Title 36, Housing

As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning or construction is clearly required by the context: "Administrator" means the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development or his designee. "Any person" shall, in addition to referring to a natural person, inc…

This chapter shall apply to any manufactured home constructed on or after July 1, 1986, or constructed on or after June 15, 1976, and formerly subject to the Federal Act or the Industrialized Building Unit and Mobile Home Safety Law (§ 36-70 et seq.).

The Department of Housing and Community Development is designated as the agency of this State Administrative Agency plan approved by HUD. The Administrator is authorized to perform the following functions: 1. Enforce the Federal Standards with respect to all manufactured homes ma…

The Federal Standards shall be the sole standard applicable regarding design, construction, or safety of any manufactured home as defined by this law. The Administrator shall accept manufactured home plan approvals from state or private agencies authorized by HUD to conduct plan …

The Board shall from time to time adopt, amend, or repeal such rules and regulations as are necessary to implement this law in compliance with the Federal Act and the Federal Standards and Regulations enacted by HUD.

The Board shall comply with all applicable requirements of the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.) when adopting, amending, or repealing any rules and regulations under this law.

The Administrator shall have printed and keep in pamphlet form all rules and regulations prescribing the implementation and enforcement of this law. Such pamphlets shall be furnished to members of the public upon request.

As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning or construction is clearly required by the context: "Board" means the Virginia Manufactured Housing Board. "Buyer" means the person who purchases at retail from a dealer or manufacturer a manufactured home for personal use as a …

Whenever in this chapter the Board, the Director, or the Department is required to send any mail or notice by certified mail and such mail or notice is sent certified mail, return receipt requested, then any subsequent, identical mail or notice that is sent by the Board, the Dire…

A. There is hereby created the Virginia Manufactured Housing Board within the Department of Housing and Community Development. The Board shall be composed of nine members, eight of whom shall be nonlegislative citizen members appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation by t…

The Virginia Manufactured Housing Board shall have the following powers and duties: 1. To issue licenses to manufacturers, dealers, brokers, and salespersons; 2. To require that an adequate recovery fund be established for all regulants; 3. To receive and resolve complaints from …

A. It shall be unlawful and constitute the commission of a Class 1 misdemeanor for any manufactured home manufacturer, dealer, broker, or salesperson to be engaged in business as such in this Commonwealth without first obtaining a license from the Board, as provided in this chapt…

A. A license may be denied, suspended, or revoked by the Board on any one or more of the following grounds: 1. Material misstatement in application for license; 2. Failure to pay required assessment to the Manufactured Housing Recovery Fund; 3. Engaging in the business of a manuf…

The Board shall not suspend, revoke, or deny a license or refuse the renewal of a license, or impose a civil penalty, until a written notice of the complaint has been furnished to the regulant or applicant against whom the same is directed, and a hearing thereon has been held bef…

Manufactured homes shall be set-up in accordance with the Code. In the event that a manufactured home is insured against damage caused by windstorm and subsequently sustains windstorm damage of a nature that indicated the manufactured home was not set-up in the manner required by…

Each manufacturer, dealer, and supplier of manufactured homes shall warrant each new manufactured home sold in this Commonwealth, and the dealer shall warrant the set-up of each manufactured home if performed by or contracted for by the dealer, in accordance with the warranty req…

Whenever a claim for a warranty service or about a defect is made to a regulant, it shall be handled as provided by this chapter. A record shall be made of the name and address of each claimant and the date, substance, and disposition of each claim about a defect. The regulant ma…

When a service agreement exists between or among a manufacturer, dealer, and supplier to provide warranty service, the agreement shall specify which such responsible party is to remedy warranty defects. Every such service agreement shall be in writing. Nothing contained in such a…

A. No alteration or modification shall be made to a manufactured home by a dealer after shipment from the manufacturer's plant, unless such alteration or modification is authorized by this chapter or the manufacturer. The dealer shall ensure that all authorized alterations and mo…

In any advertisement or other communication regarding the length of a manufactured home, a regulant shall not include the length of the towing assembly (hitch) in describing the length of the home.

A. If a buyer fails to accept delivery of a manufactured home, the manufactured home dealer may retain actual damages according to the following terms: 1. If the manufactured home is a single section unit and is in the dealer's stock and is not specially ordered from the manufact…

The Board is authorized to inspect the pertinent service records of a manufacturer, dealer, supplier, or broker relating to a written warranty claim or complaint made to the Board against such manufacturer, dealer, supplier, or broker. Every regulant shall send to the Board upon …

Nothing in this chapter, nor any decision by the Board, shall limit any right or remedy available to the buyer through common law or under any other statute.

