified on an initial inspection report, the manager shall issue a notice of completion indicating no outstanding issues remain to be addressed. Such notice shall be issued to each responsible entity. A complainant shall also be issued a notice of completion should an initial inspection occur subsequent to a consumer complaint. Such notice shall be issued within twenty (20) days from the date of the final inspection or reinspection. This notice is intended to notify parties when the manager has completed an inspection process, and will not serve to indemnify any responsible party from any future liability. (F) The manager shall submit to the commission any written request for a waiver of fees identified in this subsection, and the commission may grant such a waiver for good cause shown. (3) Manufacturers shall mail or deliver to the manager by the tenth day of each month a report that identifies, by make, model, and serial number, the new manufactured homes to which certification labels have been affixed since the previous report. Such report shall also include the certification label number for each such manufactured home. AUTHORITY: section 700.040, RSMo 2016.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 240120.065. Original rule filed June 12, 2001, effective Jan. 30, 2002. Amended: Filed Aug. 15, 2013, effective March 30, 2014. Amended: Filed July 6, 2017, effective March 30, 2018. Moved to 20 CSR 4240-120.065, effective Aug. 28, 2019. *Original authority: 700.040, RSMo 1973, amended 1976, 1978, 1982, 1984, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1999.