Chapter 18 - Mobile Home Warranties
CHAPTER 18 - MOBILE HOME WARRANTIES
35-18-101. Short title.
Thisact shall be known and may be cited as the "Mobile Home Warranty Act of1975".
35-18-102. Definitions.
(a) As used in this act:
(i) "Defect" means any insufficiency in the performance,construction, components or material of a mobile home that renders the home orany of its parts not fit for the ordinary use for which it was intended or forhuman habitation;
(ii) "Defect which constitutes an imminent safetyhazard" means any defect which presents an imminent and unreasonable riskof death or severe personal injury under the National Mobile Home Constructionand Safety Standards Act of 1974 and standards and regulations promulgatedpursuant thereto;
(iii) "Delivery date" means the date on which a mobilehome is physically delivered to the site chosen by the mobile home owner;
(iv) "Mobile home" means a transportable structurewhich exceeds either eight (8) body feet in width or thirty-two (32) body feet inlength, built on a chassis and designed to be used with or without a permanentfoundation, when connected to required utilities, for human occupancy as aresidence, or as a temporary or permanent office. The term may include one (1)or more components which can be retracted for towing and subsequently expandedfor additional capacity, or two (2) or more units separately towable butdesigned to be joined into one (1) single unit, as well as a transportablestructure designed as a single unit. For purposes of this act only, the termincludes the plumbing, heating and electrical systems and all appliances,equipment, furniture and other personal property contained in or affixed to amobile home on the delivery date;
(v) "Mobile home dealer" or "dealer" meansa person who, for anything of value, sells, exchanges, buys or rents, orattempts to negotiate a sale or exchange of an interest in mobile homes, or whois engaged wholly or in part in the business of selling mobile homes, whetheror not the mobile homes are owned by him, excluding:
(A) A receiver, trustee, administrator, executor, guardian orother person appointed by or acting under the judgment or order of any court;
(B) Any public officer while performing his official duty;
(C) Any employee of a person enumerated in subparagraph (A) or(B) of this paragraph;
(D) Any finance agency as defined in W.S. 34.1-2-104; and
(E) A person transferring a mobile home registered in his ownname and used for his personal, family or household purposes, if the transferis an occasional sale and is not part of the business of the transferor.
(vi) "Mobile home manufacturer" or"manufacturer" means any person in or out of this state whomanufactures or assembles mobile homes for sale in this state;
(vii) "Mobile home owner" or "owner" meansany person who purchases or leases a mobile home primarily for personal, familyor household purposes, or for business purposes;
(viii) "Mobile home salesperson" or"salesperson" means any person who is employed by a mobile homemanufacturer or dealer to sell or lease mobile homes;
(ix) "New mobile home" means a mobile home which hasnever been occupied, used or sold for personal or business use;
(x) "Gives notice" means as defined in W.S. 34.1-1-201(a)(xxvi);
(xi) "Notification" means as defined in W.S.34.1-1-201(a)(xxvii);
(xii) "Person" means as defined in W.S.34.1-1-201(a)(xxx);
(xiii) "Used mobile home" means a mobile home which haspreviously been occupied, used or sold for personal or business use;
(xiv) "This act" means W.S. 35-18-101 through35-18-110.
35-18-103. Written warranty; contents.
(a) A written warranty is required for every new mobile homesold or leased by a mobile home manufacturer, dealer or salesperson in thisstate, and for every new mobile home sold by any person who induces a residentof this state to enter into the transaction by personal solicitation in thisstate or by mail or telephone solicitation directed to the particular customerin this state. The mobile home warranty from the manufacturer or dealer to thebuyer shall be set forth in a separate written document entitled "mobilehome warranty", shall be delivered to the buyer by the dealer ormanufacturer before the time the contract of sale is signed, and shall contain,but is not limited to, the following terms:
(i) The mobile home meets federal mobile home construction andsafety standards and those standards prescribed by law or administrative rule,if any, of the mobile homes council, which are in effect at the time of itsmanufacture;
(ii) The mobile home is free from defects if it receivesreasonable care and maintenance;
(iii) The mobile home manufacturer or dealer shall takecorrective action for defects for which the mobile home owner has given noticeto the manufacturer or dealer not later than one (1) year after the deliverydate. The mobile home manufacturer or dealer shall make the appropriateadjustments and repairs, within sixty (60) days after notification of thedefect, at the site of the mobile home without charge to the mobile home owner,provided, however, that neither manufacturer nor dealer shall be liable for anydefect in the mobile home which is the result of improper setup, move,materials furnished or work done by persons other than manufacturer or dealerunless the work was performed by persons under contract or connected by agencywith the manufacturer or dealer;
(iv) The mobile home manufacturer or dealer shall takecorrective action for any defect which constitutes an imminent safety hazardunder applicable federal mobile home construction and safety standards forwhich the mobile home owner has given notice to the manufacturer or dealer. Themobile home manufacturer or dealer shall bring the mobile home into compliancewith applicable standards and correct the defect or have the defect correctedwithin a reasonable period of time at the site of the mobile home withoutcharge to the owner, but only if:
(A) The defect presents an unreasonable risk of injury or deathto occupants of the affected mobile home; or
(B) The defect is related to an error in design or assembly ofthe mobile home by the manufacturer.
