Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/84809
will be part of the broader industry rebound. Land-leasemanufactured home communities are critically important to the residents who live and depend of them for a "quality-of-life" hard to find elsewhere in today's housing market- place, as well as to the owners and operators who have invested so much time, energy and resources to build andmaintain their communi- ties. It is genuinely encouraging to see and hear at this meeting that all forces within the com- munities sector are moving in the right direc- tion, looking at the future with confidence and innovation. Such sentiments bode well for both the communities sector and the manufactured housing industry at large. T J Richard Jennison is President and CEO of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), the preeminent national trade associ- ation for manufactured and modular housing industries, repre- senting all segments of the industries before Congress and the Federal government. From its Washington, D.C. area head- quarters,MHI actively works to promote fair laws and regulation for all MHI members and the industries. He can be contacted directly at (703) 558-0678. For more information onMHI, visit www.manufacturedhousing.org. Requirements forManufactured Home Loans Responding to aManufacturedHousing Institute (MHI) request earlier this year, on July HUD Issues aWaiver on FHA Flood Plain 24, 2012HUD issued a one-year waiver to its requirements formanufactured homes insured by FHA's Title II insured loan programlocated in areas designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as flood hazard areas. Since November 15, 2011, lenders have been unable to insure loans in flood hazard areas unless the finished grade level beneath the manufactured home is at or above the 100-year return frequency flood elevation. This has created undue burdens on homebuyers because it has required substantial amounts of fill dirt to be hauled to the site and the home to be unnecessarily elevated. All other single family homes insured under the FHA programrequire the elevation of the lowest floor of the home to be at or above the base flood elevation. The July 24th waiver, effective until July 24, 2013, will allow FHA Title II insured manufactured homes to meet the same flood el- evation requirements as other single-family homes. The July 24th waiver was a welcome surprise, as HUD stated last year that it would not extend another waiver, which had been extended annually since 2006. In a recent letter to MHI, HUD said it is still considering the merits of amending the regulations permanently, and if HUD does decide to do so, it will consider expedited rulemaking as this change was included in a proposed rule issued in 2008 and later withdrawn. Formore information contact Lois Starkey at lstarkey@mfghome.org or (703) 558-0654. www.journalmfdhousing.com Lou s Louiisville Show 2013 m nufac ure maanufacttured hou noussiing Join us under the money tree No. 14 on Get It Quick Page For more information, contact Dennis J. Hill, Show Coordinator, at 770.587.3350 No. 15 on Get It Quick Page OCTOBER 2012 21 THE JOURNAL