Civil and Criminal Penalties

Civil and Criminal Penalties When any provision of “The Uniform Standards Code for Factory-Built Homes Law,” codified at Mississippi Code Ann., Section 75-49-1, et seq., is violated, the State Fire Marshal, the State Chief Deputy Fire Marshal, State Deputy Fire Marshals, or a duly authorized representative thereof shall file an appropriate action as set forth in Mississippi Code Ann., Section 75-49-13 and Section 75-49-19. The penalties include: 1. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any of the provisions of the applicable Mississippi law and this Regulation shall be liable to the State of Mississippi for a civil penalty of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for each such violation. Each violation of a provision of the applicable law and this Regulation made hereunder shall constitute a separate violation with respect to each factory built home or with respect to each failure or refusal to allow or perform an act required thereby, except that the maximum civil penalty may not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) for any related series of violations occurring within one (1) year from the date of the first violation. 2. An individual, or a director, officer or agent of a corporation, who knowingly and willfully violates any of the provisions of the applicable law or this Regulation in a manner which threatens the health and safety of any purchaser of a factory built home is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof by a court of competent jurisdiction, shall be fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisoned not more than one (1) year, or both. 3. This penalty shall not apply to any person who establishes that he did not have reason to know, in the exercise of due care, that such Factory-Built modular home was not in conformity with applicable factory-built construction and safety standards, or to any person who, before such first purchase, holds a certificate issued by the manufacturer or importer of such Factory-Built modular home to the effect that such Factory-Built modular home conforms to all applicable Factory- Built modular home construction and safety standards, unless such person knows that such Factory-Built modular home does not so conform. 4. An individual, or director, officer or agent of a corporation, who knowingly and willfully fails to obtain a required license in accordance with the applicable Mississippi law and this Regulation, and who knowingly and willfully violates any provisions of the applicable Mississippi law and this Regulation or any amended rules and regulations made hereafter, with respect to the manufacture, sale, distribution, safe anchoring, and blocking of a factory built home when such home is intended to be used for human habitation, shall, upon conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisoned not more than one (1) year, or both.