(v) If a repair, replacement, substitution or alteration ismade under the warranty and it is discovered, before or after the expiration ofthe warranty period, that the repair, replacement, substitution or alterationhas not restored the mobile home to the condition in which it was warrantedexcept for reasonable wear and tear, such failure shall be deemed a violationof the warranty and the mobile home shall be restored to the condition in whichit was warranted to be at the time of the sale except for reasonable wear andtear, at no cost to the purchaser or his assignees, notwithstanding that theadditional repair may occur after the expiration of the warranty period;
(vi) The manufacturer and dealer shall be jointly and severallyliable to the buyer for the fulfillment of the terms of warranty, and the buyermay give notice to either one (1) or both of the defect. Notice to either themanufacturer or dealer shall be considered notice to both the manufacturer anddealer. The address and the phone number of where to mail or deliver writtennotices for both the manufacturer and dealer shall be set forth in thewarranty; and
(vii) If during any period of time after notification of a defectthe mobile home is unhabitable because of the defect, that period of time shallnot be considered part of the one (1) year warranty period.
(b) Any transfer of a mobile home from one (1) owner or lesseeto another during the effective period of the warranty does not terminate thewarranty, and subsequent owners or lessees shall be entitled to the fullprotection of the warranty for the duration of the warranty period as if theoriginal owner or lessee had not transferred the mobile home.
35-18-104. Implied warranty; indemnity.
Whetheror not the written warranty required in W.S. 35-18-103 is delivered to thebuyer, there exists an implied warranty to the same extent and in the samecircumstances as the written warranty therein provided for, which is bindingupon both the dealer and manufacturer. If the dealer makes the adjustmentsrequired under W.S. 35-18-103(a)(iii), (iv)(A) and (B) and (v) the manufacturershall fully reimburse the dealer for all such adjustments except those to correctdefects willfully caused by the dealer.
35-18-105. Cumulative remedies; proscription against waiver.
Remediesof a mobile home buyer or other person under the warranty provided in W.S.35-18-103 and 35-18-104 are those otherwise provided by law. The warranty underW.S. 35-18-103 and 35-18-104 is in addition to and not in derogation of allother rights and privileges which a mobile home buyer or other person may haveunder any other law or instrument. The contractual waiver of any remedies underany law and the waiver, exclusion, modification or limitation of any warranty,express or implied, including the implied warranty of merchantability andfitness for a particular purpose, is expressly prohibited, is contrary topublic policy and is unenforceable and void unless permitted by this act.
35-18-106. Sale or lease of used mobile homes; inspection;responsibility for repair.
(a) In the sale or lease of any used mobile home by a mobilehome dealer, the sales invoice or lease agreement shall contain the point ofmanufacture of the used mobile home, the name of the manufacturer and the nameand address of the previous owner.
(b) No sale or lease of a used mobile home by a mobile homedealer on an "as is" or "with all faults" basis shall beeffective to exclude or modify an implied warranty of merchantability or animplied warranty of fitness, unless the mobile home buyer or lessee signs aseparate writing made by the dealer listing specifically all substantialdefects which are to be exempt from warranty, or unless the defects would nothave been discovered by a reasonable inspection by the dealer or lessor beforeconsummation of the sale or lease.
(c) Directly above the customer's signature the followingnotice shall be printed all in capital letters:
"THIS IS A LIST OFDEFECTS TO BE EXEMPT FROM WARRANTY IN THIS MOBILE HOME. IF YOU SIGN THISWRITING, YOU AGREE THAT THE DEALER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REPAIRING THESEDEFECTS."
35-18-107. Lessee's rights.
Actionby a lessee to enforce his rights under this act shall not be grounds fortermination of the rental agreement.
35-18-108. Injunctive relief.
Thecounty attorney of any county or the attorney general or the mobile homescouncil may obtain injunctive relief from any court of competent jurisdictionto enjoin the offering for sale, delivery or installation of mobile homes forwhich written warranties are required under this act, upon an affidavit of thecounty attorney or attorney general, or the mobile homes council specifyinginstances of noncompliance with the requirements of this act which illustrate apersistent course of conduct in violation of this act.
35-18-109. Penalties.
(a) Any person who knowingly or willfully violates anyprovision of this act may be fined not more than one thousand dollars($1,000.00), and each violation shall be considered a separate offense.
(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully violates this act ina manner which threatens the health or safety of any purchaser shall be guiltyof an aggravated offense and may additionally be fined not more than onethousand dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisoned not more than one (1) year, or both,and each violation is a separate offense.
(c) Any person recovering a judgment based on an act oromission by the manufacturer, dealer or salesperson, which constituted aviolation of this act, shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorney's feesin addition to other recoverable costs. Such fees and costs shall be creditedto any fine under subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
35-18-110. Jurisdiction and venue over nonresident manufacturers anddealers.
(a) A court of this state shall exercise jurisdiction overnonresident mobile home manufacturers and dealers on the basis of their conductof business within this state, whether or not the importation or sale isaccomplished directly or indirectly through agents, dealers, representatives ortransferees.
(b) No mobile home shall be imported into this state unless themanufacturer, dealer and their agents, distributors and transferees undertaketo provide the warranty required by this act for the benefit of the purchaser.
(c) Each importation of a mobile home for sale in this state bya nonresident manufacturer or dealer is an irrevocable appointment by themanufacturer or dealer or the secretary of state to be his lawful attorney uponwhom may be served all legal processes in any action or proceeding against themanufacturer or dealer arising out of the importation of the mobile home intothis state.
(d) The secretary of state upon whom processes and notices maybe served under this section shall, upon being served with process or notice,mail a copy by registered mail to the nonresident manufacturer or dealer at thenonresident address given in the papers served. The original shall be returnedwith proper certificate of service attached for filing in court as proof ofservice. The service fee shall be two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) for eachdefendant served. The secretary of state shall keep a record of all suchprocesses and notices, which record shall show the day and hour of service.