ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 586
(By Senators Wooton, Anderson, Bowman, Buckalew, Deem, Dittmar,
Grubb, Miller, Ross, Scott, Wagner, White and Wiedebusch)
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[Passed March 7, 1996; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section twelve, article nine, chapter
twenty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to manufactured
housing construction and safety standards; providing technical
corrections in section numbers; and civil and criminal
penalties for violations thereof.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twelve, article nine, chapter twenty-one of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. MANUFACTURED HOUSING CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS.
§21-9-12. Civil penalties; criminal penalties.(a) Any person who violates any of the following provisions relating to
manufactured homes or any rule promulgated by the board pursuant to
the provisions of this article is liable to the state for a
penalty, as determined by the court, not to exceed one thousand
dollars for each violation. Each violation constitutes a separate
violation with respect to each manufactured home, except that the maximum penalty may not exceed one million dollars for any related
series of violations occurring within one year from the date of the
first violation. No person may:
(1) Manufacture for sale, lease, sell, offer for sale or
lease, or introduce or deliver, or import into this state any
manufactured home which is manufactured on or after the effective
date of any applicable standard established by a rule promulgated
by the board pursuant to the provisions of this article, or any
applicable federal standard, which does not comply with that
standard.
(2) Fail or refuse to permit access to or copying of records,
or fail to make reports or provide information or fail or refuse to
permit entry or inspection as required by the provisions of this
article.
(3) Fail to furnish notification of any defect as required by
the provisions of 42 U.S.C. §5414.
(4) Fail to issue a certification required by the provisions
of 42 U.S.C. §5415 or issue a certification to the effect that a
manufactured home conforms to all applicable federal standards,
when the person knows or in the exercise of due care would have
reason to know that the certification is false or misleading in a
material respect.
(5) Fail to establish and maintain records, make reports, and
provide information as the board may reasonably require to enable
the board to determine whether there is compliance with the federal
standards; or fail to permit, upon request of a person duly authorized by the board, the inspection of appropriate books,
papers, records and documents relative to determining whether a
manufacturer, dealer, distributor or contractor has acted or is
acting in compliance with the provisions of this article or
applicable federal standards.
(6) Issue a certification pursuant to the provisions of 42
U.S.C. §5403(a), when the person knows or in the exercise of due
care would have reason to know that the certification is false or
misleading in a material respect.
(b) Subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section does not
apply to: (i) The sale or the offer for sale of any manufactured
home after the first purchase of it in good faith for purposes
other than resale; (ii) any person who establishes that he did not
have reason to know in the exercise of due care that such
manufactured home is not in conformity with applicable federal
standards; or (iii) any person who, prior to the first purchase,
holds a certificate by the manufacturer or importer of the
manufactured home to the effect that such manufactured home
conforms to all applicable federal standards, unless that person
knows that the manufactured home does not conform to those
standards.
(c) Any manufacturer, dealer, distributor or contractor who
engages in business in this state without a current license as
required by the provisions of this article or without furnishing a
bond or other form of assurance as required by the provisions of
this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than fifty dollars for each day
the violation continues.
(d) Any person or officer, director, partner or agent of a
corporation, partnership or other entity who willfully or knowingly
violates any of the provisions listed in subsection (a) of this
section, in any manner which threatens the health or safety of any
purchaser, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or confined in
the county or regional jail for a period of not more than one year,
or both fined and imprisoned:
Provided, That nothing in this
article may apply to any bank or financial institution engaged in
the disposal of foreclosed or repossessed manufactured home(s).