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“Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply. We listen for what’s behind the words.”― Roy T. Bennett
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A TN State of Emergency related to the ongoing pandemic, currently extends to
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Effective today, February 1st, Governor Lee is ending restrictions around who can participate in or attend school sporting events. |
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Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19
in the Workplace - Released January 29th
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On January 29th, OSHA provided new (updated) guidance on COVID-19 and the workplace.
This guidance is intended to inform employers and workers in most workplace settings (outside of healthcare) to help them identify risks of being exposed to and/or contracting COVID-19 at work, and to help them determine appropriate control measures to implement.
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OSHA has additional industry-specific guidance (see below). This guidance contains recommendations as well as descriptions of mandatory safety and health standards. The recommendations are advisory in nature, informational in content, and are intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace.
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(Service & Suppliers)
Warehousing and Package Handling
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Notice to All Travelers - Released January 30th
Federal Mask Requirement for Surface Transportation Providers
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On Saturday (1/30/21), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an Order imposing a mask requirement applicable to public transportation systems, rail, and van, bus and motorcoach service providers to mitigate the risk of COVID-19.
The CDC Order implements President Biden’s Executive Order 13998, Promoting COVID-19 Safety in Domestic and International Travel, “to save lives and allow all Americans, including the millions of people employed in the transportation industry, to travel and work safely.”
Science-based measures are critical to preventing the spread of COVID-19. Mask-wearing is one of several proven life-saving measures including physical distancing, appropriate ventilation and timely testing that can reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Requiring masks will protect America’s transportation workers and passengers, help control the transmission of COVID-19, and aid in re-opening America’s economy.
In addition to the CDC order, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) anticipates issuing additional information and guidance on this topic.
The Department of Transportation has posted a Frequently Asked Questions. T he Department will continue to add to this site with additional information in the coming days.
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HUD SECRETARY NOMINEE: Representative Marcia Fudge
As reported by MHI:
Manufactured Housing Front and Center During Nomination Hearing
for HUD Secretary Nominee Fudge
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Senators from both sides of the aisle questioned President Biden’s Nominee for HUD Secretary, Representative Marcia Fudge, about manufactured housing last Thursday (1/28/2021), during her nomination hearing. Testifying before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, Fudge called manufactured housing an “outstanding option,” and she touted its affordability and efficiency. She told the Senate Committee that she is “100% supportive” of looking at incorporating manufactured housing into the Department’s affordable housing strategies.
Fudge also told the Committee that addressing exclusionary zoning is a priority. She testified that “we have to get rid of the idea of “Not in my Backyard.” While acknowledging as a former mayor that this will be difficult, she discussed the need to find incentives for home builders to work with HUD and local lawmakers to change zoning laws.
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CDC Officially Extends Federal Eviction Moratorium Through March 31, 2021 |
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has officially extended the federal eviction moratorium through March 31, 2021. The requirements related to the initial CDC Order have not changed other than the extension of the expiration date. To view the CDC Order, click here.
[To view MHI’s FAQs on CDC eviction moratorium for manufactured housing, click here.]
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Updated Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Frequently Asked Questions
The Small Business Administration (SBA), in consultation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, has been issuing frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding implementation of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Some of those FAQs explain the requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), including two new FAQs that address Second Draw PPP loans. As the administrator of the BSA, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is re-publishing those FAQs today (02/01/21).
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FinCEN and Federal Banking Agencies Issue Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Regarding Suspicious Activity Reporting and Other Anti-Money Laundering Requirements |
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), jointly with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and in consultation with the staff of certain other federal functional regulators, has issued responses to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Regarding Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) and Other Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Requirements. |
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New CFPB Acting Director Named |
Dave Uejio, the chief strategy officer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has been named acting director. A nine-year veteran of the CFPB, Uejio was named to the acting post after Director Kathy Kraninger was asked by President Biden to resign. As the CFPB’s chief strategy officer, he reported to the deputy director, led the 30-person Office of Strategy to define the CFPB’s enterprise level strategy and policy priorities, identified and managed enterprise risks, evaluated impact of major programs and drove organizational performance. Uejio will serve as acting director until President Biden’s nominee, Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rohit Chopra, is confirmed by the Senate as the next director of the CFPB.
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Help Support the New Manufactured Housing Museum
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The RV/MH Hall of Fame is currently pursuing a $1.7 million capital fundraising campaign to build the new, state-of-the-art 20,000 sq. ft. Manufactured Housing (MH) Museum announced in December.
The new museum will be dedicated to showcasing the manufactured housing industry and will include exciting exhibits, interactive displays, historical artifacts, and generational manufactured houses for the public to view and tour.
To date, the capital fundraising campaign has raised over $1.2M, but your help is needed to ensure the MH Museum becomes a reality.
To become a part of history, and support the manufactured housing industry’s presence at the RV/MH Hall of Fame, click here to learn more and to make a donation.
