I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7386 

To ensure that federally backed financing for the construction, rehabilitation, 

or purchase of manufactured home communities is available only for 

communities whose owner has implemented minimum consumer protections in the lease agreements with residents of all manufactured home 

communities owned by such owner, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2020 

Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself, Mrs. AXNE, and Mr. LOEBSACK) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To ensure that federally backed financing for the construction, rehabilitation, or purchase of manufactured home 

communities is available only for communities whose 

owner has implemented minimum consumer protections 

in the lease agreements with residents of all manufactured home communities owned by such owner, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Owners Meet 

3 Essential Standards Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘HOMES Act 

4 of 2020’’. 

5 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR COVERED LOAN PROGRAMS. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—No loan shall be eligible for in7 surance by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop8 ment or purchase by an enterprise (as such term is defined 

9 in section 1303 of the Housing and Community Develop10 ment Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4502)), as applicable, under 

11 a covered loan program (as such term is defined under 

12 section 4 of this Act) unless— 

13 (1) the borrower under the loan certifies to the 

14 Secretary or the applicable enterprise that the bor15 rower will include, in any lease agreement for a pad 

16 site, or a pad site and manufactured home, located 

17 in any manufactured home community that the bor18 rower or an affiliate of the borrower owns, the min19 imum consumer protections specified in subsection 

20 (b) of this section; and 

21 (2) the borrower complies with regulations, 

22 which shall be issued by the Secretary or the Direc23 tor of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as ap24 plicable, that require the borrower to submit docu25 mentation to the Secretary or the applicable enter26 prise that is sufficient, as determined by the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7386.IH H7386

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1 retary or applicable enterprise, to ensure that the 

2 borrower is complying with the certification pursu3 ant to paragraph (1), which shall include a copy of 

4 the standard lease agreement used by the borrower 

5 that includes such minimum protections. 

6 (b) MINIMUM CONSUMER PROTECTIONS.—The min7 imum consumer protections specified in this subsection are 

8 as follows: 

9 (1) One-year lease terms that are renewable for 

10 additional one-year terms unless there is good cause 

11 for non-renewal. 

12 (2) A right to receive 60-day advance written 

13 notice of any increase in the rents for pad sites, or 

14 pad sites and manufactured homes, located in the 

15 community, including a written justification of the 

16 increase with information on increases in the costs 

17 of operating, maintaining, or improving the commu18 nity. 

19 (3) A 5-day grace period for rent payments. 

20 (4) A right to cure defaults on rent payments. 

21 (5) A right for a tenant to sell a manufactured 

22 home owned by the tenant without having to first re23 locate it out of the community. 

24 (6) A right for a tenant to sell a manufactured 

25 home owned by the tenant in place within a reasonVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7386.IH H7386

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1 able time period, but not shorter than 45 days, after 

2 eviction by the manufactured housing community 

3 owner. 

4 (7) A right for a tenant who owns a manufac5 tured home— 

6 (A) to sublease or assign the pad site lease 

7 for the unexpired term to a new buyer of the 

8 tenant’s manufactured home unless the pro9 spective tenant fails to meet the community’s 

10 reasonable and uniformly applied application 

11 criteria; and 

12 (B) in such a case of denial, a right to 

13 written notice provided by the owner of the 

14 community informing the tenant of the denial 

15 and the prospective tenant of the denial and the 

16 specific reason or reasons for denial. 

17 (8) A right for a tenant who owns a manufac18 tured home to post ‘‘For Sale’’ signs. 

19 (9) A right to receive 60-day advance written 

20 notice of the planned sale or closure of the manufac21 tured housing community. 

22 (10)(A) A right against termination of tenancy 

23 except in cases in which a tenant engages in a mate24 rial noncompliance with the rental agreement, a ten25 ant commits a material violation of the manufacVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7386.IH H7386

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1 tured home community reasonable rules or regula2 tions, or the community has a material, legitimate, 

3 and uniformly applied business reason for termi4 nation that was included in the lease agreement as 

5 grounds for termination. 

