HB1142 Engrossed LRB096 08678 KTG 18803 b

1     AN ACT concerning business.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Manufactured Housing Buyer Protection Act.
 
6     Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
7     "Consumer" means an individual who purchases or leases for
8 a period of at least one year a new manufactured housing unit
9 from the seller for primarily personal, household, or family
10 purposes.
11     "Express warranty" has the meaning given to that term in
12 the Uniform Commercial Code.
13     "Manufactured home" means a manufactured home as defined in
14 77 Ill. Adm. Code 880.10. The term "manufactured home" shall
15 not include a modular dwelling, which is defined as a building
16 assembly, or system of building sub-assemblies, designed for
17 habitation as a dwelling for one or more persons, including the
18 necessary electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating, and
19 other service systems that is of closed or open construction
20 and is made or assembled by a manufacturer, on or off the
21 building site, for installation, or assembly and installation,
22 on the building site with a permanent foundation.
23     "Nonconformity" refers to a manufactured housing unit's

 

 

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1 failure to conform to all express warranties applicable to that
2 manufactured housing unit, which failure substantially impairs
3 the use, market value, or safety of that manufactured housing
4 unit.
5     "Seller" means the manufacturer of manufactured housing,
6 that manufacturer's agent or distributor, or that
7 manufacturer's authorized dealer.
8     "Statutory warranty period" means the period of one year
9 after the date of the delivery of a manufactured housing unit
10 to the consumer who purchased or leased it.
11     "Lease cost" includes deposits, fees, taxes, down
12 payments, periodic payments, and any other amount paid to a
13 seller by a consumer in connection with the lease of a
14 manufactured housing unit.
 
15     Section 10. Failure of manufactured housing to conform;
16 remedies; presumptions.
17     (a) If, after a reasonable number of attempts, the seller
18 is unable to conform the manufactured housing unit to any of
19 its applicable express warranties, then the manufacturer must
20 either provide the consumer with a new manufactured housing
21 unit of like model line, if available, or otherwise a
22 comparable manufactured housing unit as a replacement, or
23 accept the return of the manufactured housing unit from the
24 consumer and refund to the consumer the full purchase price or
25 lease cost of the new manufactured housing unit, including all

 

 

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1 collateral charges, less a reasonable allowance for consumer
2 use of the manufactured housing unit. For purposes of this
3 Section, "collateral charges" does not include taxes paid by
4 the purchaser on the initial purchase of the new manufactured
5 housing unit. The retailer who initially sold the manufactured
6 housing unit may file a claim for credit for taxes paid
7 pursuant to the terms of Sections 6, 6a, 6b, and 6c of the
8 Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. Should the manufactured housing
9 unit be converted, modified, or altered in a way other than the
10 manufacturer's original design, the party that performed the
11 conversion or modification shall be liable under the provisions
12 of this Act, provided the part or parts causing the
13 manufactured housing unit not to perform according to its
14 warranty were altered or modified.
15     (b) A presumption that a reasonable number of attempts have
16 been undertaken to conform a new manufactured housing unit to
17 its express warranties shall arise where, within the statutory
18 warranty period,
19         (1) the same nonconformity has been subject to repair
20     by the seller, its agents or authorized dealers during the
21     statutory warranty period, 4 or more times, and such
22     nonconformity continues to exist; or
23         (2) the manufactured housing unit has been out of
24     service by reason of repair of nonconformities for a total
25     of 30 or more business days during the statutory warranty
26     period.

 

 

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1     (c) A reasonable allowance for consumer use of a
2 manufactured housing unit is that amount directly attributable
3 to the wear and tear incurred by the new manufactured housing
4 unit as a result of its having been used prior to the first
5 report of a nonconformity to the seller and during any
6 subsequent period in which it is not out of service by reason
7 of repair.
8     (d) The fact that a new manufactured housing unit's failure
9 to conform to an express warranty is the result of abuse,
10 neglect, or unauthorized modifications or alterations is an
11 affirmative defense to claims brought under this Act.
12     (e) The statutory warranty period of a new manufactured
13 housing unit shall be suspended for any period of time during
14 which repair services are not available to the consumer because
15 of a war, invasion or strike, or a fire, flood, or other
16 natural disaster.
17     (f) Refunds made pursuant to this Act shall be made to the
18 consumer, and lienholder if any exists, as their respective
19 interests appear.
20     (g) For the purposes of this Act, a manufacturer sells a
21 new manufactured housing unit to a consumer when he provides
22 that consumer with a replacement manufactured housing unit
23 pursuant to subsection (a).
24     (h) In no event shall the presumption herein provided apply
25 against a manufacturer, his agent, distributor or dealer unless
26 the manufacturer has received prior direct written

 

 

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1 notification from or on behalf of the consumer, and has an
2 opportunity to correct the alleged defect.
 
3     Section 15. Informal settlement procedure.
4     (a) The provisions of subsection (a) of Section 10 shall
5 not apply, unless the consumer has first resorted to an
6 informal settlement procedure applicable to disputes to which
7 that subsection would apply where:
8         (1) the manufacturer of the new manufactured housing
9     unit has established such a procedure;
10         (2) the procedure conforms:
11             (A) substantially with the provisions of Title 16,
12         Code of Federal Regulation, Part 703, as from time to
13         time amended; and
14             (B) to the requirements of subsection (c); and
15         (3) The consumer has received from the seller adequate
16     written notice of the existence of the procedure. Adequate
17     written notice includes but is not limited to the
18     incorporation of the informal dispute settlement procedure
19     into the terms of the written warranty to which the
20     manufactured housing unit does not conform.
21     (b) If the consumer is dissatisfied with the decision
22 reached in an informal dispute settlement procedure or the
23 results of such a decision, he may bring a civil action to
24 enforce his rights under subsection (a) of Section 3. The
25 decision reached in the informal dispute settlement procedure

 

 

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1 is admissible in such a civil action. The period of limitations
2 for a civil action to enforce a consumer's rights or remedies
3 under subsection (a) of Section 3 shall be extended for a
4 period equal to the number of days the subject matter of the
5 civil action was pending in the informal dispute settlement
6 procedure.
7     (c) A disclosure of the decision in an informal dispute
8 settlement procedure shall include notice to the consumer of
9 the provisions of subsection (b).
 
10     Section 20. Election to proceed and settle. Persons
11 electing to proceed and settle under this Act are barred from a
12 separate cause of action under the Uniform Commercial Code.
 
13     Section 25. Commencement of action. Any action brought
14 under this Act must be commenced within 18 months following the
15 date of original delivery of the manufactured housing unit to
16 the consumer.
 
17     Section 30. Written statement. The seller who sells a new
18 manufactured housing unit to a consumer, must, upon delivery of
19 that manufactured housing unit to the consumer, provide the
20 consumer with a written statement clearly and conspicuously
21 setting forth in full detail the consumer's rights under
22 subsection (a) of Section 10, and the presumptions created by
23 subsection (b) of that Section.
 

 

 

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1     Section 35. Application of Act. This Act shall apply to
2 manufactured housing sold after the effective date of this Act.