House committee advances bill to assign utility repair responsibilities in manufactured-home communities

The House Housing Committee voted 6-1 to release House Bill 39, which would amend Title 25 of the Delaware Code to define maintenance responsibilities for utilities in manufactured-home communities and revise time-computation rules for short statutory periods.

The bill matters because many homeowners who place manufactured homes on leased lots pay lot rent but do not own the land; HB39 would place responsibility for maintaining and repairing underground water, electrical, plumbing, gas, septic and other utilities on the landowner “up to the connection of the home,” while changing how short deadlines are calculated when weekends or legal holidays fall inside the period.

Representative Carson, the bill sponsor, told the committee HB39 "clearly outlines the financial responsibilities between the landowners and the homeowners who pay rent to the landowner in order to place their manufactured homes." Patrick J. McGill, legislative director for the Delaware Manufactured Homeowners Association, urged the committee to approve the bill, saying many homeowners on fixed incomes are not protected when lot rents rise while utility repairs remain their responsibility.

Supporters argued the bill would create a proactive statutory standard rather than continuing a reactive patchwork of responses. Jerome Heiser of the Waverhill Group said he generally supports the bill but urged clearer definitions of the "connection point" so the statute does not create impractical repair duties (for example, digging under a home). Heiser said some repairs commonly are within homeowner responsibility where the utility connection and clean-outs are located immediately adjacent to or inside the home.

Owners and industry representatives asked for clarifying language. Robert Tunnel, who identified himself as a community owner and operator, said that in his parks the community does not own on-site utilities and homeowners contract directly with utilities such as the electric coop, county sewer or communications providers. "We own no utilities," he said, arguing that responsibility often rests with the utility or the homeowner once meters and service lines are installed. Scott Kindrow of the First State Manufactured Housing Association asked the sponsor to allow industry and stakeholders an opportunity to refine interconnection and demarcation language before the bill reaches the House floor.

The bill also revises time-computation rules used in the chapter. Committee discussion described an amendment that would exclude Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays from short deadlines: "Computation does not include Saturday, Sunday, or legal holidays," a committee speaker summarized, and when a statutory period would end on such a day, the deadline would run to the next non-holiday. Committee members discussed whether the threshold for that exclusion should apply to periods of seven days or 12 days (committee comments referenced both figures), and members asked staff to confirm the exact triggering period.

The committee approved a motion to release HB39 by roll call. Rep. Carson moved to release the bill and Rep. Gorman seconded. The roll call recorded six yes votes and one no vote; the committee will circulate the bill to absent members for signatures and, if it receives enough signatures, the measure will be reported out to the House floor.

During the hearing, committee members and outside speakers repeatedly urged clearer statutory demarcations so that homeowners, landowners, utilities and county sewer districts know which party is responsible for repairs and for the cost of those repairs. The committee indicated it expects to work with stakeholders on clarifying amendments should the bill advance.

Votes at a glance

- Motion: Release House Bill 39 to the House (move to report out of committee). Moved by Rep. Carson; seconded by Rep. Gorman. Outcome: approved, 6 yes, 1 no. The bill will be circulated to absent members for signatures; if it receives enough signatures it will be reported to the House floor.

Background and next steps

HB39 is described on the committee agenda as "An act to amend Title 25 of the Delaware Code relating to maintenance and time computation in manufactured home communities." Committee members and stakeholders asked for clarifications about the statute’s geographic and program scope (which communities and hookups fall under Chapter 70), about the precise cutoff point that defines a landowner’s repair duty "up to the connection of the home," and about differences among county sewer districts and private or public utilities. Several industry and owner witnesses requested additional drafting time to create specific demarcation language before the bill proceeds to the House floor.