6 (B) In such a case of termination, a right to 

7 written notice provided by the owner of the commu8 nity informing the tenant of the termination and the 

9 specific reason or reasons for termination. 

10 Nothing in this subsection may be construed to annul, 

11 alter, or affect any State or local law providing greater 

12 protections to tenants of manufactured home communities 

13 than the protections afforded under this subsection. 

14 (c) PRICING INCENTIVES.—Any covered pricing in15 centive offered for loans issued after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act shall reward implementation of resident 

17 protections that are more protective than those specified 

18 in subsection (b). Any covered pricing incentive that does 

19 not comply with this requirement may not be offered for 

20 any loan issued after the date of the enactment of this 

21 Act. 

22 SEC. 3. MANUFACTURED HOME COMPANY LENDING STAND23 ARDS COMMISSION. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com25 mission to be known as the Manufactured Home Company 


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1 Lending Standards Commission (in this section referred 

2 to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

3 (b) DUTIES.— 

4 (1) PROPOSED STANDARDS.—Not later than 

5 the expiration of the 12-month period beginning on 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis7 sion shall submit to the Congress, the Secretary of 

8 Housing and Urban Development, and the Director 

9 of the Federal Housing Finance Agency a report 

10 that sets forth proposed consumer protection stand11 ards for the covered loan programs that— 

12 (A) are in addition to and provide greater 

13 protection than the requirements under section 

14 2(b); and 

15 (B) could be used as a basis for estab16 lishing covered pricing incentives under the cov17 ered loan programs that comply with section 

18 2(c). 

19 (2) STANDARD FOR DETERMINATIONS.—Any 

20 determination by the Commission to approve a con21 sumer protection in the proposed standards required 

22 under paragraph (1) shall be made by a vote of a 

23 simple majority of the members of the Commission. 

24 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 


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1 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com2 mission shall be composed of 10 members, as fol3 lows: 

4 (A) The Secretary of Housing and Urban 

5 Development (or the Secretary’s designee). 

6 (B) The Director of the Federal Housing 

7 Finance Agency (or the Director’s designee). 

8 (C) Two each shall be appointed by the 

9 Speaker of the House of Representatives, the 

10 minority leader of the House of Representa11 tives, the majority leader of the Senate, and the 

12 minority leader of the Senate. Of the two mem13 bers appointed by each such officer— 

14 (i) one shall be employed at the time 

15 of appointment as a professor or academic 

16 researcher with demonstrated background 

17 in housing and consumer protection issues, 

18 especially as they relate to manufactured 

19 housing; and 

20 (ii) one shall be a current or former 

21 member of Congress. 

22 (2) CHAIRPERSON AND CO-CHAIRPERSON.— 

23 (A) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of 

24 the Commission shall be designated by the 


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1 President from among the members of the 

2 Commission. 

3 (B) CO-CHAIRPERSON.—The co-chairper4 son shall be selected as follows: 

5 (i) DESIGNATION BY SPEAKER OF

6 THE HOUSE.—If, on the date of appoint7 ment, the Speaker of the House is of a dif8 ferent political party than the President, 

9 the Speaker of the House shall designate 

10 the co-chairperson from among the mem11 bers of the Commission. 

12 (ii) DESIGNATION BY MINORITY LEAD13 ER OF THE HOUSE.—If, on the date of ap14 pointment, the Speaker of the House is of 

15 the same political party as the President, 

16 the minority leader of the House shall des17 ignate the co-chairperson from among the 

18 members of the Commission. 

19 (3) TIMING OF APPOINTMENTS.—Appointments 

20 to the Commission shall be made not later than 45 

21 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 (4) TERMS; VACANCIES.—Each member shall be 

23 appointed for the life of the Commission. Any va24 cancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers 

25 and shall be filled within 45 days of the vacancy in 


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1 the manner in which the original appointment was 

2 made. 

3 (5) HEARINGS.—In carrying out its duties 

4 under this section, the Commission is authorized to 

5 hold such hearings and take testimony with respect 

6 to matters to which it has a responsibility under this 

7 section. The Chairperson, or any member authorized 

8 by the Chairperson, may administer oaths or affir9 mations to witnesses appearing before the Commis10 sion. 

