§5414 — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

Summary

Manufacturers must tell people when they find a defect in a manufactured home that relates to a federal safety or construction rule or that creates an immediate safety danger. They must notify the first buyer (not a dealer) and any later buyer with a transferred warranty, other registered owners whose names they have found, and the retailer(s) who sold the home. Notices must describe the problem, say how risky it is to occupants, explain how to fix it, and state whether the manufacturer will repair it for free or the owner must pay. The maker must also give the Secretary a copy of all such notices. The Secretary can share helpful information with the public but must protect trade secrets and other sensitive business information. Makers must keep a record of the first buyer for every home and try to find later owners. If the Secretary finds a home doesn’t meet standards or has an imminent hazard, or if the defect makes injury or death likely and comes from a design or assembly error, the manufacturer must fix the home at no cost. The manufacturer must send a plan for notifying owners and making repairs to the Secretary for approval before acting. Repairs and notices must happen as soon as possible and usually within 60 days of finding the defect unless the Secretary allows more time. If a defect can’t be fixed in 60 days, the Secretary may require replacement or a full refund, minus fair depreciation if the owner had the home more than one year.

Title 42, §5414

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Every manufacturer of manufactured homes shall furnish notification of any defect in any manufactured home produced by such manufacturer which he determines, in good faith, relates to a Federal manufactured home construction or safety standard or contains a defect which constitutes an imminent safety hazard to the purchaser of such manufactured home, within a reasonable time after such manufacturer has discovered such defect.

(b)The notification required by subsection (a) shall be accomplished—

(1)by mail to the first purchaser (not including any retailer or distributor of such manufacturer) of the manufactured home containing the defect, and to any subsequent purchaser to whom any warranty on such manufactured home has been transferred;

(2)by mail to any other person who is a registered owner of such manufactured home and whose name and address has been ascertained pursuant to procedures established under subsection (f); and

(3)by mail or other more expeditious means to the retailer or retailers of such manufacturer to whom such manufactured home was delivered.

(c)The notification required by subsection (a) shall contain a clear description of such defect or failure to comply, an evaluation of the risk to manufactured home occupants’ safety reasonably related to such defect, and a statement of the measures needed to repair the defect. The notification shall also inform the owner whether the defect is a construction or safety defect which the manufacturer will have corrected at no cost to the owner of the manufactured home under subsection (g) or otherwise, or is a defect which must be corrected at the expense of the owner.

(d)Every manufacturer of manufactured homes shall furnish to the Secretary a true or representative copy of all notices, bulletins, and other communications to the retailers of such manufacturer or purchasers of manufactured homes of such manufacturer regarding any defect in any such manufactured home produced by such manufacturer. The Secretary shall disclose to the public so much of the information contained in such notices or other information obtained under section 5413 of this title as he deems will assist in carrying out the purposes of this chapter, but he shall not disclose any information which contains or relates to a trade secret, or which, if disclosed, would put such manufacturer at a substantial competitive disadvantage, unless he determines that it is necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

(e)If the Secretary determines that any manufactured home—

(1)does not comply with an applicable Federal manufactured home construction and safety standard prescribed pursuant to section 5403 of this title; or

(2)contains a defect which constitutes an imminent safety hazard,

(f)Every manufacturer of manufactured homes shall maintain a record of the name and address of the first purchaser of each manufactured home (for purposes other than resale), and, to the maximum extent feasible, shall maintain procedures for ascertaining the name and address of any subsequent purchaser thereof and shall maintain a record of names and addresses so ascertained. Such records shall be kept for each home produced by a manufacturer. The Secretary may establish by order procedures to be followed by manufacturers in establishing and maintaining such records, including procedures to be followed by distributors and retailers to assist manufacturers to secure the information required by this subsection. Such procedures shall be reasonable for the particular type of manufactured home for which they are prescribed.

(g)A manufacturer required to furnish notification of a defect under subsection (a) or (e) shall also bring the manufactured home into compliance with applicable standards and correct the defect or have the defect corrected within a reasonable period of time at no expense to the owner, but only if—

(1)the defect presents an unreasonable risk of injury or death to occupants of the affected manufactured home or homes;

(2)the defect can be related to an error in design or assembly of the manufactured home by the manufacturer.

(h)The manufacturer shall submit his plan for notifying owners of the defect and for repairing such defect (if required under subsection (g)) to the Secretary for his approval before implementing such plan. Whenever a manufacturer is required under subsection (g) to correct a defect, the Secretary shall approve with or without modification, after consultation with the manufacturer of the manufactured home involved, such manufacturer’s remedy plan including the date when, and the method by which, the notification and remedy required pursuant to this section shall be effectuated. Such date shall be the earliest practicable one but shall not be more than sixty days after the date of discovery or determination of the defect or failure to comply, unless the Secretary grants an extension of such period for good cause shown and publishes a notice of such extension in the Federal Register. Such manufacturer is bound to implement such remedy plan as approved by the Secretary.

(i)Where a defect or failure to comply in a manufactured home cannot be adequately repaired within sixty days from the date of discovery or determination of the defect, the Secretary may require that the manufactured home be replaced with a new or equivalent home without charge, or that the purchase price be refunded in full, less a reasonable allowance for depreciation based on actual use if the home has been in the possession of the owner for more than one year.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification References to “mobile homes”, wherever appearing in text, changed to “manufactured homes” in view of the amendment of title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (this chapter) by section 308(c)(4) of Pub. L. 96–399 requiring the substitution of “manufactured home” for “mobile home” wherever appearing in title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, and section 339B(c) of Pub. L. 97–35 (set out as a note under section 1703 of Title 12, Banks and Banking) providing that the terms “mobile home” and “manufactured home” shall be deemed to include the terms “mobile homes” and “manufactured homes”, respectively.

Amendments

2000—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 106–569, § 603(b)(3)(A), substituted “retailer” for “dealer”. Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 106–569, § 603(b)(3)(B), substituted “retailer or retailers” for “dealer or dealers”. Subsecs. (d), (f). Pub. L. 106–569, § 603(b)(3)(C), substituted “retailers” for “dealers ”. 1980—Subsecs. (a) to (i). Pub. L. 96–399 substituted “manufactured home” for “mobile home” wherever appearing.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2000 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 106–569 effective Dec. 27, 2000, except that amendment has no effect on any order or interpretative bulletin issued under this chapter and published as a proposed rule pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 on or before Dec. 27, 2000, see section 612 of Pub. L. 106–569, set out as a note under section 5401 of this title.

Effective Date

Section effective upon the expiration of 180 days following Aug. 22, 1974, see section 627 of Pub. L. 93–383, set out as a note under section 5401 of this title.

§5414 Notification and correction of defects by manufacturer

Summary

Title 42, §5414

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata