Idaho HB 647 would have voided manufactured-home covenants — the siting half passed without it
Idaho HB 647 would have voided manufactured-home covenants — the siting half passed without it
2026-09-04 · Idaho · Legislation · Did not pass
What happened. House Bill 647 of the 2026 Idaho session died in the House Business Committee. Introduced 12 February 2026 and referred to committee on 13 February, it recorded no further action before adjournment sine die on 2 April.1
What makes it worth reporting is what happened to its contents. HB 647 had three sections. Two of them — a definitional amendment and the manufactured-home siting rules — reappeared in House Bill 800, which passed and became Chapter 171, effective 1 July 2026. The third section, the one that would have voided restrictive covenants, did not.
Idaho therefore considered whether to strip associations of authority over manufactured homes, and declined to do so, in the same session in which it loosened municipal zoning on the same subject.
The section that did not survive
Section 2 of HB 647 would have added a new Idaho Code § 55-619, in Title 55, Chapter 6 — general conveyancing law rather than the Homeowner's Association Act:2
- H.B. 647 (2026), proposed Idaho Code § 55-619(1)On and after July 1, 2026, no restrictive covenant shall be entered into that prohibits or unreasonably restricts siting of manufactured homes, as defined in section 39-4105, Idaho Code, on lots where single-family dwellings are permitted. Any such covenant is hereby declared to be against public policy and is void and unenforceable. Any person attempting to create or enforce such a covenant shall be liable for any attorney's fees, court costs, and any other damages incurred by the other party.
Subsection (2) limited it: the section would not apply to covenants against manufactured homes on such lots “entered into prior to July 1, 2026.” It was prospective only. Existing Idaho declarations would have been untouched.
The model it borrowed
That drafting is not novel in Idaho. It is almost word for word the structure of § 55-618, the 2023 provision voiding covenants against internal accessory dwelling units — same public-policy declaration, same void-and-unenforceable language, same liability for “any person attempting to create or enforce such a covenant,” same prospective-only carve-out.
That matters for reading the session. Idaho now has two distinct legislative templates for constraining covenants, and HB 647 chose the harsher one. Sections 55-3211 and 55-3212 use a consent model: the covenant is unenforceable without the affected owner's written agreement, with no damages remedy attached. Section 55-618 and the proposed § 55-619 use a void-and-fee-shift model: the covenant is a nullity, and attempting to enforce it exposes the enforcer to the other side's costs.
What it would have reached
Two features gave the proposed section unusually wide scope.
First, the standard was “prohibits or unreasonably restricts” — not merely prohibits. Few Idaho declarations say “no manufactured homes.” Most operate indirectly, through minimum floor area, permanent-foundation requirements, roof-pitch specifications, exterior-material rules or site-built construction clauses. Under a prohibits-only standard those survive by construction; under an unreasonable-restriction standard each one becomes arguable.
Second, the definition. Section 1 of HB 647 would have amended Idaho Code § 39-4105 to confirm that “[m]anufactured homes include multifamily manufactured homes that are constructed in accordance with the HUD manufactured home construction and safety standards.” The covenant provision then cross-referenced that definition, so its reach would have moved with it.
And the liability sentence attaches to the attempt to enforce, not to the result. A violation letter is an attempt.
What passed instead
House Bill 800, signed 26 March 2026 as Chapter 171 and effective 1 July 2026, carried the siting reforms forward. It amended Idaho Code § 67-6509A to direct governing boards to permit manufactured homes in single-family residential zones outside historic districts, set placement standards a jurisdiction may apply, and fixed the minimum size a local government may demand at 400 square feet for a single-section home and 800 for a multisectional unit.3
It left intact the sentence that has sat in § 67-6509A for years: “This section shall not be construed as abrogating a recorded restrictive covenant.”4
So the enacted law changed what cities and counties must allow and changed nothing about what a declaration may forbid. The votes were not close — House 60-6, Senate 28-5 — which suggests the siting reforms were uncontroversial once separated from the covenant provision.
What this means for Idaho associations right now
- Your manufactured-home restrictions are enforceable. Nothing in the 2026 session changed that. An association relying on minimum square footage, foundation type or construction standards is on the same footing it was on in June.
- But know which clause you are relying on, and how clearly it is written. Idaho courts will not extend a restriction by implication, and resolve ambiguity in favour of free use. That canon has decided several recent Idaho covenant appeals, and it applies whether or not a bill passes.
- Expect the zoning-covenant gap to show up at resale. A lot may be zoned to permit a 400-square-foot single-section home while the declaration requires far more. Purchasers increasingly check the zoning and stop there.
- Note where the drafting energy is. The void-and-fee-shift template already exists in Idaho law at § 55-618. Applying it to a new subject requires only a new section, not a new idea.
What to watch next
Idaho bills do not carry over between sessions, so a revival would need a new bill number in the session convening January 2027. The 2025 Land Use and Housing Study Committee that generated this policy stream has not been reconstituted for the 2026 interim, which means a 2027 manufactured-housing bill would come from an individual legislator or a trade group rather than a committee recommendation.5
The wider pattern is the one to track. Over four sessions Idaho has removed rooftop solar, political signs, flag display, rentals and accessory dwelling units from unilateral covenant control. Manufactured homes are now the subject the Legislature has considered under that framework and, for this session, left alone.
Related Idaho HOA Topics
- H.B. 647, 2026 Reg. Sess. — bill status showing referral to House Business and no further action ↩
- H.B. 647 as introduced — full text of proposed Idaho Code § 55-619 ↩
- H.B. 800, 2026 Reg. Sess. — the siting bill that passed (Chapter 171, effective 1 July 2026) ↩
- Idaho Code § 67-6509A, siting of manufactured homes (retaining the restrictive-covenant savings clause) ↩
- Idaho Legislature, 2026 interim committees (no land use and housing study committee listed) ↩
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