Anyone considering purchasing a modular home in Illinois should be made aware of the following. Even though there is a Statute in place to protect your rights, no one will want to enforce them...
I should be living at my new modular home in Algonquin, IL. My home situation is going on for nearly 3 years. Please visit my website. You will not believe your eyes. www.VeryBadHome.com Why am I not living there? Simply put, our IL Government has failed miserably. The IL Department of Public Health (IDPH in Springfield) is the agency responsible for enforcing all rules, regulations, and laws for modular housing in Illinois. On the IDPH website, it clearly states the following regarding Statute 430-ILCS-115, "These regulations require that manufacturers of all modular dwelling units… must receive approval of their units from the Department before they are constructed for location in Illinois.". This has been effective since September 1, 1985. My home was built for Indiana on January 10, 2005, and IDPH did not approve the plans for this model of home (M4R52-S04) to be built in Illinois until June 16, 2005… over 5 months later. This seems very clear as to the violation. The Certification Seal on my home is # 36240 and Code Compliance Certificate #35707, and were requested by Liberty Homes, Inc on April 25, 2005 and were received by Liberty Homes, Inc. in early May 2005, well before the plans were approved by IDPH. IDPH prepared court documents to bring action against Liberty Homes, Inc., citing the obvious violations by Liberty Homes, Inc., and then everything was dropped and nothing was done. See www.VeryBadHome.com for copies of documents.
My situation goes back almost 3 years. After all of my research and constant digging here is what I know at this point.
•The IL Dept of Public Health (IDPH) in Springfield, IL is responsible for regulating all modular homes in IL… they have written Statute 430-ILCS-115 which is supposed to protect the consumer.
•The manufacturer requested and IDPH sent a Certification Seal for my home prior to the plans for that model of home ever being approved for sale in the state of IL. IDPH says in an email to me that approvals are not retroactive, yet they will not repossess the Certification Seal for my home despite the fact that their statute 430-ILCS-115 clearly states that they can. I found out that my home was not built for Illinois, but instead for Indiana on January 10, 2005, over 5 months prior to the plans for that model ever being approved by IDPH.
I purchased the new modular home on April 22, 2005.
On April 25, 2005, the manufacturer contacted the IDPH requesting a Certification Seal and a Code Compliance Certificate for my home.
On April 29, 2005, IDPH sends Liberty Homes, Inc (manufacturer) a Certification Seal #36240 and a Code Compliance Certificate #35707 for my home.
On June 16, 2005 IDPH approves the plans submitted by the manufacturer to build my model of home in Illinois, model #M4R52-S04.
In late 2007, IDPH prepared court papers to bring charges against the manufacturer and repossess the Certification Seal #36240 and Code Compliance Certificate #35707, but then all of a sudden dropped everything and did not pursue things (see attached papers). In these court papers, IDPH spells out very clearly the violations.
Below is a recent timeline of events:
•On September 5, 2007, Congressman Manzullo’s office sent a letter to the Director of IDPH asking to please address the concerns regarding my home, and especially to investigate the matter and determine the violations… IDPH ignored this letter and never responded.
•On October 1, 2007, a letter with “36” IL House of Representatives legislators’ support signatures was sent to IDPH, asking them to take action because they find my situation to be extreme, and also asking IDPH to repossess the Certification Seal for my home because it was acquired by what appears to be fraudulent pretenses. IDPH never responded and ignored the letter.
•On November 28, 2007 Senator Barack Obama’s office sent a letter on my behalf to the IDPH asking them to look into my situation… never received a reply.
•On December 11, 2007, Senator Barack Obama’s office sent a letter on my behalf to the Governor, and to the IL Attorney General asking them to look into my situation… never received a reply from either.
•On December 13, 2007, my State Representative, Mike Tryon, sent another letter to Denise Gaines who is the IDPH Dept liaison… asking her why they have not responded to the previous letter, and what Certification Seals have ever been repossessed by IDPH in the past, and what information did IDPH receive that assured them that the Certification Seal issued for my home was being placed on a home that was built to IL code? No answer was ever received to this letter.
•On January 28, 2008, Senator Barack Obama’s office sent another letter to Denise Gaines of IDPH asking them to provide any help or information… no reply ever received.
•On February 14, 2008, Representative Mike Tryon filed Bill HB5272 which proposes the creation of the Manufactured Housing Buyer Protection Act which provides remedies to consumers. Hopefully the lobbyists don’t file this in the trash. So, far this is the one thing that prevents the consumer from getting screwed like I did.
•On March 10, 2008, a letter similar to the House of Representatives letter was sent to IDPH with “11” support signatures of IL Senators… never received a response.
•On March 11, 2008, Senator Barack Obama’s office sent yet another letter on my behalf to the Governor, and to the IL Attorney General asking them to look into my situation… never received a reply from either.
•On March 28, 2008, Carrie Kagawa of Senator Obama’s office followed up with Denise Gaines from IDPH, and Denise said she would send Carrie some information regarding my case (did not specify what), as soon as Carrie receives it she will, forward me it also.
•On April 1, 2008, IDPH’s Chief Denise Gaines sends the following to Senator Obama’s office, “The Department has completed and extensive review of the allegations and has determined that there is no basis for legal action”.
•On April 4, 2008, I received a letter from Carrie Kagawa of Senator Obama’s office indicating that they received the April 1, 2008 letter from IDPH and that Senator Obama’s office cannot help me anymore.
IDPH shows no respect and no responsibility for the disastrous debacle they put me in with my NEW modular home that has serious structural defects and blatant code violations.
Please visit my website. You will not believe your eyes.
www.VeryBadHome.com
I had to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer and the dealer in January 2007. In a late September 2007 Motions to Dismiss Hearing, the judge ruled that the following counts are going forward:
Breach of Contract (Woodale)
Breach of Contract (Liberty)
Negligence (both defendants)
Breach of Express Warranty (Liberty)
Breach of Implied Warranty of Fitness (Woodale)
Breach of Implied Warranty of Fitness (Liberty)
Breach of Implied Warranty of Habitability (both defendants)
Breach of Implied Warranty of Merchantability (Woodale)
Consumer Fraud (both defendants)
UCC Violation §2-608 (both defendants)
UCC Violation §2-602 (both defendants)
The dealer is Woodale Homes, Inc.
1155 E IL Rte 64, Oregon IL 61061
(815)732-2288
http://www.woodalehomes.com/
The manufacturer is Liberty Homes, Inc.,
1101 Eisenhower Drive N Goshen, IN 46526.
(800) 733-0431
http://www.libertyhomesinc.com/
Thank you.
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