SB2835 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 36768 JRC 66878 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB2835

Introduced 1/19/2024, by Sen. Laura M. Murphy

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson Act. Creates the Office of Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson within the Department of Public Health. Provides that the Ombudsperson shall offer training, educational materials and course offerings for residents, owners, and other interested persons or groups on the operation and management of mobile and manufactured home parks and the relevant laws that are applicable. Requires the Ombudsperson to establish a written policy for resolving complaints made by residents and a dispute resolution process to assist resolving disputes between owners of mobile home parks and residents.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning property.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson Act.

Section 5. Applicability. This Act applies to all mobile and manufactured home parks governed by the Mobile Home Park Act and Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act.

Section 10. Definitions. As used in the Act:

"Manufactured home" means a factory-assembled, completely integrated structure designed for permanent habitation, with a permanent chassis, and so constructed as to permit its transport, on wheels temporarily or permanently attached to its frame, and is a movable or portable unit that is (i) 8 body feet or more in width, (ii) 40 body feet or more in length, and (iii) 320 or more square feet, constructed to be towed on its own chassis (comprised of frame and wheels) from the place of its construction to the location, or subsequent locations, at which it is connected to utilities for year-round occupancy for use as a permanent habitation, and designed and situated so as to permit its occupancy as a dwelling place for one or more persons, and specifically includes a "manufactured home" as defined in subdivision (53) of Section 9-102 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The term shall include units containing parts that may be folded, collapsed, or telescoped when being towed and that may be expected to provide additional cubic capacity, and that are designed to be joined into one integral unit capable of being separated again into the components for repeated towing. The term excludes campers and recreational vehicles. The words "mobile home" and "manufactured home" are synonymous for the purposes of this Act, but the term "mobile home" does not include modular homes and their support systems.

"Mobile home park" means a tract of land or 2 or more contiguous tracts of land upon which contain sites with the necessary utilities for 5 or more independent mobile homes for permanent habitation either free of charge or for revenue purposes, and shall include any building, structure, vehicle, or enclosure used or intended for use as a part of the equipment of such mobile home park. Separate ownership of contiguous tracts of land shall not preclude the tracts of land from common licensure as a mobile home park if they are maintained and operated jointly. Neither an immobilized mobile home nor a motorized recreational vehicle shall be construed as being a part of a mobile home park. The terms "mobile home park" and "park" are synonymous for the purposes of this Act.

"Department" means the Department of Public Health, unless otherwise indicated.

"Site" means the lot on which the mobile home is located for a period of 2 or more months.

"Owner" means the owner of a mobile home site and any person authorized to exercise any aspect of the management of the premises, including any person who directly or indirectly receives rents and has no obligation to deliver the whole of such receipts to another person.

"Resident" means any person who occupies a mobile home for dwelling purposes or a lot on which the person parks a mobile home for an agreed upon consideration.

"Managing agent" means any person or entity responsible for the operation, management, or maintenance of a mobile home park or manufactured home community.

Section 15. Office of the Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson.

(a) There is created within the Department of Public Health, under the supervision and control of the Director, the Office of the Mobile and Manufactured Home Ombudsperson.

(b) The Department shall name an Ombudsperson and other persons necessary to discharge the requirements of this Act. The Ombudsperson shall have the powers delegated to them by the Department in addition to the powers set forth in this Act.

(c) Neither the Ombudsperson nor the Department shall have any authority to consider matters that may constitute grounds for charges or complaints under the Illinois Human Rights Act; that are properly brought before the Department of Human Rights or the Human Rights Commission; before a comparable department or body established by a county, municipality, or township pursuant to an ordinance prohibiting discrimination and established for the purpose of investigating and adjudicating charges or complaints of discrimination under the ordinance; or before a federal agency or commission that administers and enforces federal anti-discrimination laws and investigates and adjudicates charges or complaints of discrimination under such laws.

(d) Information and advice provided by the Ombudsperson has no binding legal effect and is not subject to the provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.

Section 20. Training and education. On or before July 1, 2025, the Ombudsperson shall begin offering training, outreach, and educational materials and may also arrange for the offering of courses to applicants, licensees, mobile and manufactured home residents, mobile and manufactured home park owners, park managers, and any other person or group the Department deems appropriate in subjects relevant to: (i) the operation and management of mobile home and manufactured home sites and parks; and (ii) the Mobile Home Park Act, the Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act, the Abandoned Mobile Home Act, and the Illinois Mobile Home Tiedown Act.

Section 25. Website; toll-free number.

(a) The Office shall maintain on the Department's website the following information:

(1) the text of this Act, the Mobile Home Park Act, the Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act, the Abandoned Mobile Home Act, the Illinois Mobile Home Tiedown Act, and any other statute, administrative rule, or regulation that the Ombudsperson determines is relevant to the operation and management of a mobile and manufactured home park or site;

(2) information concerning non-judicial resolution of disputes that may arise within a mobile and manufactured home park, including, but not limited to, alternative dispute resolution programs and contacts for locally available dispute resolution programs;

(3) a description of the services provided by the Ombudsperson and information on how to contact the Ombudsperson for assistance; and

(4) any other information that the Ombudsperson determines is useful to park managers, licensees, mobile and manufactured home residents, and mobile and manufactured home and site owners.

(b) The Office may make available during regular business hours a statewide toll-free telephone number to provide information and resources on matters relating to mobile and manufactured home parks.

Section 30. Written policy for resolving complaints.

