S. 1194 — Manufactured Housing Tenant’s Bill of Rights Act of 2025

This section establishes definitions for purposes of the Act, including (1) "affiliate," generally meaning any entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a borrower under section 3(a); (2) "covered loan program," meaning HUD's program under section 207 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1713) for insuring loans to finance construction or substantial rehabilitation of manufactured home parks (i.e., communities where residents lease pads for their homes), Fannie Mae's multifamily loan program for manufactured home communities, or Freddie Mac's equivalent program; (3) "covered pricing incentive," meaning any pricing discount under a covered loan program that rewards borrower-implemented resident protections (e.g., against predatory rent increases and management practices); (4) "Director," meaning the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency; (5) "enterprise," meaning Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, as defined in 12 U.S.C. 4502; (6) "manufactured home," meaning a structure transportable in one or more sections, as defined in 42 U.S.C. 5402, regardless of compliance with standards under that Act or date of manufacture; (7) "manufactured home community," meaning any park, court, or community where pad sites (or pads and homes) are leased primarily for residential use of manufactured homes; and (8) "Secretary," meaning the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

This section requires that, effective 180 days after enactment, no loan under a covered loan program (i.e., FHA-insured multifamily loans or loans purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac financing manufactured home communities) is eligible for FHA insurance or enterprise purchase unless the borrower (1) certifies inclusion of specified minimum consumer protections in leases for pad sites (or pad sites and homes) in communities the borrower or an affiliate owns and (2) submits documentation, including the standard lease, to verify compliance per agency regulations. The minimum protections include (A) 1-year renewable lease terms absent good cause for nonrenewal; (B) 60-day written notice (plus 30 days per additional 2.5% over 5%) for rent or new charge increases, with justification and estimates; (C) 5-day rent grace period; (D) 15-day cure period for rent defaults; (E) right to sell tenant-owned home in place; (F) right to sell post-eviction after 45 days; (G) right to sublease/assign pad absent reasonable denial with notice; (H) right to post "For Sale" signs; (I) 60-day notice of community sale/closure with good-faith tenant purchase negotiations; and (J) tenancy termination limits to material noncompliance or legitimate business reasons with notice. (Thus, protections do not preempt stronger state/local laws.) This section further requires pricing incentives to reward protections exceeding these minima and prohibits noncompliant incentives.

This section establishes the 16-member Manufactured Home Community Lending Standards Commission, to terminate upon submission of its required report. The commission must submit to Congress, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency director, not later than one year after enactment, a report proposing consumer protection standards for covered loan programs (i.e., those enhanced under section 3) that exceed section 3(b) requirements and could support pricing incentives under section 3(c), with approvals by simple majority vote. Membership consists of the Secretary and director (or designees); one representative from each government-sponsored enterprise (i.e., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac); and three appointees each by the House Speaker, House minority leader, Senate majority leader, and Senate minority leader (one academic expert in manufactured housing/consumer protection, one current/former member of Congress, and one manufactured home community resident/homeowner per appointing officer); appointments must occur within 45 days of enactment, with the President designating the chairperson and a House leader (based on political alignment with the President) designating the co-chairperson. The commission must hold at least two public hearings, meet within 30 days of a majority of appointments, and serve without pay.

This section prohibits additional appropriations to carry out the Act and directs that any required expenses be funded using amounts otherwise available to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

This section directs the Director, in consultation with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the enterprises), to develop a standard site-lease agreement for manufactured home communities that the enterprises certify provides sufficient certainty to make mortgage loans secured by homes in such communities eligible for purchase under the enterprises' single-family mortgage programs. The section requires the Director to submit the agreement to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services within one year of enactment.