The Association’s legal program is structured to produce equal treatment for manufactured homes under state and local law. To this end, the program contains three basic elements: legislation, litigation and education.

Legislation

The legislative program has produced new state laws requiring equal zoning and tax treatment of manufactured homes of any configuration or square footage in the agriculturally zoned districts in Virginia, which cover roughly 85 – 90% of the state’s land area. Additionally, the program has created an independent state regulatory board for manufactured housing issues.

Litigation

The litigation portion of the program has been directed at equal protection cases and enforcement of the statutory gains which the Association has achieved in the Virginia General Assembly. More than 20+ separate actions have been initiated or supported in the Virginia courts since the program's inception, and all but one (Gloucester County) have been concluded in VAMMHA's favor.

Education

The third portion of the legal program, education, is implemented very broadly. In its everyday sense, the program includes regular articles on industry legal issues in the Association’s publication, THE OLD DOMINION OUTLOOK; appearances before local government governing bodies or other groups to explain Association positions, or to assist the localities in structuring ordinance amendments that affect manufactured housing; and frequent presentation of seminar issues to local government zoning officials and planners. The education portion of the legal program also extends to frequent interventions at the state government regulatory level, with respect to such matters as building code issues, highway department regulations, or taxation issues. The Association’s appearance, speaking for the industry with a single voice in these matters, has raised its profile in state regulatory agencies and thereby improved the thoroughness and fairness of state agency regulations or interpretations.

The Association’s legal program is managed by John F. Rick, a Virginia attorney (Georgetown Law School, 1971) with broad experience in state agency law, local government issues, and property rights litigation.

Please call the VAMMHA office at 800-282-0812 if you have an issue that has statewide ramifications.