Assembly committee hears cleanup, confidentiality and park-notification changes in manufactured housing bill

CARSON CITY — The Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee on Wednesday heard Assembly Bill 38, a technical cleanup and policy adjustment package for manufactured-housing statutes presented by the Nevada Housing Division.

Steve Acroth, administrator of the Nevada Housing Division, told the committee AB38 is “primarily a cleanup bill” that updates phrasing across multiple statutes to reflect modern terms such as “manufactured structures” and “factory-built housing.” Acroth said sections 10 and 11 revise the division’s recovery fund language so people harmed by licensees in repairs — not just purchasers of homes — could be eligible for recovery funds under the statutes as the division reads them.

The bill as introduced also includes provisions on access to lots in manufactured-home communities, landlord responsibilities and lot maintenance. Acroth said the division has posted a proposed friendly amendment that would remove travel trailers from the division’s oversight and add explicit confidentiality protections for complainants in investigations, drawn from language in Title 54 that governs professional licensing investigations.

Why it matters: Committee members and stakeholders said AB38 mainly cleans up inconsistencies that developed after earlier statutory changes, while the recovery fund and confidentiality provisions could change who may seek relief and how investigation records are handled.

During the hearing the Manufactured Home Community Owners Association and the Housing Division jointly presented a friendly amendment that strikes a provision allowing landlord inspections of lots that was taken from apartment law. Mackenzie Warren, counsel for the owners association, said the association and the division agreed to remove the section because apartments and manufactured-home parks operate differently: “The lots are owned by the park” in many communities, she said, and borrowing a provision from NRS 118 (apartments) had unintended consequences.

The friendly amendment also contains ‘‘customer service’’ provisions that add an email address (if available) and allow a single designated contact for owners or representatives. For parks with 75 or more lots the amendment would require at least eight hours a week when a manager is available in an office. It preserves the division’s ability to require notice when a park is sold and changes the notification obligation in the draft from seller to buyer so the new owner will be the party interfacing with the division.

Stakeholders that testified in support included the Nevada Housing Coalition and the Manufactured Home Community Owners Association. David Dazlich of McDonald Carano, representing the manufactured-housing trade association, said the industry had concerns about the originally introduced “contract for sale” wording in sections 12 and 13 but expects the forthcoming amendments will resolve those concerns.

City of Henderson representative Nicole Rourke testified in neutral, thanking the division for agreeing to remove language in section 9 that local governments said could be read to change local building-code jurisdiction.

Committee discussion focused on implementation details of the buyer-notification requirement and whether the division should require proof of title or chain-of-title documentation when a park owner reports a sale. Acroth and the association said they would develop language for a form or regulation to address verification, and committee members suggested the notification could be coordinated through escrow or closing processes used in other property transactions.

No formal vote was recorded during the hearing. The committee closed the hearing on AB38 and moved to the next agenda item.