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Senate committee advances bill to speed conversion of manufactured homes to real property
Summary
The Georgia Senate Banks and Banking Committee advanced legislation that would ease lender sign-off requirements when converting manufactured homes to real property, a change supporters say could lower long-term financing costs for owners.
Senator Russ Goodman, appearing before the Georgia Senate Banks and Banking Committee, presented a bill to change how manufactured homes are converted from chattel to real property and the committee voted to advance the measure.
Goodman said the Senate measure carries identical language to House Bill 377, sponsored by Representative Rob Leverett, and told the committee, "You've already passed this bill out unanimously." He described delays caused by a requirement that the home owner obtain lender sign-off before conversion and said the change could lower borrowing costs for many homeowners.
The senator told members that households in the state have a median income of about $74,000 and contrasted typical financing terms: a traditional 30-year mortgage at about 7.5% versus a chattel loan on mobile-homes that he said runs roughly 15 years at about 12.5%, which he estimated can mean nearly $8,000 a year in higher payments for affected households.
Committee members asked whether the Senate language differed from Representative Leverett's House bill; Goodman said the language is "the exact same language" as the House version. After brief remarks and a motion and second to advance the bill, the chair asked for voices in favor; no opposition was voiced on the record and the committee proceeded to close the item.
The discussion recorded focused on removing or easing the lender sign-off step to reduce delays and potentially allow homeowners to access longer-term, lower-rate mortgages once their manufactured home is converted to real property. The transcript does not include detailed motion text, named movers or a roll-call vote count; the committee chair called for ayes and no on-record opposition was noted.
The committee did not in the recorded exchange specify next steps for the bill beyond advancing it, nor did members discuss implementation details such as administrative rules or the process lenders would follow after any statutory change.
