291 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 12, § 007

Current through June 17, 2024

Section 291-12-007 - PROCEDURES FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION

007.01Manufacturers Opportunity for Informal Presentation: If the Department determines that a manufactured home has a violation or contains a failure to conform which does constitute an imminent safety hazard or serious defect, it shall immediately notify the manufacturer of such finding and the Department shall afford such manufacturer an opportunity to present his or her views and evidence in support thereof to establish that there is no failure to conform. If, after such presentation by the manufacturer, the Department determines that such manufactured home does not comply with applicable departmental standards or contains a failure to conform which constitutes an imminent safety hazard or serious defect, the Department shall direct the manufacturer to furnish the notification specified in Section 007.01A.

007.01AManufacturers Notification and Correction: Every manufacturer shall furnish notification of any failure to conform in any manufactured home produced by such manufacturer which he or she determines, in good faith, violates a standard adopted by the Commission which constitutes an imminent safety hazard or serious defect in a single home or non-compliance determined to be in a class of homes to the purchaser of such manufactured home, within a reasonable time after such manufacturer has discovered the failure to conform. The notification required shall be accomplished by:

(a) Certified mail to the first purchaser, not including any dealer or distributor of such manufacturer, of the manufactured home containing the failure to conform and to any subsequent purchaser to whom any warranty of such manufactured home has been transferred;

(b) Certified mail to any other person who is a registered owner of such manufactured home and whose name and address has been ascertained pursuant to procedures established under Section 007.01B;

(c) Certified mail or other more expeditious means to the dealer or dealers of such manufacturer to whom such manufactured home was delivered. The notification required shall contain a clear description of such failure to conform, an evaluation of the risk to manufactured home occupants' safety reasonably related to such defect, and a statement of the measure(s) needed to repair the failure to conform. The notification shall also in-orm the owner whether the failure to conform is a construction or safety failure to conform which the manufacturer will have corrected at no cost to the owner of the manufactured home, or a failure to conform which must be corrected at the expense of the owner.

If a manufacturer is required to furnish notification of a failure to conform in accordance with this Section, the manufacturer is also required to bring the manufactured home into compliance with the code adopted in Section 001.02 and correct the failure to conform or have the failure to conform corrected within a reasonable period of time at no expense to the owner if the failure to conform presents an unreasonable risk of injury or death to occupants of the affected manufactured home and the failure to conform is related to an error by the manufacturer in design or assembly of the manufactured home.

The Department may direct the manufacturer to make such corrections after providing an opportunity for oral and written presentation of views by interested persons. Nothing in this section shall limit the rights of the purchaser or any other person under any contract or other applicable law.

The manufacturer shall submit a remedy plan for repairing such failure to conform to the Department for its approval, or the manufacturer shall notify the Department of the corrective action it has taken and request departmental approval. Whenever a manufacturer is required to correct a failure to conform, the Department shall approve, with or without modification, after consultation with the manufacturer of the manufactured home involved, the manufacturer's remedy plan including the date when, and the method by which, the notification and remedy required pursuant to this section shall be effectuated. Such date shall be the earliest practicable one, but shall not be more than sixty (60) days after the date of discovery or determination of the failure to conform, unless the Commission grants an extension of such period for good cause shown. The manufacturer shall implement any remedy plan approved by the Commission.

When a failure to conform in a manufactured home cannot be adequately repaired within the sixty days from the date of discovery or determination of the failure to conform, the Commission may require that the manufactured home be replaced with a new or equivalent manufactured home without charge or that the purchase price be refunded in full, less a reasonable allowance for depreciation based on actual use if the manufactured home has been in the possession of the owner for more than one year. Every manufacturer of manufactured homes shall furnish to the Department a true or representative copy of all notices, bulletins, and other communications sent to the dealers of the manufacturer or to purchasers of manufactured homes of the manufacturer regarding any failure to conform in any manufactured home produced by the manufacturer. The Commission shall disclose to the public so much of the information contained in such notices or other information obtained pursuant to the code as it deems will assist in carrying out the purposes of the code, but it shall not disclose any information which contains or relates to a trade secret, or which, if disclosed, would put the manufacturer at a substantial competitive disadvantage, unless it determines that it is necessary to carry out the purposes of the code.

007.01BManufacturer's Records: Every manufacturer of manufactured homes shall maintain a record of the name and address of the first purchaser of each manufactured home for purposes other than resale and, to the maximum extent feasible and reasonable, shall maintain procedure for ascertaining the name and address of any subsequent purchaser thereof and shall maintain a record of names and addresses so ascertained. Such records shall be kept for each manufactured home produced by a manufacturer.

291 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 12, § 007