This week MHI-NCC staff met with representatives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to discuss the FHA’s 207(m) program.

The FHA 207(m) program was designed for the development or rehabilitation of manufactured home communities. The 207(m) program is not a direct loan program, but is a mortgage insurance program for community owners and developers to obtain financing for their project from approved HUD lenders. Every year, thousands of manufactured home communities undertake substantial rehabilitation projects that would be eligible for insurance under the 207(m) program, yet the program has been under utilized and is in need of modernization to make it more competitive in the marketplace.

HUD staff acknowledged the problems associated with the program and discussed potential areas where the program could be revised and improved. Since the program’s inception approximately 50 years ago, there have been only 128 loans approved. Currently, there are 10 active loans under the 207(m) program.

FHA is currently under tremendous scrutiny, in particular on the single-family side, for a number of high profile programs it oversees and implements. Of note is the fact that the FHA’s pipeline has increased 500% since 2008. Confronted with increased congressional pressure, the agency is focused heavily on risk mitigation and as such has already moved to tightening underwriting standards and debt service requirements.

While it is certainly challenging in this current environment to successfully expand or revise a HUD program, MHI-NCC will continue to advocate for the revisions necessary to make the 207(m) program a relevant and useful tool for community owners nationwide.

For additional information, members can contact Lisa Brechtel at 703-558-0666 or lbrechtel@mfghome.org.