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CALIFORNIA
OMBUDSMAN IMPEDES
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The state administrative agency (SAA) responsible for supervising HUD building code in California is the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The division that oversees manufactured housing is called the Ombudsman. This department issues dealers and salespersons’ licenses (occupational licensing), and maintains the Public Record of licensing status. The ombudsman posts information about the license status of all sales agents and dealers of manufactured housing (posted daily to the website), and anyone can access this information from their Occupational License License Status Query page. California law gives the public the right to know whether specific dealers have been cited for violations of building code. However, the Ombudsman impedes public access to this knowledge by charging exorbitant fees ($45 per dealer) and hourly fees for research beginning at $196 an hour (view the Fee Schedule) Mr. Richard Weinert, the California Ombudsman, has failed to release compiled data on dealers with violations to requests from both Consumers Union (in 2004) and the Manufactured Housing Citizens Group (in 2005). In 2006, the Lake County Democratic Club requested that the HCD reduce the fees charged to the public for finding out about dealer violations. Because this is public record information, the cost should be no more than that of photocopying. However, the HCD refuses the request, as you can see for yourself in their response (below):
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