NC MH Bills Progress

North Carolina’s General Assembly gave substantial attention yesterday to a bill that would impact the fates of manufactured housing residents.

H1700, a bill sponsored by Susan Fisher that would provide a financial incentive to park owners to sell to resident or non-profit groups, made some progress in Judiciary II.  The bill was held up by its notice provision, which had stipulated that park owners should communicate in writing via US mail to each resident prior to a sale.

According to one MH industry leader, this triggers some concerns over property rights.

An alternative was put forward that only requires notice in the event of a change in use.  In other words, no notice is required if a park is sold to another private group that wants to maintain the park as is.  If a park owner wants to sell to a big box retailer, though, then a notice is required.

Advocates and industry express doubts about the difference that this would ultimately make — after all, no resident group is going to be able to match the kind of offer that a Wal-Mart of Home Depot could make for land that it would repurpose into a large commercial center.

No, a useful bill should probably preserve the notice provision for parks for exactly the opposite set of parks — those that are likely to remain in their current status.  These are the ones whose prices can reasonably be met by non-profits.  In North Carolina, that might be parks up to $2 million.