NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1979 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 558

HOUSE BILL 799

 

 

AN ACT REWRITING THE UNIFORM STANDARDS CODE FOR MOBILE HOMES.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 143-151 is rewritten to read:

"§ 143-151.  Penalties. — (a) Whoever violates (i) the provisions of this Article; or (ii) any rules promulgated under this Article, shall be liable for civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each violation. Each such violation shall constitute a separate violation with respect to each mobile 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) for any related series of violations occurring within one year from the date of the first violation.

(b)        Any individual, corporation, or a director, officer or agent of a corporation who knowingly and willfully violates this Article or any rules promulgated under this Article in a manner which threatens the health or safety of any purchaser is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."

Sec. 2.  G.S. 143-151.1 is amended by adding the following language at the end:

"The Commissioner, or any of his deputies or employees, upon showing proper credentials and in the discharge of their duties pursuant to this Article, or the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, is authorized at reasonable hours and without advance notice to enter and inspect all factories, warehouses, or establishments in the State of North Carolina in which mobile homes are manufactured."

Sec. 3.  G.S. 143-148 is rewritten to read as follows:

"The Commissioner shall exclude from coverage of this Article any structure which the manufacturer certifies to be excluded under G.S. 143-145(7)."

Sec. 4.  Article 9A of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is amended by adding the following new sections:

"§ 143-151.2.  Fees. — (a) The Commissioner may establish a monitoring inspection fee in an amount established by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. This monitoring inspection fee shall be an amount paid by each mobile home manufacturer in the State for each mobile home produced by the manufacturer in that State.

(b)        The monitoring inspection fee shall be paid by the manufacturer to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or such Secretary's agent, who shall distribute the fees collected from all mobile home manufacturers among the approved and conditionally‑approved states based on the number of mobile homes whose first location after leaving the manufacturing plant is on the premises of a distributor, dealer, or purchaser in that state, and the extent of participation of the State in the joint monitoring team program established under the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974.

"§ 143-151.3.  Reports. — Each manufacturer, distributor, and dealer of mobile homes shall establish and maintain such records, make such reports, and provide such information as the Commissioner or the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may reasonably require to be able to determine whether such manufacturer, distributor, or dealer has acted or is acting in compliance with this Article, or the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 and shall, upon request of a person duly designated by the Commissioner or the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, permit such person to inspect appropriate books, papers, records and documents relevant to determining whether such manufacturer, distributor, or dealer has acted or is acting in compliance with this Article or the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974.

"§ 143-151.4.  Notification of defects. — Every manufacturer of mobile homes shall furnish notification of any defect in any mobile home produced by such manufacturer in accordance with procedures specified by the Commissioner.

"§ 143-151.5.  Prohibited acts. — (a) No person shall:

(1)        manufacture for sale, lease, sell, offer for sale or lease, or introduce or deliver, or import into the United States, any mobile home which is manufactured on or after the effective date of any applicable mobile home construction and safety standard under this Article and which does not comply with such standard, except as provided in subsection (b);

(2)        fail or refuse to permit access to or copying of records, or fail to make reports or provide information, or fail or refuse to permit entry or inspection, as required under this Article;

(3)        fail to furnish notification of any defect as required by G.S. 143-151.4;

(4)        fail to issue a certificate of compliance, or issue a certification to the effect that a mobile home conforms to all applicable mobile home construction and safety standards, if such person in the exercise of due care has reason to know that such certification is false or misleading in a material respect;

(5)        fail to comply with a rule issued by the Commissioner under this Article; or

(6)        issue a certification pursuant to G.S. 143-148(c) if such person in the exercise of due care has reason to know that such certification is false or misleading in a material respect.

(b)      (1)        Paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall not apply to the sale, the offer for sale, or the introduction or delivery of any mobile home after the first purchase of it in good faith for purposes other than resale.

(2)        Paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall not apply to any person who establishes that he did not have reason to know in the exercise of due care that such mobile home was not in conformity with applicable mobile home construction and safety standards, or to any person who, prior to such first purchase, holds a certificate of compliance issued by the manufacturer or importer of such mobile home to the effect that such mobile home conforms to all applicable mobile home construction and safety standards, unless such person knows that such mobile home does not so conform."

Sec. 5.  G.S. 143-146(b) is rewritten to read as follows:

"The Commissioner shall make and promulgate rules embodying the standards for construction or manufacture of mobile homes set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the provisions of the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, as these standards may be amended."

Sec. 6.  G.S. 143-146 is amended by adding a new subsection (e) to read as follows:

"(e)       The Commissioner is authorized to promulgate such rules as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Article and such rules as are necessary to enable the State of North Carolina to assume responsibility for the enforcement of the Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974."

Sec. 7.  If any provisions of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances are held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are declared to be severable.

Sec. 8.  This act shall become effective October 1, 1979.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 14th day of May, 1979.