H.R. 8047 — Promoting Resident Ownership of Manufactured Home Communities Act

This section establishes a competitive grant program under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, to be carried out by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development not later than one year after enactment, to award funds to eligible recipients of Title I assistance (e.g., states, localities) located in a state, Indian tribe, or insular area that has either adopted specified model laws enabling residents' opportunity to purchase manufactured housing communities or submitted data demonstrating an effective purchase opportunity; eligibility lasts for a three-year period following the Secretary's determination. Grant recipients must use at least 25% of funds for land and site acquisition and infrastructure in manufactured housing communities owned by eligible owners, with the remainder for eligible activities under section 105 (i.e., community development block grant activities); the Secretary may waive or specify alternative requirements for provisions under the Secretary's administration (except those related to fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards, the environment, or low- and moderate-income benefits) if necessary to facilitate the grants. The model laws require manufactured housing community owners, not later than 60 days before final acceptance of a sale, lease, or transfer offer, to notify residents and the relevant state, tribal, or insular area housing finance agency of the offer's price, terms, and conditions and residents' purchase opportunity; if a resident homeowner group with support from owners of more than 50% of owner-occupied homes submits a matching offer within 60 days, the owner must sell on those terms, or otherwise negotiate in good faith; such groups have 120 days from agreement to form a homeowner-governed entity and arrange financing, with a commercially reasonable time to close; owners may not reject offers solely for financing contingencies, must apply universal terms to all buyers without penalties for resident deals, and must afford the opportunity to each substantially different offer; and residents have rights to meet, form associations, and circulate materials without retaliation.