Over 17,000—that’s how many communities are currently listed in the MHI Community Attributes System (CAS) database. Even if you haven’t already registered on the site (www.mhicas.org) and entered the information on your community, it’s more than likely that some information is already listed from public sources and from lenders and appraisers that have worked on loans in your community. There very well may be closed sales transactions and photos from your community as well. I bring this up because a number of owners still have not gone online, completed the free registration, and modified the information on their community. Why? I have no idea.

The CAS is a critical component to improving and increasing lending in communities. So unless you have no need for financing your buyers (please tell me your secret), it is critical that you spend a little time completing the CAS online questionnaire. It’s painless and offers a simple way to provide information that lenders often repeatedly ask us for over and over. Better yet, the system is constructed so that the answers are objective. No more good, fair and poor. No diamonds or stars. We listened to what you said you wanted in order to eliminate the subjective systems that have been in use for years. Now you have the chance to support just such a system, and it will only be successful if both community owners and lenders participate. All the major chattel lenders have already endorsed the system. Wall Street investors, which are key to restoring liquidity to industry lending, are keenly monitoring the development of the CAS. Now is the time for community owners to also show their commitment.

Also on the financing front is the industry’s effort to reform the FHA Title I program for chattel lending. H.R. 2803 was introduced in the House of Representatives in June by Reps. Tom Feeney (R-FL) and Barney Frank (D-MA), two powerful members of the House Financial Services Committee and longtime supporters of manufactured housing. The legislation seeks to reform Title I by, among other things, increasing chattel loan limits to $68,040 and indexing them in the future and changing the structure of the program so that more lenders will be able to offer Title I loans. Improving and increasing lending are a key priority of MHI and the National Communities Council (NCC), and reforming Title I is one more effort to achieve just that. To date, the legislation has 84 cosponsors from across the political spectrum, which is an impressive number for legislation that was only introduced in June of this year. Is your member of Congress a cosponsor? You can check by clicking here. If they aren’t already a cosponsor, please ask them to do so immediately. The momentum is on our side, so we need to keep the pressure on!

As always, feel free to contact me with your thoughts and concerns at nsmith@sskcommunities.com

Nathan Smith, PHC
Partner, SSK Communities
Chairman, MHI National Communities Council