
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document affected by Public Law 106-569 Section 608]
[CITE: 42USC5409]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
     CHAPTER 70--MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS
 
Sec. 5409. Prohibited acts; exemptions

    (a) No person shall--
        (1) make use of any means of transportation or communication 
    affecting interstate or foreign commerce or the mails to manufacture 
    for sale, lease, sell, offer for sale or lease, or introduce or 
    deliver, or import into the United States, any manufactured home 
    which is manufactured on or after the effective date of any 
    applicable Federal manufactured home construction and safety 
    standard under this chapter and which does not comply with such 
    standard, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, 
    where such manufacture, lease, sale, offer for sale or lease, 
    introduction, delivery, or importation affects commerce;
        (2) fail or refuse to permit access to or copying of records, or 
    fail to make reports or provide information, or fail or refuse to 
    permit entry or inspection, as required under section 5413 of this 
    title;
        (3) fail to furnish notification of any defect as required by 
    section 5414 of this title;
        (4) fail to issue a certification required by section 5415 of 
    this title, or issue a certification to the effect that a 
    manufactured home conforms to all applicable Federal manufactured 
    home construction and safety standards, if such person in the 
    exercise of due care has reason to know that such certification is 
    false or misleading in a material respect;
        (5) fail to comply with a final order issued by the Secretary 
    under this chapter; or
        (6) issue a certification pursuant to subsection (h) of section 
    5403 of this title, if such person in the exercise of due care has 
    reason to know that such certification is false or misleading in a 
    material respect.

    (b)(1) Paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this section shall not 
apply to the sale, the offer for sale, or the introduction or delivery 
for introduction in interstate commerce of any manufactured home after 
the first purchase of it in good faith for purposes other than resale.
    (2) For purposes of section 5410 of this title, paragraph (1) of 
subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to any person who 
establishes that he did not have reason to know in the exercise of due 
care that such manufactured home is not in conformity with applicable 
Federal manufactured home construction and safety standards, or to any 
person who, prior to such first purchase, holds a certificate issued by 
the manufacturer or importer of such manufactured home to the effect 
that such manufactured home conforms to all applicable Federal 
manufactured home construction and safety standards, unless such person 
knows that such manufactured home does not so conform.
    (3) A manufactured home offered for importation in violation of 
paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this section shall be refused 
admission into the United States under joint regulations issued by the 
Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary, except that the Secretary 
of the Treasury and the Secretary may, by such regulations, provide for 
authorizing the importation of such manufactured home into the United 
States upon such terms and conditions (including the furnishing of a 
bond) as may appear to them appropriate to insure that any such 
manufactured home will be brought into conformity with any applicable 
Federal manufactured home construction or safety standard prescribed 
under this chapter, or will be exported from, or forfeited to, the 
United States.
    (4) The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary may, by joint 
regulations, permit the importation of any manufactured home after the 
first purchase of it in good faith for purposes other than resale.
    (5) Paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply 
in the case of a manufactured home intended solely for export, and so 
labeled or tagged on the manufactured home itself and on the outside of 
the container, if any, in which it is to be exported.
    (c) Compliance with any Federal manufactured home construction or 
safety standard issued under this chapter does not exempt any person 
from any liability under common law.

(Pub. L. 93-383, title VI, Sec. 610, Aug. 22, 1974, 88 Stat. 704; Pub. 
L. 95-128, title IX, Sec. 902(b), Oct. 12, 1977, 91 Stat. 1149; Pub. L. 
96-399, title III, Sec. 308(c)(4), Oct. 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 1641.)


                               Amendments

    1980--Subsecs. (a)(1), (4), (b)(1) to (5), (c). Pub. L. 96-399 
substituted ``manufactured home'' for ``mobile home'' wherever 
appearing.
    1977--Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 95-128 added par. (6).

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 5410 of this title.
