Date: 02/21/2006

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB06-1168

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Postpone the bill indefinitely. The motion carrie
Prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment C). The moti
Refer the bill to the Committee on Appropriations.		PASS
Pass Without Objection
FAIL


03:15 PM -- House Bill 06-1168

Representative Soper, bill sponsor, explained the provisions of HB 06-1168 to provide numerous protections for mobile home owners. He explained the provisions of prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment C).


03:17 PM

Christian Hendrickson, Rocky Mountain Home Association, spoke in opposition to the bill. He indicated the bill creates an unconstitutional taking of property and he indicated that the relocation provisions are unconstitutional as well. He also questioned the applicability of some of the bill's provisions to homeowners who leased a mobile home prior to the effective date of the bill and he reviewed other problems with the bill. Mr. Hendrickson responded to a committee question regarding the extent to which mobile homes are considered affordable housing and the degree to which the bill may reduce the numbers of mobile home parks in the state.


03:31 PM

Scott Gesell, Affordable Residential Communities, spoke in opposition to the bill. He spoke to the increased regulation and increased costs for mobile home park owners under the bill's provisions and to his concerns with the proposed mobile home commission. He indicated the makeup of the commission is unfairly skewed to residents as opposed to mobile home park owners. He further spoke against the bill's provisions with regard to the right of first refusal. In response to a committee question, Representative Soper explained that he does have a funding mechanism for the commission.


03:41 PM

Chris Siefert, Hometown America, spoke in opposition to the bill. She spoke in opposition to the proposed commission questioning the need for a commission to resolve disputes between park owners and home owners. She indicated that in her experience, such disputes have been effectively resolved using the company's resolution process.


03:44 PM

John Clark, Equity LifeStyle Properties, spoke in opposition to the bill and in opposition to the proposed commission, questioning the need for the commission. Mr. Clark indicated that all problems between homeowners and park management get resolved at the company's regional level or lower.


03:48 PM

Wilma Cooper, Cooper Properties, spoke in opposition to the bill and expressed concern that the bill will result in the closing of mobile home parks, particularly in rural areas of the state. She also spoke to the degree to which mobile home parks have changed in character given the need for affordable housing, particularly in smaller communities. She indicated there is a company looking at building a new mobile home park in Durango and that the bill is a disincentive to building a new park.


03:58 PM

Micki Hackenberg, Colorado Association of Realtors, spoke in opposition to the bill. She expressed confusion between the roles of the park mediation board and the mobile home commission proposed in the bill. She also expressed concern over the bill's provision that establishes a first right of refusal procedure for homeowner associations to purchase a mobile home park before it is sold or converted to another use by management.


04:03 PM

Tom Trim, Stewart Mobile Home Company, spoke in opposition to the bill. He expressed concern over the motivation for the provisions outlining the circumstances under which a landlord may enter a mobile home without the permission of the home owner. He spoke to other issues with the bill. In response to a committee question, Mr. Trim indicated any provisions that allow for dispute resolution without litigation are worth considering.


04:09 PM

Larry Henderson, Green Acres Mobile Home Park, spoke in opposition to the bill. He spoke to the degree to which the bill would be detrimental to the management and existence of his mobile home park.


04:11 PM

Bill Vaughn, Mobile Home Park Association of Colorado, spoke in opposition to the bill. He spoke to the way issues are resolved currently, noted that residents may now purchase their units, and spoke against the first right of refusal provisions.


04:15 PM

Joey Villa spoke in support of the bill and he spoke to abandoned properties in the mobile home park in which he resides. He made a distinction between smaller mobile home park communities and larger mobile home parks like the one in which he lives. In response to a committee question, Mr. Villa indicated that while local ordinances do cover mobile home parks with regard to homeowner yard maintenance, his local government referred him back to the mobile home park management when he complained about yard conditions in his mobile home park.


04:23 PM

Vera Marie Jones spoke in support of the bill as a resident of a mobile home for more than half of her life. She spoke to the changes over time in her living expenses and to the changes in ownership of larger mobile home parks and the resulting changes in park management. She indicated that after her mobile home park was purchased by a larger company, there initially was no on-site management. She spoke in support of the bill's provisions regarding the mediation board, the mobile home commission, and the right of first refusal all as helpful to mobile home owners.


04:36 PM

Heidi Lewis spoke in support of the bill.


04:38 PM

Deborah Turner spoke in support of the bill and spoke to problems homeowners have had in resolving issues in her mobile home park. She made the distinction between smaller parks owned by individuals and larger parks owned by companies, like the park in which she lives. In response to committee questions, Ms. Turner elaborated on the differences between the management of smaller independent parks and larger parks like the one in which she resides that has over 800 lots. She also spoke to difficulties in selling property and to how park owners will not lease the land to any new owner.


04:46 PM

Janet Bach, Mobile Home Owners Tenant Association, spoke in support of the bill. She spoke to problems homeowners have faced over the last five years since large companies have purchased mobile home parks. She indicted that some problems have required the involvement of District Attorney Don Quick and Sheriff Doug Darr. Ms. Bach responded to prior committee questions regarding rules and regulations promulgated by park owners and the powers of local governments to address homeowner issues.


04:58 PM

Robin Clark spoke in support of the bill. She spoke to unresponsive management in dealing with issues and to problems she has had with the management of her mobile home park.


05:02 PM

Paula Pellerin spoke in support of the bill. She spoke to the housing market for mobile homes and to the reasons people live in mobile homes versus "stick" homes. She indicated that mobile homes are increasingly less affordable housing and she spoke to management problems at her park. Her park is a smaller park with a husband and wife management team on-site. She spoke in support of the dispute resolution provisions and in support of the first right of refusal provisions. Ms. Pellerin responded to committee questions regarding current statutory provisions and the mediation provisions indicating that no one knows what the mediation provisions are or how to implement them. She also responded to a committee question indicating that six other states appear to have mobile home commissions similar to the one proposed in this bill.

Committee members posed questions and made statements regarding the bill.


05:28 PM

Mary Jane Perry spoke in support of the bill. She spoke to her experience in a mobile home park and explained why she sold her mobile home to live in a senior citizens community.


05:35 PM

Charles Lindquest spoke in support of the bill and he spoke to problems with the management of his mobile home park.
BILL:HB06-1168
TIME: 05:40:17 PM
MOVED:Soper
MOTION:Prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment C). The motion carried without objection.
SECONDED:Lindstrom
VOTE
Berens
Cerbo
Curry
Decker
Massey
May M.
Merrifield
Soper
Stafford
Lindstrom
Hodge
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


05:43 PM

Representative Soper provided closing comments on the bill.
BILL:HB06-1168
TIME: 05:43:49 PM
MOVED:Soper
MOTION:Refer the bill to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion failed on a 2-8 roll call vote.
SECONDED:Merrifield
VOTE
Berens
No
Cerbo
Yes
Curry
No
Decker
No
Massey
No
May M.
No
Merrifield
No
Soper
Yes
Stafford
Excused
Lindstrom
No
Hodge
No
Not Final YES: 2 NO: 8 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL
BILL:HB06-1168
TIME: 05:48:24 PM
MOVED:May M.
MOTION:Postpone the bill indefinitely. The motion carried on a 7-3-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:Lindstrom
VOTE
Berens
Yes
Cerbo
No
Curry
Yes
Decker
Yes
Massey
Yes
May M.
Yes
Merrifield
No
Soper
No
Stafford
Excused
Lindstrom
Yes
Hodge
Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 3 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


05:49 PM

The committee adjourned.