Current through Register 1518, March 29, 2024
(1)
General.
(a) An operator shall not limit a
manufactured homeowner's right to sell or encumber a manufactured home, or
require a manufactured homeowner to remove a home from the manufactured
community because of the sale of the home.
(b) An operator shall not condition its
approval of residency of a purchaser on payment by the selling homeowner of
monies lawfully withheld under M.G.L. c. 239, § 8A. An operator shall not
charge or collect from a succeeding manufactured homeowner or resident any
rent, taxes or other charges relating to a prior owner's ownership of the home
or occupancy of the manufactured home site.
(c) An operator shall not make any false,
deceptive, or misleading representation to discourage a potential buyer from
purchasing a home from a homeowner in the community. Where the operator
discloses that a notice of discontinuance has been issued to community
residents, the operator must also disclose the existence of and nature of any
legal challenge to the issuance of the notice, and any related judicial rulings
that have attacked the validity of the notice.
(d) A licensee may have a lien upon a
manufactured home as provided in M.G.L. c. 140, § 32J, upon a manufactured
home and the contents thereof, as provided in M.G.L. c. 255, § 25A, or if
otherwise authorized by a court of law, but it shall be an unfair or deceptive
practice to fail to disclose to a prospective purchaser of a manufactured home
the existence of a lien placed by or on behalf of an operator on such
home.
(e) A licensee may require a
homeowner to provide notice of an intended sale at least 30 days prior to its
execution.
(2)
Residency Application by Purchaser. Upon the sale or proposed sale
of a manufactured home by the homeowner, the operator shall consent to entrance
by the purchaser and members of the purchaser's household if the purchaser
meets the currently enforceable rules of the manufactured housing community and
provides reasonable evidence of financial ability to pay the rent and other
charges associated with the tenancy in question. An operator shall not reject
the application or prohibit the sale because the applicant owns another home in
the community or leases another site in the community. Any application for
residency shall be deemed approved if the operator fails, within ten days of
receipt of the application, to notify the applicant of its rejection of the
application and the reasons for the rejection. If such application is not
timely rejected, then the purchaser shall have the right to assume the
obligations thereafter arising under any continuing occupancy agreement of a
current resident then in effect or, if such occupancy agreement has expired, to
enter into a new occupancy agreement on terms satisfactory to the operator and
purchaser and not inconsistent with
940 CMR 10.00.
(3)
Broker. No operator or
manufactured home dealer shall:
(a) require a
resident to designate the operator, the manufactured home dealer, or any
designee thereof, as broker or agent for any sale, sublease or lease
assignment; or
(b) restrict the
manufactured homeowner in undertaking such a transaction directly or through a
broker or agent of the homeowner's choosing.
(4)
Fees or Commissions. No
operator, manufactured home dealer, or agent shall impose any fee (which is to
be passed, directly or indirectly, to the operator) as a condition to the sale,
lease or other transaction involving a manufactured home unless such person has
entered into a separate written contract for, and rendered, brokerage services
in connection with such transaction and the fee or change is reasonable in
relation to the services provided. No commission or fee paid to an operator for
the sale of a manufactured home shall exceed ten percent of the sale
price.
(5)
"For Sale
" Signs. An operator shall not prohibit a homeowner from placing
on their manufactured home or manufactured home site commercially reasonable
"for sale" or "for lease" signs. An operator may not require that any such
signs display the community logo or contain information directing an interested
buyer to the community sales or management office, except pursuant to any
exclusive brokerage contract the homeowner enters into with the operator for
the sale of the home.
(6)
Condition of Home on Sale. An operator shall not reject the
application for residency of a prospective purchaser of a tenant's home:
(a) because of the age of the home;
and
(b) because the home, if built
before June 15, 1976, does not comply with federal standards for construction
of manufactured housing that became effective on that date and are administered
by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; or
(c) because the external condition of the
home or site does not comply with community rules, unless before the home was
offered for sale the operator specified in writing the area(s) of noncompliance
with community rules and gave the homeowner a reasonable opportunity to bring
the home into compliance and the homeowner failed to do so.
(7)
Operator's Right of
First Refusal. A right of first refusal granted to an operator or
manufactured home dealer or designee thereof shall be enforceable only if:
(a) it is based on the full amount of the
bona fide third party offer;
(b)
the operator must accept or reject the offer within 15 days;
(c) the sale will take place on the terms set
forth in the third-party offer;
(d)
if the operator fails to timely accept the offer and the third-party offer is
not consummated, the selling homeowner shall not be required to submit a
subsequent third-party offer made within one year and unless a price is
materially reduced; and
(e) the
right of first refusal shall not apply to any transfer to members of the
homeowner's family, including, but not limited to, step-relatives and domestic
partners.
