Second Session of 108th Congress Begins

The House and Senate returned January 20 to commence the second session of the 108th Congress. Because this is both a presidential and congressional election year, Members of Congress will not be spending a great deal of time in Washington legislating. Nevertheless, MHI and the National Communities Council will continue to work hard on legislative issues affecting the manufactured/modular housing industry, including: manufactured housing energy tax credits; HUD funding for the manufactured housing program; lending issues; developer tax credits for using manufactured/modular homes; and PATH funding. Further, congressional support will continue to be sought for an end to softwood lumber tariffs and duplicative water submetering testing. If you are an NCC member and need information relating to MHI’s legislative affairs program, contact Brian Cooney or Sherri Cabrera at MHI.

Fair Credit Reporting Act

On December 4, 2003, the President signed P.L. 108-159, legislation that amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), P.L. 104-208, to improve consumer access to and business use of credit information. The law permanently blocks states from enacting their own credit reporting laws, thereby keeping the single national law.

The measure ensures that financial institutions will continue to be able to share customer information across banking, insurance and securities divisions without permission. In addition, the law requires: free access to annual reports for consumers from each of the three national credit bureaus; mortgage lenders to disclose credit scores to home-loan applications at no charge; shortened time frames for consumer reporting agencies to investigate and correct consumer credit reports; stronger penalties for entities that repeatedly provide incorrect information to consumer reporting agencies; and a clear statement in the report if the credit score was adversely impacted by the number of inquiries. Only those entities that are authorized to take loan applications will need to comply with the Act. State laws vary regarding who is allowed to take mortgage applications. If you are an MHI member and you have questions, contact Ann Parman at 703-558-0653 or ann@mfghome.org or Sherri Cabrera at 703-558-0659 or sherri@mfghome.org.

Extension of the National Flood Insurance Program

President Bush signed a law on December 6, 2003, providing for a three-month extension of the National Flood Insurance Program that runs until March 31, 2004 (P.L. 108-171). This was done to avoid a shutdown of the program that occurred briefly at the beginning of 2003 when the authorization expired. Congress favored a short extension to put pressure on itself to pass a flood insurance reform bill early this year. MHI has concerns with the House reform measure regarding the treatment of communities located in flood zones. MHI will continue to work to ensure any final legislation treats community owners fairly. If you are an MHI member and need additional information, contact Brian Cooney at 703-558-0670 or brian@mfghome.org.

U.S. Postal Service Mailbox Regulations

As was reported in the last issue of Community Connections, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has confirmed that, based on discussion with the MHI National Communities Council (NCC) and other real estate groups, that there will be no requirement for retrofitting existing mailboxes in its upcoming changes to the standards for wall-mounted cluster mailboxes. Earlier this year, USPS proposed requiring all manufactured home communities, apartment buildings, subdivisions and commercial buildings that had wall-mounted cluster mailboxes to retrofit those boxes with newer boxes that were 25 percent larger and also provide a parcel locker for every eight mailboxes.

The USPS proposed regulation is now due in either March or April. The NCC and other groups are now discussing the appropriate number of parcel lockers that should be required with the new mailboxes and the phase-in period of the new standard. The NCC wants to assure that the cost of the new parcel lockers is not prohibitive and that community developers have a reasonable amount of time to incorporate the new mailboxes in their planning.

NCC members with questions may contact Mike O’Brien at (703) 558-0652 or mobrien@mfghome.org.

HUD and EPA 2004 Appropriations and the 2005 Budget

On January 22, the Senate approved the omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 2004 (which started on Oct. 1, 2003). The omnibus includes $13 million for the manufactured housing program, which is comparable to recent years. The HUD budget also provides $7.5 million in PATH funding, as well as report language wherein Congress expects HUD to increase its support for manufactured housing. In addition, the final passed bill contains report language that strongly urges the Environmental Protection Agency to include manufactured housing in its research and marketing of the Energy Star Labeled Homes program.

On February 2, the Bush Administration submitted its fiscal year 2005 budget request to Congress. $13 million is proposed for the Manufactured Housing Program, and $2 million for the PATH program (which was zeroed out in past years in the President’s budget). PATH is being transferred from PD&R to the HOME program to "integrate this research program with the practical housing experience within the HOME program." If you are an MHI member and have questions, contact Brian Cooney at 703-558-0660 or brian@mfghome.org or Sherri Cabrera at 703-558-0659 or sherri@mfghome.org.

Softwood Lumber Tariffs

A recent World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on the softwood lumber issue found that Canada was providing some state support to its softwood lumber industry. However, it also condemned the illegal “zeroing” methodology used by the U.S. Commerce Department in calculating anti-dumping (AD) margins.

Furthermore, there was a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) ruling in mid January stating the U.S. used the zeroing method when calculating the 18.79% countervailing duties (CVD). Because of the ruling, Commerce cut the CVD rate to 13.23%. This drops the overall combined softwood lumber duties from 28% to 21%, which should lower the price of wood used in the production of manufactured homes.

Both of these decisions may be subject to another round of review by NAFTA and WTO as the cases work through the lengthy process. If you have questions about Canadian softwood lumber trade, and you are an MHI member, contact Sherri Cabrera at 703-558-0659 or sherri@mfghome.org.