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Written by MHI Week in Review
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After a month long Summer Recess, a four-week session of Congress opens next Tuesday, September 14th. With the economy and jobs continuing to make headlines, and with many vulnerable Congressional Democrats feeling pressure at home in an election year, several initiatives related to economic and fiscal policies are expected to be at the forefront, including tax relief and jobs. Specifically among the possibilities MHI sees being debated are a tax extenders package, a proposal to increase small business lending, and the appropriations bills where it appears that Congress will likely enact continuing resolutions to fund the government at 2010 budget levels for the time being.
With elections less than two months away, it will be difficult for any major agenda items to pass. MHI will be focused on getting two of MHI's top priorities, the extension of 45L (the Energy Star tax extenders), and the pre-1976 replacement home legislation, both which will help stimulate the industry and economy, as well as providing much needed jobs, passed in the Senate.
If you are a member with questions, please contact Jason Boehlert at
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or Rae Ann Bevington at
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Written by MHI Week in Review
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Over the past week, the Federal Housing Administration has issued two mortgagee letters implementing changes to the traditional FHA Single Family Mortgage Program (Title II).
Minimum Credit Scores and Loan-to-Value Ratios
On September 3, 2010, HUD released Mortgagee Letter 2010-29, Minimum Credit Scores and Loan-to-Value Ratios, which changes minimum credit scores and loan-to-value (LTV) ratios for FHA insured Single Family Mortgages effective October 4, 2010. Borrowers with a credit score below 500 will not be eligible for FHA-insured mortgage financing. Borrowers with a credit score between 500 and 579 will be limited to 90 percent LTV, which will require a 10 percent down payment. Borrowers with a credit score of 580 or higher are eligible for maximum financing, which requires a minimum 3.5 percent down payment. Borrowers with nontraditional credit histories may be eligible for maximum financing. The letter does not make any changes to the seller concession caps at this time. Click here to view Mortgagee Letter 2010-29: Minimum Credit Scores and Loan-to-Value Ratios |
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Written by MHI Week in Review
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On September 7, USDA's Rural Development Office announced that it will begin obligating Section 502 Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loans, a month sooner than it expected. Click here to view the announcement.
The backlog of approximately $1.6 billion in Conditional Commitments issued after May 26, 2010 with the proviso, "subject to available funds" will be the first loans to be funded. As of September 8, lenders may submit their final closing packages and guarantee fees for these loans. Rural Development will then begin processing new Conditional Commitment requests. It is anticipated that funds will be available for all requests during the remainder of the fiscal year. The new up-front fee of 3.5 percent authorized by Congress in July, will replace the old 2 percent fee structure for purchase loan guarantees. Lenders will be able to access Rural Development's Guaranteed Underwriting System (GUS) to begin submitting new loan requests.
If you are a member and have questions, contact MHI Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Lois Starkey at
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Written by MHARR Washington Update
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 In This Report: September 8, 2010
- Agencies Resist Consumer Financing Mandates
- New Actions to Downgrade Consensus Committee
- Actions to Expand In-Plant Regulation
- HUD Program in Dire Need of New Contractor
- Costly Roof Truss Rule – On-Site Rule Needs Changes
- HUD Plans For September COSAA Meeting
- Costly Energy Rules Should Be Deferred
- "Frost-Free" Design Questions
- FHA Raises Eligibility Standards For Most Mortgages
Download the MHARR Washington Update here. |
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Written by MHI 2011 Congress & Expo
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Save the Date: MHI's 2011 National Congress & Expo will be held April 26-28, 2011 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV. More details will follow shortly. More details on this must-attend event will be available soon at www.congressandexpo.com. |
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Written by MHI Week in Review
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Last Month, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced 15 research and development partnerships to help dramatically improve the energy efficiency of American homes. Representatives from the manufactured housing industry were selected as one of those partnerships, who will share in $30 million for the initial eighteen months of the projects to deliver innovative energy efficiency strategies to the residential market and address barriers to bringing high-efficiency homes within the reach of Americans.
Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions (ARIES) led by the Systems Building Research Alliance (SBRA) will focus on energy solutions for new and existing affordable housing including factory- and site-built homes. MHI and the Manufactured Housing Educational Institute (MHEI) are members of the team. Mark Ezzo, V.P. of Clayton Homes will chair a steering committee composed of organizations that represent the affordable housing industry and will be responsible for reviewing ARIES activities and guiding the focus and scope of proposed efforts. Fifty organizations including implementers, product suppliers, and trainers will participate and will be primary partners in developing, evaluating, and conducting teams research. Among the organizations represented are manufactured and modular homebuilders, land-lease communities, non-profit affordable housing organizations, lenders and utilities.
A technical team headed by Emanuel Levy of SBRA will be responsible for facilitating and completing contracted tasks. The team includes NTA, Inc, the Energy Corp., Southern Energy Management, and Syracuse Center of Excellence will be primarily responsible for managing the work, assembling the project partners, performing the technical tasks and overseeing contract administration. Emanuel Levy and Jordan Dentz will be responsible for facilitating the work of the ARIES team.
