Sec. 1201.003. DEFINITIONS

In this chapter:

(1) "Advertisement" means a commercial message that promotes the sale, exchange, or lease-purchase of a manufactured home and that is presented on radio, television, a public-address system, or electronic media or appears in a newspaper, a magazine, a flyer, a catalog, direct mail literature, an inside or outside sign or window display, point-of-sale literature, a price tag, or other printed material. The term does not include educational material or material required by law.

(2) "Affiliate" means a person who is under common control.

(3) "Alteration" means the replacement, addition, modification, or removal of equipment in a new manufactured home after sale by a manufacturer to a retailer but before sale and installation by a retailer to a purchaser in a manner that may affect the home's construction, fire safety, occupancy, or plumbing, heating, or electrical system. The term includes the modification of a manufactured home in a manner that may affect the home's compliance with the appropriate standards but does not include:

(A) the repair or replacement of a component or appliance that requires plug-in to an electrical receptacle, if the replaced item is of the same configuration and rating as the replacement; or

(B) the addition of an appliance that requires plug-in to an electrical receptacle and that was not provided with the manufactured home by the manufacturer, if the rating of the appliance does not exceed the rating of the receptacle to which the appliance is connected.

(4) "Attached" in reference to a manufactured home means that the home has been:

(A) installed in compliance with the rules of the department; and

(B) connected to a utility, including a utility providing water, electric, natural gas, propane or butane gas, or wastewater service.

(5) "Board" means the Manufactured Housing Board within the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

(6) "Broker" means a person engaged by one or more other persons to negotiate or offer to negotiate a bargain or contract for the sale, exchange, or lease-purchase of a manufactured home for which a certificate or other document of title has been issued and is outstanding. The term does not include a person who maintains a location for the display of manufactured homes.

(7) "Business use" means the use of a manufactured home for a purpose other than as a permanent or temporary dwelling.

(8) "Consumer" means a person, other than a person licensed under this chapter, who seeks to acquire or acquires by purchase, exchange, or lease-purchase a manufactured home.

(9) "Control" means, with respect to another person, the possession of the power, directly or indirectly, to vote an interest of 25 percent or more.

(10) "Department" means the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs operating through its manufactured housing division.

(11) "Director" means the executive director of the manufactured housing division of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

(12) "HUD-code manufactured home":

(A) means a structure:

(i) constructed on or after June 15, 1976, according to the rules of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(ii) built on a permanent chassis;

(iii) designed for use as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when the structure is connected to the required utilities;

(iv) transportable in one or more sections; and

(v) in the traveling mode, at least eight body feet in width or at least 40 body feet in length or, when erected on site, at least 320 square feet;

(B) includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems of the home; and

(C) does not include a recreational vehicle as defined by 24 C.F.R. Section 3282.8(g).

(13) "Installation" means the temporary or permanent construction of the foundation system and the placement of a manufactured home or manufactured home component on the foundation. The term includes supporting, blocking, leveling, securing, anchoring, and properly connecting multiple or expandable sections or components and making minor adjustments.

(14) "Installer" means a person, including a retailer or manufacturer, who contracts to perform or performs an installation function on manufactured housing.

(15) "Label" means a device or insignia that is:

(A) issued by the director to indicate compliance with the standards, rules, and regulations established by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development; and

(B) permanently attached to each transportable section of each HUD-code manufactured home constructed after June 15, 1976, for sale to a consumer.

(16) "Lease-purchase" means entering into a lease contract for a manufactured home, in which the lessor retains title, containing a provision or, in another agreement, conferring on the lessee an option to purchase a manufactured home.

(17) "License holder" or "licensee" means a person who holds a department-issued license as a manufacturer, retailer, broker, rebuilder, salesperson, or installer.

(18) "Manufactured home" or "manufactured housing" means a HUD-code manufactured home or a mobile home.

(19) "Manufacturer" means a person who constructs or assembles manufactured housing for sale, exchange, or lease-purchase in this state.

(20) "Mobile home":

(A) means a structure:

(i) constructed before June 15, 1976;

(ii) built on a permanent chassis;

(iii) designed for use as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when the structure is connected to the required utilities;

(iv) transportable in one or more sections; and

(v) in the traveling mode, at least eight body feet in width or at least 40 body feet in length or, when erected on site, at least 320 square feet; and

(B) includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems of the home.

(21) "New manufactured home" means a manufactured home that is not a used manufactured home, regardless of its age.

(22) "Person" means an individual or a partnership, company, corporation, association, or other group, however organized.

(23) "Related person" means a person who directly or indirectly participates in management or policy decisions.

(24) "Retailer" means a person who:

(A) is engaged in the business of buying for resale, selling, or exchanging manufactured homes or offering manufactured homes for sale, exchange, or lease-purchase to consumers, including a person who maintains a location for the display of manufactured homes; and

(B) sells, exchanges, or lease-purchases at least two manufactured homes to consumers in a 12-month period.

(25) "Rules" means the rules of the department.

(26) "Salesperson" means a person who, as an employee or agent of a retailer or broker, sells or lease-purchases or offers to sell or lease-purchase manufactured housing to a consumer.

(27) "Salvaged manufactured home" means a manufactured home determined to be salvaged under Section 1201.461.

(28) "Seal" means a device or insignia issued by the director that, for title purposes, is to be attached to a used manufactured home as required by the director.

(29) "Standards code" means the Texas Manufactured Housing Standards Code.

(30) "Statement of ownership and location" means a statement issued by the department and setting forth:

(A) the ownership and location of a manufactured home in this state as provided by Section 1201.205; and

(B) other information required by this chapter.

(31) "Trust fund" means the manufactured homeowners' recovery trust fund.

(32) "Used manufactured home" means a manufactured home which has been occupied for any use or for which a statement of ownership and location has been issued. The term does not include:

(A) a manufactured home that was used as a sales model at a licensed retail location; or

(B) a manufactured home that:

(i) was sold as a new manufactured home and installed but never occupied;

(ii) had a statement of ownership and location; and

(iii) was taken back from the consumer or transferee because of a first payment default or agreement to rescind or unwind the transaction.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1421, Sec. 2, eff. June 1, 2003. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 338, Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2003; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1276, Sec. 14A.251(a), eff. Sept. 1, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 863 , Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2008.