Virginia Administrative Code › Title 13 - HOUSING › Agency 6 - VIRGINIA MANUFACTURED HOUSING BOARD › Chapter 20 - MANUFACTURED HOUSING LICENSING AND TRANSACTION RECOVERY FUND REGULATIONS › Part V - Warranty, Service and Alterations › Section 13VAC6-20-340 - Service agreements; determination of responsible party

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. If a service
				  agreement exists between or among the manufacturer, the dealer, and the
				  supplier to provide warranty services on a manufactured home, the service
				  agreement shall specify which of the regulants shall be the responsible party
				  for remedying defects reported in the home. All service agreements shall be in
				  writing. No service agreement shall relieve a regulant, determined by the board
				  to be the responsible party for remedying the defect, of the responsibility for
				  performing warranty service; however, any regulant accepting the responsibility
				  to perform the warranty service obligations of other regulants under the
				  service agreement shall be responsible to both the buyer and the other regulant
				  to perform adequate warranty service.
B. If there is no warranty or service
				  agreement between or among the regulants, the board shall have the authority to
				  designate the responsible party for each defect given in the claim. The board
				  may use reports and recommendations from the department staff investigating
				  consumer complaints under the applicable provisions of the Code or may request
				  staff to make a specific on-site inspection to determine the responsible party
				  for remedying the defect.
C. If a
				  warranty claim is made to a regulant that is not the responsible party for
				  remedying the defect, that regulant shall immediately notify the claimant, in
				  writing of that fact, and shall also notify, in writing, the regulant that is
				  the responsible party for the defect, forwarding to the responsible party all
				  available information about the claimant and the substance of the warranty
				  claim.
D. If a defect is the
				  responsibility of more than one regulant, each regulant shall be deemed to be a
				  responsible party for the defect. A responsible party shall not fail to remedy
				  defects because other regulants may also have joint responsibility for the
				  defect or defects; however, nothing in this chapter shall prevent a responsible
				  party from obtaining compensation by way of contribution or subrogation from
				  another responsible party in accordance with any other provision of law or
				  contracts between the regulants.
E.
				  If a regulant corrects a defect under a warranty claim and the board determines
				  that the regulant is not the responsible party, then that regulant shall be
				  entitled to reasonable compensation for the warranty service performed. The
				  compensation shall be from the responsible party for the defect.
F. It shall be a violation of this part for a
				  regulant to coerce or require a nonresponsible party to perform warranty
				  service under this chapter. Any regulant or responsible party may file a
				  complaint to the board if warranty service obligations under this chapter are
				  not being completed or enforced.
Statutory Authority
§ 36-85.18 of the Code of Virginia.