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Tennessee State Legislative Update: Last week, the House Finance, Ways & Means Committee met throughout the week to hear proposed budgets from an array of state agencies and departments. However, the full 112th General Assembly continues to remain in recess until February 8th, when they will convene to begin regular session.
On February 8th at 5:45 p.m. Central Time, a Joint Session will convene to hear Governor Lee’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2022, in the annual State of the State address.
Both chambers have now established a bill filing deadline. The Senate has set their deadline for close of business on February 11th, and the House has set their deadline for close of business on February 17th.
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The THA 2021
Political Action Committee (PAC) Campaign
In 2021, please support the THA-PAC, to assist THA's continuance of educating key lawmakers on the importance of our industry, while also providing general counsel in ways of promoting manufactured homes as a viable option for addressing the affordable housing crisis.
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Thank you Iron Horse Belleglade, LLC, for kicking off the 2021 PAC Campaign
with your January 7th donation of $500.
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We raised $29,147, in 2020! Our Members Rock!
Tennessee accepts corporate, personal and LLC contributions. Your contribution is critical!
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Newly Revised and Available Now
Professional Housing Consultant (PHC®) Designation Program
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This PHC course is a comprehensive retail course.
Chapter 1, Part 1 - History and Construction
Chapter 1, Part 2 - Retailer Responsibilities
Chapter 1, Part 3 - Placement Options
Chapter 1, Part 4A - Fair Housing
Chapter 1, Part 4B - Finance Overview
Chapter 2, Land-Home Financing
Chapter 3, Part A - Personal Property Finance
Chapter 3, Part B - Completing the Credit Application
Chapter 4, Part 1 - Selling Skills
Chapter 4, Part 2A - Selling Skills
Chapter 4, Part 2B - Selling Skills
Chapter 4, Part 3 - Selling Skills
Registration Fee is $199 (Completion time is ~6 hours.)
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Tool of Interest:
(Based on ANSI/ASSP A10.33-2020)
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Heating Fire Safety
(Heating is the second leading cause of home fires.)
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Download the 1-page flier, and follow the heating tips to help maintain a fire-safe home.
Retailers
Share with your customers!
Communities
Remind residents about safe heating with space heaters, wood stoves and fireplaces.
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2021 THA Manufactured Housing
Educational Classes
Open For 2021 Registration
Initial Licensing & Continuing Education
To continue meeting the federal and state mandates for social distancing and limited gatherings relative to the COVID-19 pandemic, all ‘in-person’ educational classes remain cancelled for an undetermined time.
Once federal and state travel restrictions have been lifted and approval for close-quarter gatherings have been waived, the State of Tennessee will resume the requirement for ‘in-person’ class attendance, if health and safety can be maintained for all.
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(First announced Wednesday, January 6, 2021.) |
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Tennessee Updates COVID-19 Vaccination Plan |
The Tennessee Department of Health has updated Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan as the state continues to prioritize Tennesseans most at risk of illness and death from COVID-19.
Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Reporting dashboard is available online here. This dashboard will be updated Monday – Friday each week beginning Jan. 22.
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MANUFACTURED HOUSING INSTITUTE (MHI) |
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Dr. Lesli Gooch
Chief Executive Officer, MHI
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Mark Bowersox
President, MHI
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MHI Tells Treasury to Revise FAQs about Emergency Rental Assistance Program
During a meeting with senior staff from the White House, Treasury Department, and HUD, MHI called on the Administration to revise its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) guidance regarding the requirements of the $25 billion Emergency Rental Assistance program included in the COVID-19 stimulus package. MHI expressed strong concerns about a response in the document that could create ambiguity about whether people who live in manufactured housing communities should be eligible for rental assistance to help make lease payments on the land on which their manufactured home is sited. Prior to the meeting, MHI spearheaded a letter to Treasury to clarify that manufactured housing communities and residents’ land lease payments are included in the funding assistance, just as Congress intended. The National Association of REALTORS, Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Housing Cooperatives, National Leased Housing Association and the Institute of Real Estate Management joined MHI in signing the letter. Following the meeting, MHI joined with its national housing industry coalition partners to send another letter requesting Treasury to more comprehensively revise its FAQs, including to ensure residents of manufactured housing communities will be eligible. This morning, Administration officials said that revisions to the FAQs would be released shortly.
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MHI Again Calls on HUD to Alleviate Barriers to Manufactured Housing
MHI has submitted detailed recommendations to HUD regarding its proposed study of the regulatory impediments to the financing and siting of factory-built housing in urban and suburban communities across the country. Following previous letters from April and July 2020, MHI called on HUD to identify and seek ways to alleviate state and local regulations that impede the placement of manufactured housing and to finalize changes to the FHA financing programs for manufactured housing. Further, MHI invited HUD to utilize the Association and its members for assistance, support, and expertise to ensure that the study findings are accurate and useful. The HUD research team has thanked MHI for the detailed comments and recommendations.
