Industry in Focus Report
 by Eric Miller, MHMSM.com journalist

ADDISON, TX, June 11, 2009–CountryPlace Mortgage Ltd., announced recently it would expand its retail base and begin offering loans wholesale through community banks and credit unions. Its Manufactured Home Community Lending Program focuses on providing conventional and FHA loans for buyers purchasing manufactured homes in rural and suburban areas.

“By working with community banks and credit unions to provide real property loans for manufactured housing, we can help banks meet the needs of people in their communities who need housing in the low to moderate price ranges,” explains CountryPlace National Marketing Representative Bryan Chamberlain. The average CountryPlace Mortage loan is about $135,000, the minimum loan is $50,000, according to Chamberlain.

The new program was created in an effort to fill a void left largely by the ceased operations of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker in August, 2009 after a federal investigation. The company was terminated as a lender by the federal agencies Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae (GNMA). Taylor, Bean & Whitaker had been the fifth largest issuer of GNMA securities.

The result, Chamberlain says, is a situation where realtors can’t sell homes because financing isn’t available.

“A realtor may have a buyer for house that’s listed, but sends them to obtain financing, then never sees the borrower again because there are just not a lot of options,” Chamberlain told MHMSM.com.

With the program in place, community banks and credit unions will have an option for not only providing home loans for new and resale manufactured housing that is classified as real property, but also will be able to assist their customers who want to convert construction loans for the purchase and installation of manufactured housing into permanent mortgages.

The program is initially targeted to 18 states including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

Chamberlain says 90 percent of CountryPlace loans pertain to modular and manufactured housing. Founded in 1995, the company began originating and servicing loans for its portfolio in July 2002.