Click here to view a copy of DOE's news release.
If you are a member and have questions, contact MHI Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Lois Starkey at
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Written by MHI Week in Review
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USDA Housing Administrator Tammye Trevino announced on August 23, that implementation of the new funding fees for the Section 502 Single Family Loan Guarantee Program is expected by mid-September.
Legislation was recently signed into law giving USDA the authority to increase the up-front fee to up to 3.5 percent of the principal obligation and to charge a new annual fee of up to .5 percent of the outstanding principal balance. USDA's office of Rural Development expects to complete an interim enhancement to its electronic systems by mid-September to accommodate the increase. When this interim enhancement is complete, Rural Development will process all Conditional Commitments issued after May 26, 2010, that had the proviso "subject to the availability of funds." These Conditional Commitments will be processed in the date order by which they were received. As soon as the program is implemented, Rural Development will resume issuing standard commitments without the special "subject to" condition.
In the meantime, Rural Development will continue to accept completed loan applications and issue Conditional Commitments; however, no loan funds will be reserved for applications during this timeframe. Lenders may close the loan as scheduled but will assume all risk of loss for the loan until funds are obligated and the loan is actually guaranteed. Click here for a copy of the USDA August 23rd memorandum.
While the new law also gives lenders the authority to waive the fees for low income and very low income borrowers, USDA will not implement this provision in the near future. However, borrowers may be eligible for USDA's Section 502 Direct Loan Program.
If you are a member and have questions, contact MHI Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Lois Starkey at
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Written by MHI Week in Review
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On August 23, 2010, MHI submitted comments to HUD's proposed rule to establish a procedure allowing manufacturers to deviate from the existing alternative construction (AC) requirement to conduct on-site completion of aspects of construction that cannot reasonably be completed in the factory.
In its comments, MHI said, "while we are pleased that HUD has issued a proposed rule to amend the current AC process, we strongly believe that a number of changes are necessary to ensure a more streamlined process for on-site construction." MHI said that significant changes are needed in order to achieve HUD's stated goal to "simplify the process and obviate the need for HUD approval" and to "expand regulatory flexibility and facilitate the timely completion of manufactured homes on-site."
MHI proposed that HUD adopt the following procedures for on-site completion of construction for manufactured homes:
- Incorporate the existing procedural and enforcement regulations for on-site inspections and consider the on-site work as an extension of the factory inspection process.
- Maintain current procedures for certain types of hinged roofs, which don't require on-site inspection of each installation.
- Prohibit State Administrative Agencies that are not approved State-IPIAs from inspecting on-site work.
- Adopt a more streamlined, less redundant labeling and reporting system to ensure that the buyer has complete knowledge of the status of the home's construction and completion and rely on existing requirements for a "certificate of occupancy" to be provided to the buyer at closing.
Click here to view MHI's comments to HUD.
If you are a member and have questions, contact MHI Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Lois Starkey at
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Written by MHI Week in Review
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In Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development & Research Volume 12, No. 2 published by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, an article entitled "Trailers and Trouble? An Examination of Crime in Mobile Home Communities" concludes that there is no significant difference between the rates of crime in manufactured home communities relative to other residential areas. The study concluded that cities and other municipalities should not be so reticent to allow the creation or expansion of manufactured home communities, and indeed suggests that communities have a vested interest in providing housing options for its citizens. The evidence in the study suggests that local regulators should seek to make sure that the permitting system is disposed towards allowing greater placement of manufactured home communities. Click here for the study.
The study also supports the conclusions of a study issued last year "Overcoming Barriers to Placing Manufactured Homes in Metropolitan Communities" published in the Journal of the American Planning Association urging planners to promote affordable housing by devising educational programs to promote community acceptance, encouraging public-private partnerships that support manufactured housing provision, reviewing and modifying existing regulations so they treat manufactured housing the same as site-built single-family housing. Click here to review this study. |
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Written by MHAO
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Great Southwest Housing Show
Tulsa Expo Quik Trip Center
Tulsa, Oklahoma
April 28 - May 1, 2011
For more information, visit our website at MHAO.org. |
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Written by MHI Community Connections
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A Publication of the MHI National Communities Council
From the NCC Chair
By Chris Parrish The turmoil in the overall housing market continues, and as providers of affordable housing we have not gone unaffected. Financing problems in the housing industry have not improved over the last several years, forcing most in the land-lease community sector to pursue alternatives to third-party finance for their customers. What this means is that land-lease community owners today are doing everything except building the home, and even then there’s at least one community owner that even does that. Because NCC members are involved in so many different aspects of the...[More]
From the NCC Chair
Washington Update
How Many Land-Lease Communities Are There in the U.S.?
Studies Show Manufactured Home Communities Safe Places to Live - Urges Localities to Promote Manufactured Housing
JLT & Associates Releases Rent Survey for Colorado
Call for Entries -- Community and Retail Sales Center of the Year Awards
Register for Upcoming MHI-NCC Annual Meeting in Denver
Join the NCC |
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