Across the country, hundreds of thousands of families rely on manufactured housing and 2-4 unit properties to afford homeownership. Manufactured housing is constructed in factories and installed on site without the additional costs associated with traditional homebuilding, providing a vital affordable housing option. Owner-occupied 2-4-unit properties, where the owner occupies one of the units and rents the other units, are another source of additional rental housing, particularly in low-to-moderate income communities and communities of color. Limited financing for manufactured housing and 2-4-unit properties—as well as other barriers—have restricted access to these alternatives.

While the federal government has a critical role to play in boosting the supply of affordable homes, state and local governments often play the primary role in setting policies that encourage – or in some cases, discourage – boosting housing supply. One of the most persistent factors depressing the supply of housing, especially entry-level and rental units, is exclusionary zoning laws and practices, like minimum lot size requirements, minimum square footage requirements, unnecessary parking requirements, prohibitions on or differing treatment for multi-family homes, accessory dwelling units, and manufactured housing, and limits on the height of buildings.

The U.S. Treasury Department Administration has announced new guidance to ensure state and local grantees can further accelerate Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funds to landlords and renters. This includes establishing guidelines for providing a portion of estimate bulk payments to landlords in anticipation of the full satisfaction of applications and documentation requirements and making clear that state and local grantees may—at an eligible tenant’s request—provide assistance to cover remaining rental or utility arrears at a previous address. Click here to learn more.

(as reported to Members on August 26th)

·    United Way of Humphreys County * Humphreys County Flood Relief Fund

·    Waverly First Baptist Church * Waverly Flood Relief Fund

·    Waverly Church of Christ * Activated on-line giving: Text "Give" to 931-288-4887

·    Compassion Church (Waverly) * Activated on-line giving: Text “Waverly” to 615-375-8333

·    Waverly Animal Shelter - Emergency fundraiser for Humphreys County Humane Society

If you are limited in financial resources but would like to help in some way, many of the local churches and organizations, already in place, are desperate for volunteers who can help sort incoming donations, make deliveries to families, shuttle workers, or assist in the property clean up and rebuilding. You can also donate blood to your local area Red Cross. (More information here.)

Also, the Humphreys County Humane Society is pleading for volunteers and foster families, as they intake and house lost pets. [108 & 112 Young Rd, Waverly, TN 37185; (931) 296-7733; (931) 296-7319]

THA Member YESS Home Center

On Friday, August 20th, the THA submitted a plea to Members, for assistance in finding a used manufactured home in good condition, which could be utilized by the Tennessee Manufactured Housing Foundation (TMHF), for a local family in need, who suffered major storm damage to their manufactured home, when a tree came crashing down.

Within minutes of that e-mail broadcast, THA heard from Jacob Stephens and Richie Altman of Yess Home Center. They are donating a 2015 14x66 3 bedroom home with central heat\air, to be utilized in our Foundation outreach, along with $2500 in financial assistance to the family!

In a party line vote, the House passed a Fiscal Year 2022 budget resolution which advances Congressional adoption of a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package to fund President Biden’s broader infrastructure plan that includes climate and social initiatives. This action by the House follows a similar action by the Senate earlier this month. As part of this broader infrastructure package is legislation by House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) titled “Housing is Infrastructure Act of 2021”, which would provide $600 million in housing infrastructure investments including replacement, upgrade, or improvement of infrastructure serving a manufactured housing community. With the House passage of the budget resolution, the reconciliation process can now move forward, which empowers the majority party to eventually clear the final bill with just 51 votes in the Senate, rather than the usual 60-vote hurdle.

If you need an initial licensing educational class to pursue a new license or a certification, or if you need to complete your continuing education for 2021 renewals, online modules/videos are currently still available. However, please take note of the following yearend deadlines:

The State of Tennessee, Commerce & Insurance, will accept license applications or renewal packages through 12/17/2021. The last two weeks of December are set aside for processing, recording and reporting.

THESE DEADLINES ARE FIRM!

MHI also urged that disparate impact rules must create a balance between facilitating a fair legal opportunity to pursue legal actions, while at the same time protecting against a proliferation of lawsuits without merit merely because there may be statistical evidence of a possible disparate impact. MHI referenced necessary protections cited by the Supreme Court in a 2015 Court case, with MHI specifically supporting inclusion of a requirement into the rule that lawsuits demonstrate “robust causality” and “direct proximate cause” between the defendant’s actions and a discriminatory statistical impact for the lawsuits to proceed and succeed.  This is important to MHI lender members.

2021 Webinar Series: Shoot for the Moon

September is National Preparedness Month. This year, Ready.gov is reminding everyone to “Prepare to Protect. Preparing for disasters is protecting everyone you love.”