HBA-CBW C.S.H.B. 2481 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2481 By: Jones, Jesse Land & Resource Management 4/16/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has required Dallas County to adopt specific flood plain management regulations to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. One of the regulations requires persons seeking to install a manufactured home in the flood plain to elevate the structure above the 100-year flood level. Despite the good intentions of this regulation, people have continued to locate manufactured homes in the flood plain without meeting the elevation requirements. C.S.H.B. 2481 prohibits certain persons from assisting in the installation of a new or used manufactured home in an area designated by the director of FEMA as a flood hazard area and provides that a consumer must provide flood information to the seller of a new or used manufactured home prior to closure of an acquisition. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2481 amends law to provide that unless the retailer, broker, or salesperson complies with the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and any other applicable local, state, or federal law, and attempts to ensure the consumer's compliance with those laws, a retailer, broker, or salesperson who sells, exchanges, or lease-purchases a new or used manufactured home to a consumer for use as a permanent dwelling may not: _deliver or arrange for the delivery of the home to a homesite in a special flood hazard area designated by the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); _install or arrange for the installation of the home at a homesite in that area; or _assist the consumer in the delivery or installation of, or in making arrangements for the delivery or installation of, the home to or at a homesite in that area. Before closing on the acquisition of a new or used manufactured home for use as a permanent dwelling, the bill provides that a consumer seeking to acquire the home must provide to the retailer, broker, or salesperson selling, exchanging, or lease-purchasing the home evidence that the home will not be located, in a manner that violates local, state, or federal law, on a homesite in a special flood hazard area designated by the director of FEMA. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2481 differs from the original bill by providing that unless a retailer, broker, or salesperson complies with the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Act and local, state, or federal law the retailer, broker, or salesperson may not engage in certain activities. The substitute provides that the consumer must provide to the retailer, broker, or salesperson selling, exchanging, or lease-purchasing the home evidence that a home will not be located, in a manner that violates local, state, or federal law, on a homesite in a special flood hazard area designated by the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The original specifies that such a person must provide proof that the homesite proposed for the home is not located in a designated special flood hazard area.