As the only national advocacy organization representing manufactured home community owners and operators, the MHI National Communities Council devotes a substantial amount of time and resources to pursing an aggressive legislative and regulatory agenda. Much of that hard work has paid off recently with the housing stimulus legislation passed by Congress this past weekend. While much has been written in the media about the legislation and its provisions dealing with the foreclosure crisis and regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the manufactured housing industry and the communities sector in particular scored some major victories in this legislation.

The NCC made finance issues its top legislative priority over the past two years given the crisis in liquidity we are facing as community owners. The newly-passed legislation includes the NCC’s top legislative priorities for this Congress—specifically a complete overhaul of the FHA Title I chattel financing program, along with provisions to make it easier to finance homes with long-term leases and manufactured home condominiums under the FHA Title II (land/home) program.

While there will be a regulatory implementation period prior to the changes taking effect, the practical result of our efforts to reform the FHA Title I program should be more access to competitive lending in the marketplace for more of our potential buyers. Further, for those of our members that want to utilize long-term leases to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace, it should become easier in many states to work with lenders to offer conforming mortgage rates to their potential buyers. And condominium developers will also now have the added tool of FHA financing available for their buyers as well.

This has been a very successful Congressional session for the NCC and the entire manufactured housing industry, yet we will not be resting on any laurels. We will have to be actively engaged in the regulatory implementation of these changes to assure they meet the intent of Congress. And a new president and Congress will be taking office in January, so we will be developing a new legislative agenda to continue our mission of improving the business climate for community owners.

On a personal note, this is my last column as Chair of the National Communities Council. My term comes to an end at the conclusion of the MHI Annual Meeting at the end of September. It has been a pleasure these past two years serving the industry and advancing the cause of communities. I appreciate all the support many of you have given me over the past two years. I would also like to specifically thank Michael O’Brien, the NCC’s executive vice president, for the support and guidance he has given me over the past two years. Mike is also moving on from the NCC since he has taken a new position as president and CEO of another trade association. He has made enormous contributions to the NCC over the years and he will be sorely missed. We wish him well in his new position.

As always, feel free to share your thoughts and concerns with me at umh2@aol.com.

Christine Lindsey
Chair, National Communities Council
Vice President of Sales, UMH Properties