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MHI Opposes New Hurdles to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Manufactured Housing Activities
MHI has submitted comments to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) about its proposed rule establishing the criteria and process for determining what new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan products must receive, prior to approval from the FHFA before they can go into effect. Out of concern that the GSEs’ Duty to Serve activities, particularly for chattel loans, could be slowed down or impeded, MHI’s comment letter asked FHFA to exempt activities pursuant to Duty to Serve plans from the prior approval process. MHI’s comment letter also suggested limiting both the criteria and the implementation of this process to only truly new products and activities.
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HUD Releases Report Highlighting its Efforts to
Eliminate Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing
HUD has published a report titled, “Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing: Federal, State, Local, and Tribal Opportunities,” which highlights important actions the federal government is taking to reduce federal regulatory barriers to affordable housing and identifies state, local, and tribal activities to increase housing supply and reduce costs. This report is a direct result of former President Trump’s Executive Order directing federal agencies to alleviate barriers that impede the production of affordable housing, which specifically referenced manufactured housing as an area that has been hindered due to “outdated manufactured-housing regulations and restrictions.” The inclusion of manufactured housing in this Executive Order was due to MHI’s strong advocacy efforts, which included meetings and ongoing dialogue with officials at the White House as the Executive Order was crafted.
Manufactured housing is referenced 88 times in the report and many of MHI’s key priorities and recommendations are included such as streamlining the process for HUD Code updates, updating FHA’s Title I Program, elevating the Office of Manufactured Housing Programs (OMHP), and addressing zoning ordinances that are hindering families access to manufactured housing. Click here to view the report.
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Department of Energy Withdraws its Proposals for Manufactured Home Gas Furnaces
In a win for MHI, the Department of Energy announced it is withdrawing proposed energy efficiency standards that would have disproportionately impacted the manufactured housing industry, including the March 2015 proposed rule for residential furnaces and the September 2016 supplemental proposed rule for energy conservation standards for non-weatherized gas furnaces and mobile home gas furnaces.
MHI strongly advocated against these proposals through comment letters, meetings and member calls to action because of their negative impact on manufactured housing. MHI argued that energy efficiency standards that can only be achieved via condensing combustion technology would likely render obsolete every furnace that relies on non-condensing technology, which would disproportionately impact the manufactured housing industry. MHI also argued that the DOE’s proposed energy conservation standards would likely increase the construction costs for new manufactured homes while also forcing existing homeowners to complete expensive projects to retrofit their homes.
MHI will continue to work with Congress and the Biden Administration to ensure that any development of federal energy standards for manufactured housing does not significantly increase construction costs or introduce a prescriptive energy conservation standard, which could jeopardize consumer access to affordable homeownership.
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Issues to Watch – Community Reinvestment Act
With the election of President Biden and turnover in leadership of the federal banking agencies, a new regulatory approach to implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) could take shape with Congress potentially expanding the law to non-banks. While a candidate for President, Biden supported a CRA expansion to cover nonbank mortgage providers and insurance companies issuing a policy brief that said CRA currently "does little to ensure that ‘fintechs’ and non-bank lenders are providing responsible access to all members of the community.” A legislative focus on CRA could be combined with broader policy questions about fintech regulation, including whether states or the federal government are better positioned to charter and supervise nonbanks that increasingly want access to the banking system. While not expected to be an immediate priority given everything else on President Biden and Congress’ policy agenda, MHI is monitoring the issue and will engage accordingly.
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2021 Webinar Series: Shoot for the Moon |
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Free Webinars
Powered/Sponsored by: ManufacturedHomes.com and
LearnMH.com
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Upcoming Free Webinar
Thursday, February 11, 2021, 2 PM ET
Virtual Selling & Marketing in 2021
Alberto Piña - Braustin Homes
Lanie Snell - Manufacturedhomes.com
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SAVE THE DATE
Thursday, February 25, 2021, 2 PM ET
The State of MH Advantage and ChoiceHome in 2021 David Blazek - Guild Mortgage; and
Dustin Arp - Spark Homes
Thursday, March 11, 2021, 2 PM ET
1st Quarter Check-In with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Ben Navarro - Fannie Mae; and
Dennis Smith - Freddie Mac
Thursday, March 25, 2021, 2 PM ET
Innovation & Design in Manufactured Housing
Chris Nicely - Lane Associates, LLC
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THA Board of Directors - Zoom Call
February 11, 2021; 9:00 AM CST / 10:00 EST
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Available Daily
THA Licensing Education - Online Access
Initial Licensing - Jan thru Nov
Continuing Education - Jan thru Early Dec
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Visit the TN Department of Health and Tennessee's Unified Command Group website for continued statewide COVID-19 data. |
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MH Regulatory Resources
(Key Links)
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Important Links/Downloads
for your Information & Research
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MAKE A FAMILY EMERGENCY PLAN!
ALWAYS BE PREPARED!
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