The board passed the ordinance Oct. 2, which calls for dealers to give buyers a one-page disclosure about their legal rights prior to signing a final purchase agreement or closing escrow.

Local manufactured homebuyers brought the issue to the board, citing their own difficulties with proper installation and faulty home construction, as Lake County News has reported.

The state's Department of Housing and Community Development's Division of Codes and Standards notified the county in a letter dated Oct. 15 that they believe the ordinance is invalid because state law governs manufactured housing sales and disclosures.

The board put off a decision at its Nov. 7 meeting until this week, when Supervisor Rob Brown – previously absent – would be back to weigh in.

Supervisor Denise Rushing, who brought the disclosure ordinance to the board originally, said despite the state's claims about legal ramifications, she still wants to make sure homebuyers have a clear, concise document in their hands at the right time.

During a recent meeting with state Sen. Patricia Wiggins, the ordinance came up, and she said Wiggins said if the county didn't agree with the state's stance they should challenge it.

Rushing said she's trying to set up a meeting with state officials to discuss the ordinance, on which she wasn't willing to give up. “I still maintain we should keep the ordinance that we have.”

She also supported accepting a new resolution drafted by County Counsel Anita Grant that directs the county's chief building official to give a one-page legal rights disclosure to the owner of a manufactured home when they apply for an installation permit.

“I don't think one would preclude the other,” she said.

Supervisor Ed Robey agreed. “I think we should leave the ordinance in place. I think we should pass the resolution, too.”

He said the only flaw in the ordinance it that it only applies to dealers in the county. Robey, like Rushing, said he wanted to pursue the matter at the state level.

As he did last week, Robert Angel, president of the California Manufactured Housing Institute board, spoke against the ordinance. Angel's company, Angel and Associates, is the second largest manufactured housing retailer in the state, with two locations in Lake County, Lake County Manufactured Homes in Lower Lake and Modern Manufactured Homes in Lakeport.

He said dealers and manufacturers already have many restrictions and disclosures to ensure performance.

Angel said the new resolution before the board Tuesday was a “step in the right direction.” However, he added, “It's still unfair to the manufactured housing industry,” and should be extended to other housing as well.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington asked Angel why he considered the disclosure a burden to retailers. Angel replied that dealers already have 20 disclosures they're required to make, and he feels that information is already being disclosed.

Besides, if rules are set up on a county by county basis, he said, it becomes more difficult for companies operating across larger areas.

The California Manufactured Housing Institute is advocating on these issues, and is currently adding two new disclosures to those required for manufactured homes, said Angel. He said the institute may be willing to take on this issue as part of its advocacy, but said the county's ordinance wasn't being taken up in the right forum.

Brown disagreed with the contention of a burden for dealers. “This is not additional, it's just clearer,” he said.

Angel maintained that it's discriminatory against local dealers. Brown replied, as a consumer, he would prefer plain talk from a local dealer. He added, he didn't have a problem giving a disclosure for any building permit, whether it was for a manufactured home installation or a stick-built home.

Angel said that, at last week's board meeting, he offered the board an example of a disclosure that the California Manufactured Housing Institute is doing that is more inclusive than the county's ordinance.

“I'm not against disclosure by any means,” he said.

Janis Paris of the Lake County Manufactured Housing Citizens Group showed the board a standard contract for buying a manufactured home, four pages of small type that buyers have to read in the last hour before signing all of their paperwork.

“Buyers are again and again surprised that they don't have any representative in this transaction except the county,” said Paris, who is one of several local homebuyers engaged in a lawsuit against several manufactured home dealers, including Angel's company.

Rodney Usher, president of Baughn and Cameron Manufactured Homes – which has offices in Ukiah and Lower Lake – spoke to the board about the need for uniformity. Usher said he had a problem trying to comply with two sets of rules – those from the state and those from the county.

Robey said the county would happily rescind its ordinance if the state made its rules clearer. Usher agreed that addressing the rules at the state level was appropriate.

He also said that the rules don't apply to out-of-county dealers, an assertion with which Brown took issue.

Reading from the ordinance, Brown said it applied to anyone operating in the county's unincorporated areas. Usher argued with him on the point, concluding that the subject is a “quagmire.”

Said Rushing, “There's a whole bunch of things that ought to be done, and this is the easiest.”

She said she doesn't understand why dealers aren't already using clearer disclosures. “I don't understand why this isn't already happening,” she said. “I don't know why you wouldn't do this everywhere.”

Usher responded that he supports the idea, but remained concerned about different sets of rules.

Robey offered the new resolution on giving the disclosure at the time of issuing the installation permit, which the board approved 5-0.

The board took no action to rescind the disclosure ordinance, which the state had disputed. As a result, Grant said it will go into effect this month.

The board must next deal with the state, said Board Chair Jeff Smith.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (10)

Subscribe to this comment's feed