A. Each manufactured home manufacturer, dealer, broker and salesperson operating in the Commonwealth of Virginia shall be required to pay an initial assessment fee as set forth in subsection B to the Virginia Manufactured Housing Transaction Recovery Fund. Thereafter, assessment …

Any person who suffers any loss or damage by any act of a regulant that constitutes a violation of this chapter shall have the right to institute an action to recover from the recovery fund. Upon a finding by the Board that a violation has occurred, the Board shall direct the res…

Upon payment to a claimant from the fund, the Board shall immediately revoke the license of the regulant whose conduct resulted in this payment. Any regulant whose license is revoked shall not be eligible to apply for a license under this chapter until the regulant has repaid in …

The Board may take disciplinary action against any regulant for any violation of this chapter or the regulations of the Board. Full repayment of the amount paid from the fund on a regulant's account shall not nullify or modify the effect of any disciplinary proceeding against tha…

Appeals from a decision of the Board shall be to a circuit court with jurisdiction in the Commonwealth. An appeal must be made within thirty days of the date of the Board's order. Once made, an appeal shall stay the Board's order. Neither the regulant nor the Board shall be requi…

The Board is authorized to promulgate regulations in accordance with the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.) consistent with this chapter for the administration of the fund to assure the satisfaction of claims.

A. This chapter shall be known and referred to as the Virginia Fair Housing Law. B. It is the policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia to provide for fair housing throughout the Commonwealth, to all its citizens, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderlines…

A. The Board shall commence proceedings with respect to a complaint within thirty days after receipt of the complaint, and shall complete the investigation within 100 days thereof unless it is impracticable to do so. If the Board is unable to complete the investigation within 100…

The Board shall, within 100 days after the filing of a complaint, determine, based on the facts and after consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, whether reasonable cause exists to believe that a discriminatory housing practice has occurred or is about to occur, unl…

If the Board determines that no reasonable cause exists to believe that a discriminatory housing practice has occurred or is about to occur, the Board shall promptly dismiss the complaint notifying the parties within thirty days of such determination. The Board shall make public …

During the period beginning with the filing of such complaint and ending with the filing of a charge or a dismissal by the Board, the Board shall, to the extent feasible, engage in conciliation with respect to such complaint. A. A conciliation agreement arising out of such concil…

Upon failure to resolve a complaint by conciliation and after consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, the Board shall issue a charge on behalf of the aggrieved person or persons and shall immediately refer the charge to the Attorney General, who shall proceed with t…

If the Board concludes at any time following the filing of a complaint and after consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, that prompt judicial action is necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the Board may authorize a civil action by the Attorney Genera…

A. Not later than thirty days after a charge is referred by the Board to the Attorney General under § 36-96.14, the Attorney General shall commence and maintain a civil action seeking relief on behalf of the complainant in the circuit court for the city, county, or town in which …

A. If the Board determines, after consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, that an alleged discriminatory housing practice involves (i) the legality of any local zoning or land use ordinance or (ii) activity proscribed in subsection C of § 36-96.3, instead of issuing…

A. An aggrieved person may commence a civil action in an appropriate United States district court or state court not later than two years after the occurrence or the termination of an alleged discriminatory housing practice, or the breach of a conciliation agreement entered into …

Witnesses summoned by a subpoena under this chapter shall be entitled to the same witness and mileage fees as witnesses in proceedings in the courts of the Commonwealth. Fees payable to a witness summoned by a subpoena issued at the request of a party shall be paid by that party …

For the purposes of this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Aggrieved person" means any person who (i) claims to have been injured by a discriminatory housing practice or (ii) believes that such person will be injured by a discriminatory housing practice t…

A. Except as provided in subdivision A 3 of § 36-96.3 and subsections A, B, and C of § 36-96.6, this chapter shall not apply to any single-family house sold or rented by an owner, provided that such private individual does not own more than three single-family houses at any one t…

A. In any case in which the Board has received or initiated a complaint and conducted an investigation of any violation of this chapter and determined that there exists reasonable cause to believe that a real estate broker, real estate salesperson, real estate brokerage firm lice…

A. Any county, city or town which has any ordinance in effect on January 1, 1991, enacted under the Virginia Fair Housing Law (§ 36-96.1 et seq.), the Virginia Human Rights Act (§ 2.2-3900 et seq.), or any other applicable state law may continue to enforce such ordinance and may …

Nothing in this chapter shall abridge the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.) as amended.

A. It shall be an unlawful discriminatory housing practice for any person to: 1. Refuse to sell or rent after the making of a bona fide offer or refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of, or otherwise make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any person because of race, color, …