Amendment #539 to H5562

Relative to manufactured housing

Mr. Honan of Boston moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:

SECTION XX: Section 32R of said chapter 140 is hereby amended by striking out the 222 section in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following new Section 32R:-

Section 32R: Sale or lease of manufactured housing community; homeowners' association; notice; right of first refusal

Section 32R. (a) A manufactured housing community owner shall give notice to each homeowner residing in the manufactured housing community of any intention to sell or lease all or part of the land on which the community is located for any purpose. For the purposes of this section, a homeowner is anyone with an ownership interest in a manufactured home. Such notice shall be mailed by certified mail, with a simultaneous copy to the attorney general, the secretary of housing and livable communities, and the local board of health, within fourteen days after the date on which any advertisement, listing, or public notice is first made that the community is for sale or lease and, in any event, at least sixty days before the sale or lease occurs; provided, that such notice shall also include notice of resident homeowners’ rights under this section;

(b) The community owner shall notify each homeowner residing in the community, with a simultaneous copy to the attorney general, the secretary of housing and livable communities, and the local board of health, by certified mail of any bona fide offer for such a sale or lease that the owner intends to accept. The notice shall include the price, terms and conditions of any offer the owner of the manufactured housing community intends to accept, including a signed copy of the written offer or purchase and sale agreement that contains a description of the property. The community owner may redact the name, address, contact information or other identifying information of the party making the offer. Any notice of the offer required to be given under this subsection shall include the price, calculated as a single lump sum amount which reflects the present value of any installment payments offered and of any promissory notes offered in lieu of cash payment or, in the case of an offer to rent, the capitalized value of the annual rent and the terms and conditions of the offer.

(c) A group or association comprised of the homeowners or residents of at least 51% of the homes that are occupied by the homeowner or by a family member of the homeowner shall have the right to purchase, in the case of a third party bona fide offer to purchase that the community owner intends to accept, or to lease in the case of a third party bona fide offer to lease that the community owner intends to accept, provided

(1) that within 60 days of receipt of the notice of the offer made under subsection (b), the homeowners group or association submits to the community owner reasonable evidence, such as a signed petition showing that at least 51% of homeowners or residents of homes that are occupied by the homeowner or by a family member of the homeowner have approved the exercise of the right of first refusal by such group or association;

(2) that within 60 days of receipt of the notice of the offer made under subsection (b), the group submits to the community owner a proposed or draft purchase and sale agreement or lease agreement on substantially equivalent terms and conditions as the third party bona fide offer the community owner intends to accept; provided that, in the case of a third party bona fide offer with a variable price, the homeowners group or association shall match the lowest price; provided that the deposit on the homeowners' group or association purchase and sale agreement shall not exceed 1% of the purchase price and the homeowners’ group or association shall not be required to carry liability insurance or post bond;

(3) the homeowners’ group or association obtains a binding commitment for any necessary financing or guarantees within an additional ninety days after execution of the purchase and sale agreement or lease, during which time the homeowners’ group or association and their venders shall have the right to investigate the community;

(4) the group closes on such purchase or lease within an additional ninety days after the end of the ninety-day period under clause (3).

A community owner’s signature on a purchase and sale agreement submitted or negotiated by such homeowners’ group or association shall be conclusive and final proof as to the reasonable evidence requirement under subsection (c)(1). Notwithstanding the requirement that the offer from a resident homeowners’ group or association be on substantially equivalent terms and conditions, a manufactured housing community owner may not reject a proposed purchase and sale agreement solely on the basis of the inclusion of a financing contingency. A community owner shall negotiate in good faith with the homeowners’ group or association concerning a purchase offer made under this subsection. No community owner shall unreasonably refuse to enter into or unreasonably delay the execution or closing on a purchase and sale or lease agreement with resident homeowners who have made a bona fide offer to meet the price and substantially equivalent terms and conditions of an offer for which notice is required to be given pursuant to paragraph (b). Failure of the residents to submit such a proposed purchase and sale agreement or lease within the first sixty-day period, to obtain a binding commitment for financing within the additional ninety-day period or to close on the purchase or lease within the second ninety-day period, shall serve to terminate the rights of such resident homeowners to purchase or lease the manufactured housing community. The time periods herein provided may be extended by agreement. Nothing herein shall be construed to require a community owner to provide financing to such resident homeowners except to the extent such financing would be provided to the third party offeror in the case of a sale or lease for a use which would result in a change of use or discontinuance or to prohibit a community owner from requiring such resident homeowners who are offering to lease a community to provide a security deposit, not to exceed the lesser of one-year's rent or the amount which would have been required to be provided by the third party offeror, to be kept in escrow for such purposes during the term of the lease. A group or association of homeowners which has the right to purchase hereunder, at its election, may assign its purchase right hereunder to a city or town, a housing authority, nonprofit, or an agency of the Commonwealth for the purpose of continuing the use of the manufactured housing community.

(d) The right of first refusal created herein shall inure to the homeowners residing in the community for the time periods hereinbefore provided, beginning on the date on the date notice is received by the resident homeowners. The effective period for such right of first refusal shall obtain separately for each substantially different bona fide offer to purchase or lease the community, and for each offer substantially equivalent to an offer made more than three months prior to the later offer; provided however, that in the case of a substantially equivalent offer made by a prospective buyer who has previously made an offer for which notice to residents was required by said paragraph (b), the right of first refusal shall obtain only if such subsequent offer is made more than six months after the earlier offer. The right of first refusal shall not apply with respect to any offer received by the community owner for which a notice is not required pursuant to said paragraph (b). No right of first refusal shall apply to a government taking by eminent domain or negotiated purchase, transfer by gift, devise or operation of law, or a sale to a person who would be an heir at law if there were to be a death intestate of a manufactured housing community owner. The right of first refusal shall apply to a sale of a manufactured housing community in a court-appointed receivership under section 127I of chapter 111 of the General Laws.

(e) In any instance where the resident homeowners of the manufactured housing community are not the successful purchaser or lessee of such manufactured housing community, the seller or lessor of such community shall provide evidence of compliance with this section by filing an affidavit of compliance with the attorney general, the secretary of housing and livable communities, the local board of health, and the official records of the county where the property is located within seven days of the sale or lease of the community. Sellers who do not comply with this section may be subject to a civil penalty assessed by the Commonwealth of not less than 3 per cent nor more than 10 per cent of the purchase price in addition to any other legal remedies. Any lease of five years or less shall specifically require that such lessee shall not discontinue or change the use of the manufactured housing community during the term of such lease.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #539 to H5562

Relative to manufactured housing