(a) Each park, except for those specified in subsection (b) of this Section, shall adopt a written policy for resolving complaints made by residents. The park shall make the policy available to all residents upon request. The policy must include:

(1) a sample form on which a resident may make a complaint to the park managing agent;

(2) a description of the process by which complaints shall be delivered to the park managing agent;

(3) the park managing agent's timeline and manner of making final determinations in response to a unit owner's complaint; and

(4) a requirement that the final determination made by the park's managing agent in response to a resident's complaint be:

(i) made in writing;

(ii) made within 180 days after the park's managing agent receives the resident's original complaint; and

(iii) marked clearly and conspicuously as "final".

(b) Mobile and manufactured home parks exempted from the Mobile Home Park Act are not required to have a written policy for resolving complaints.

(c) No later than July 1, 2025, parks, except for those identified in subsection (b) of this Section, must establish and adopt the policy required under this Section.

(d) Parks first licensed after July 1, 2025, except for those identified in subsection (b) of this Section, must establish and adopt the policy required under this Section within 180 days following licensure.

(e) A resident may not bring a request for assistance under Section 40 of this Act for a park's lack of or inadequacy of a written policy to resolve complaints but may notify the Department in writing of the park's lack of or inadequacy of a written policy.

Section 35. Dispute resolution.

(a) Beginning on July 1, 2025, and subject to appropriation, owners and residents meeting the requirements of this Section may make a written request, as outlined in subsection (f) of this Section, to the Ombudsperson for assistance in resolving a dispute that involves a violation of the Act.

(b) The Ombudsperson shall not accept requests for resolutions of disputes for which there is a pending complaint filed in any court or administrative tribunal in any jurisdiction or for which arbitration or alternative dispute resolution is scheduled to occur or has previously occurred.

(c) The assistance described in subsection (a) of this Section is available only to owners and residents. For a resident to receive the assistance from the Ombudsperson described in subsection (a) of this Section, the resident must:

(1) Owe no outstanding assessments, fees, or funds to the park, unless the assessments, fees, or funds are central to the dispute;

(2) Allege a dispute that was initiated, or initially occurred, within the 2 calendar years preceding the date of the request;

(3) Have made a written complaint pursuant to the Park's complaint policy, as outlined in Section 35, which alleged violations of the Acts;

(4) Have received a final and adverse decision from the Park's managing agent and attach a copy of the Park's managing agent's final adverse decision marked "final" to the request of the Ombudsperson; and

(5) Have filed the request within 30 days after the receipt of the park's final adverse decision.

(d) A resident who has not received a response, marked "final," to their complaint from the park within a reasonable time may request assistance from the Ombudsperson under subsection (a) of this Section if the resident meets the requirements of items (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (c) of this Section. A resident may not request assistance from the Ombudsperson until at least 90 days after the initial written complaint was submitted to the park's managing agent. The Ombudsperson may decline a resident's request for assistance on the basis that a reasonable time has not yet passed.

(e) The request for assistance shall be in writing, on forms provided electronically by the Ombudsperson, and include the following:

(1) the name, address, and contact information of the owner or resident;

(2) the name, address, and contact information of the park;

(3) the applicable park governing documents unless the absence of governing documents is central to the dispute;

(4) the date of the final adverse decision by the park's managing agent;

(5) a copy of the park's written complaint policy required under Section 35 of this Act;

(6) a copy of the owner or resident's complaint to the park's managing agent with a specific reference to the alleged violations of the Act;

(7) documentation verifying the owner's ownership of a unit, or documentation verifying the resident's lease of the property; and

(8) a copy of the park's managing agent adverse decision marked "final," if applicable.

(f) On receipt of an owner or resident's request for assistance that the Department determines meets the requirements of this Section, the Ombudsperson shall, within the limits of the available resources, confer with the interested parties and assist in efforts to resolve the dispute by mutual agreement of the parties.

(g) The Ombudsperson shall assist only opposing parties who mutually agree to participate in dispute resolution.

(h) An owner or resident is limited to one request for assistance per dispute. The meaning of dispute is to be broadly interpreted by the Department.

(i) The Department has the authority to determine whether or not a final decision is adverse under paragraph (4) of subsection (c) of this Section.

(j) The Department shall, on or before July 1, 2025, establish rules describing the time limit, method, and manner for dispute resolution.

Section 40. Confidentiality.

(a) All information collected by the Department in the course of addressing a request for assistance or for any other purpose pursuant to this Act shall be maintained for the confidential use of the Department and shall not be disclosed. The Department shall not disclose the information to anyone other than law enforcement officials or regulatory agencies that have an appropriate regulatory interest as determined by the Director. Information and documents disclosed to a federal, State, county, or local law enforcement agency shall not be disclosed by that agency for any purpose to any other agency or person.

(b) A request for information made to the Department or the Ombudsperson under this Act does not constitute a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

(c) The confidentiality provisions of this Section do not extend to educational, training, outreach material, statistical data, and operational information maintained by the Department in administering this Act.

Section 45. Reports. The Department shall submit an annual written report on the activities of the Office to the General Assembly. The Department shall submit the first report no later than July 1, 2026. Beginning in 2027, the Department shall submit the report no later than October 1 of each year. The report shall include all of the following:

(1) annual workload and performance data, including (i) the number of requests for information; (ii) training, education, or other information provided; (iii) the manner in which education and training was conducted; and (iv) the staff time required to provide the training, education, or other information. For each category of data, the report shall provide subtotals based on the type of question or dispute involved in the request; and

(2) if relevant information is available, analysis of the most common and serious types of concerns happening in mobile home parks, along with any recommendations for statutory reform to reduce the frequency or severity of those disputes.

Section 50. Rules. The Department may, from time to time, adopt such rules as are necessary for the administration and enforcement of any provision of this Act. Any rule adopted under this Act is subject to the rulemaking provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.

Section 55. State Lawsuit Immunity Act. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to constitute a waiver of the immunity of the State, Department, Office, or Ombudsperson, or any officer, employee, or agent thereof under the State Lawsuit Immunity Act.