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Bills in Legislature could affect mobile home sales By Jessica Smith Manipulative salespeople, unfair lending practices and retaliatory landlords mean trouble in the manufactured housing industry. A report from state Attorney General Hardy Myers and some 20 bills introduced this year in the Oregon Legislature could mean big changes for people who make, sell and buy manufactured homes. "Certainly, this is the session where legislators are going to know there�s a real problem in the manufactured housing industry," said Jan Margosian, a spokeswoman for the attorney general�s office. "There�s a big imbalance of power between the consumer and the industry. We just want to get that in sync." A task force of more than 150 representatives from every sector of the manufactured housing industry � factories, retailers, lenders and consumers � worked more than a year to identify imbalances in the trade. "The consumers out there today don�t know who to trust," said Tom DeMille, owner of American Mobile Homes in White City. Abusive lenders and dealers have damaged the reputation of an industry that�s filled with hardworking people, said DeMille, who participated in the task force. "I totally understand the problems," he added. "But some of us are just trying to sell something that�s affordable." From the task force�s work, state officials learned, among other things, that some dealers and lenders fail to disclose the real costs associated with buying a manufactured home, including move-in costs and interest rates. Though Myers� report prompted the introduction of seven bills to the Legislature, the fact that individual lawmakers have proposed a slew of bills themselves may mean only the most pressing problems in the manufactured housing industry will be addressed this session. None of the bills address problems mobile home owners have after the sale � particularly what happens when park owners tell them to leave so the land can be sold or converted into something more profitable. In that instance, state law requires park owners to give a year�s notice and pay residents $3,500 � a fraction of the typical cost to move a mobile home. According to Margosian, the attorney general�s office is expected to push for four of the proposed bills: � HB 3684 � Creates a standardized sales contract and requires manufactured home dealers to use it. � HB 2702 � Requires anyone selling a manufactured home to disclose all costs associated with placing a unit in a park. � HB 3917 � Identifies illegal trade practices involving the sale of manufactured dwellings and establishes penalties for violations. � HB 3691 � Establishes a task force to develop a program for licensing and regulating manufactured housing dealers and salespersons. To review drafts of these and other bills, visit the Legislature on the Web at www.leg.state.or.us. For a copy of Myers� report on manufactured housing, visit the attorney general�s office at www.doj.state.or.us on the Web. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.