11 (6) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION.—Mem12 bers of the Commission shall serve without pay. 

13 (d) OPERATION AND POWERS.— 

14 (1) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet 

15 not later than 30 days after the date upon which a 

16 majority of its members have been appointed and at 

17 such times thereafter as the chairperson or co-chair18 person shall determine. Detailed minutes of each 

19 meeting of the Commission, except for any closed 

20 session, shall be kept and shall include a record of 

21 the persons present and a complete and accurate de22 scription of matters discussed. 

23 (2) RULES OF PROCEDURE.—The chairperson 

24 and co-chairperson shall, with the approval of a ma25 jority of the members of the Commission, establish 


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1 written rules of procedure for the Commission, 

2 which shall include a quorum requirement to con3 duct the business of the Commission. 

4 (3) HEARINGS.—The Commission shall hold no 

5 fewer than 2 hearings on matters to carry out its 

6 duties under subsection (b). The Commission may 

7 take testimony and receive evidence as the Commis8 sion considers appropriate. Timely public notice of 

9 each hearing, including the time, place, and agenda 

10 of the meeting, shall be provided by any means de11 termined by the Commission to provide for wide 

12 publicity. Timely notice of each regular meeting 

13 shall be published in the Federal Register. Inter14 ested persons shall be permitted to submit written 

15 statements regarding the matters on the agenda of 

16 such hearings. 

17 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

18 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

19 shall apply: 

20 (1) AFFILIATE.—Except as provided by the 

21 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or the 

22 Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as 

23 applicable, the term ‘‘affiliate’’ means, with respect 

24 to a borrower referred to in section 2(a), any entity 


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1 that controls, is controlled by, or is under common 

2 control with, the borrower. 

3 (2) COVERED LOAN PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘cov4 ered loan program’’ means any of the following pro5 grams: 

6 (A) The program under section 207 of the 

7 National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1713) for in8 surance of loans for financing for the construc9 tion or substantial rehabilitation of manufac10 tured home parks. 

11 (B) The program of the Federal National 

12 Mortgage Association for multifamily loans for 

13 manufactured housing communities. 

14 (C) The program of the Federal Home 

15 Loan Mortgage Corporation for loans for manu16 factured housing communities. 

17 (3) COVERED PRICING INCENTIVE.—The term 

18 ‘‘covered pricing incentive’’ means any pricing dis19 count available to borrowers under any of the cov20 ered loan programs that rewards the borrower’s im21 plementation of one or more specific resident protec22 tions and is designed to ensure that the benefits of 

23 a covered loan program are provided at a lower cost 

24 for manufactured home communities based on the 

25 extent to which residents of a manufactured home 


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1 community are better protected from predatory rent 

2 increases and management practices. 

3 (4) MANUFACTURED HOME.—The term ‘‘manu4 factured home’’ has the meaning given such term in 

5 section 603(6) of the National Manufactured Hous6 ing Construction Safety and Standards Act of 1976, 

7 except that such term shall include any structure de8 scribed in such section without regard to whether 

9 such structure complies with any standards under 

10 such Act and without regard to the date of the man11 ufacture of such structure. 

12 (5) MANUFACTURED HOME COMMUNITY.—The 

13 term ‘‘manufactured home community’’ means any 

14 community, court, or park equipped to accommodate 

15 manufactured homes for which pad sites or pad sites 

16 and the manufactured homes, or both, are leased to 

17 residents to be used primarily for residential pur18 poses, including any manufactured housing commu19 nity as such term is used for purposes of a program 

20 referred to in subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph 

21 (2). 

22 SEC. 5. FUNDING. 

23 No additional funds are authorized to be appro24 priated to carry out this Act. Any expenses required to 

25 carry out this Act shall be funded using amounts otherVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7386.IH H7386

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1 wise available to the Department of Housing and Urban 

2 Development or to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. 

3 SEC. 6. TERMINATION. 

4 The Commission shall terminate upon the submission 

5 of the report required under section 3(b). 

Æ 


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