This is the second of four legislative updates prepared by this firm and summarizes House Bill 2438 (HB 2438), signed into law June 18, 2005 to take effect immediately. Our first legislative update, dated July 13, 2005, summarizes those bills effective immediately that we consider of interest to our clients. The two legislative updates that follow this update will summarize, respectively, (i) bills effective on and after September 1, 2005 that we consider of interest to our clients; and (ii) the two proposed constitutional amendments (SJR 7 and SJR 21) to be submitted for voter approval at an election to be held November 8, 2005. HB 2438 amends Chapter 1201 of the Occupations Code (the Texas Manufactured Housing Standards Act), and Chapter 2306 of the Government Code and various sections of the Tax Code relating to manufactured housing. Portions of the following summary are redactions from the Senate Research Center’s bill analysis of HB 2438. Not all Sections of HB 2438 are summarized in this legislative update, only those Sections relating to real estate secured transactions that we consider of interest to our clients. All references to “home” are to a manufactured home governed by Chapter 1201 of the Occupations Code. All references to “department” are to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Our comments on the Sections of HB 2438 discussed in this legislative update are shown in bold italics. The Texas Manufactured Housing Act was originally created by the Texas Legislature in the mid-1970s and codified into Chapter 1201 of the Occupations Code in 2003. During this time the industry experienced significant change along with amendments to both the Texas Manufactured Housing Act and the pre-emptive Federal Manufactured Housing Standards Act. HB 2438 updates Chapter 1201, Occupations Code, to reflect current industry trends, deletes language that is no longer applicable, references federal mandates, preserves consumer protections, and increases continuing education requirements.
