Requirements before a sale or other transfer of a manufactured and mobile home community, providing an exemption from the real estate transfer fee, and providing a penalty

The bill requires WHEDA, upon request by an association, to assist the association in obtaining financing and to provide technical assistance. The bill requires the owner to allow an association, its technical assistance provider, and any prospective lender to have access to information regarding the community that the owner has provided or would have provided to a prospective purchaser of the community, such as the terms of any assumable financing, improvements to be made to the property by the owner in connection with the sale, the appraised value of the property, hazardous waste data, and income and operating expense information.

Some of the information must be made available at any time after the owner has given notice to the residents, but some information need not be provided before the owner accepts an offer to purchase from the association.

Under the bill, if an association makes a timely offer to purchase but the association and owner do not reach an agreement on the purchase and, as a result, the community will be retired from the rental housing market, the owner must provide 120 days' notice of this to the residents.

The bill makes any owner that sells or otherwise transfers ownership of a community without complying with the requirements of the bill liable to the residents, in equal shares, in the amount of $50,000 or 50 percent of the gain realized by the owner from the sale or other transfer, whichever is greater; any resident may bring an action to enforce the liability. In addition, any resident may bring an action for an injunction or actual damages. The bill also makes selling or otherwise transferring a community in violation of the requirements under the bill an unfair method of competition or an unfair trade practice. Generally, under current law, unfair methods of competition and unfair trade practices are subject to enforcement actions by the Department of Justice or the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and to private actions for damages.

Under current law, if the owner or operator of a community seeks to retire the community permanently from the rental housing market, the owner or operator may terminate the tenancies of residents and occupants of the community by giving notice to vacate 5, 14, or 30 days after giving the notice, depending on the length of a resident's or occupant's lease. The bill changes the length of the notice that must be given to a resident or occupant in this situation to 120 days.

Because this bill relates to an exemption from state or local taxes, it may be referred to the Joint Survey Committee on Tax Exemptions for a report to be printed as an appendix to the bill.