[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 23 (Thursday, February 4, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 5706-5707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-2367]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Parts 201 and 203

[Docket No. FR-5075-N-02]
RIN 2502-AI45


Federal Housing Administration: Insurance for Manufactured 
Housing: Reopening of Public Comment Period

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing--Federal Housing 
Commissioner, HUD.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: On September 15, 2008, HUD published a proposed rule entitled 
``Federal Housing Administration: Insurance for Manufactured Housing.'' 
The comment period for the proposed rule ended on November 14, 2008. 
This notice identifies an additional issue related to the rule that has 
resulted from HUD's implementation of a June 2008 final rule pertaining 
to the federal manufactured home installation program. Accordingly, HUD 
reopens the comment period for the proposed rule to present this 
additional issue for consideration in relation to the September 2008 
proposed rule and to solicit public comment only on this additional 
issue.

DATES: Comment Due Date: March 8, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposed rule to the Regulations Division, Office of General 
Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, 
SW., Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410-0500. There are two methods for 
submitting public comments. All submissions must refer to the above 
docket number and title.
    1. Submission of Comments by Mail. Comments may be submitted by 
mail to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department 
of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room 10276, 
Washington, DC 20410-0001.
    2. Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit 
comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly encourages commenters to 
submit comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments 
allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, 
ensures timely receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make them immediately 
available. Comments submitted electronically through the http://www.regulations.gov Web site can be viewed by other commenters and 
interested members of the public. Commenters should follow the 
instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.

    Note: To receive consideration as public comments, comments must 
be submitted through one of the two methods specified above. Again, 
all submissions must refer to the docket number and title of the 
rule.

    No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable.
    Public Inspection of Public Comments. All properly submitted 
comments and communications submitted to HUD will be available for 
public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the 
above address. Due to security measures at the HUD Headquarters 
building, an advance appointment to review the public comments must be 
scheduled by calling the Regulations Division at 202-708-3055 (this is 
not a toll-free number). Individuals with speech or hearing impairments 
may access this number via TTY by calling the Federal Information Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339. Copies of all comments submitted are available 
for inspection and downloading at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Gillispie, Home Valuation Policy 
Division, Office of Housing, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room 9270, Washington, DC 20410-8000, 
telephone number 202-708-2121 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Individuals with speech or hearing impairments may access this number 
through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service 
at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HUD published a proposed rule on September 
15, 2008 (73 FR 53346), that would amend HUD's regulations governing 
manufactured homes that are to be the security for Federal Housing 
Administration (FHA) Title I-insured loans and Title II-insured 
mortgages. The September 15, 2008 rule proposed to permit, as eligible 
for FHA insurance, mortgages on manufactured homes to be installed in 
accordance with the Model Installation Standards, which were the 
subject of notice and rulemaking that resulted in a final rule 
published on October 19, 2007. Current regulations provide that 
manufactured homes that are to be the security for FHA Title I-insured 
loans must be installed in accordance with the manufacturer's 
requirements or erected on a permanent foundation, and manufactured 
homes that are to be the security for Title II-insured mortgages must 
be erected on a permanent foundation. Acceptance of mortgages on 
manufactured homes installed in accordance with the Model Installation 
Standards would provide for greater flexibility of design, thereby 
permitting additional options for affordable housing. Under the 
proposal presented by the September 15, 2008 proposed rule, FHA 
mortgage insurance would become available for eligible manufactured 
homes in all states and territories, upon promulgation of a final rule.
    On June 20, 2008, HUD published a final rule entitled 
``Manufactured Home Installation Program,'' which established a federal 
manufactured home installation program in accordance with the National 
Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, as 
amended by the Manufactured Housing Act of 2000. The June 20, 2008, 
final rule governs the HUD-administered installation program that will 
operate in a state, unless that state certifies that it has its own 
qualifying program and HUD reviews the program and accepts it as 
meeting or exceeding the requirements HUD would apply in a HUD-
administered state. The June 20, 2008 final rule also provides for 
HUD's conditional acceptance, rather than full acceptance, of a state 
program that meets some but not all of the minimum standards. However, 
there have been some delays in submissions of state certifications, in 
HUD's review and acceptance of state certifications, and in 
implementation of HUD's

[[Page 5707]]

program for states in which HUD will administer the installation 
program. As a result, there are several states in which there is not 
yet either a state-certified and fully accepted installation program or 
an operational HUD-administered installation program.
    HUD has determined that, in order to protect against undue 
financial risk, a manufactured home that is installed in accordance 
with the Model Installation Standards (rather than erected on a 
permanent foundation) should not be permitted to be the security for 
FHA Title I-insured loans or Title II-insured mortgages, until there is 
operating in the state where the manufactured home is located either a 
state-certified and fully accepted installation program or a HUD-
administered installation program. (This determination does not affect 
the eligibility of manufactured homes to be the security for Title I-
insured loans if the manufacturer's installation requirements provide 
for compliance with the Model Installation Standards and the 
manufactured home is in fact installed with the Model Installation 
Standards.) An operational and fully compliant installation program is 
critical to ensure that a manufactured home that is to be the security 
for a Title I-insured loan or Title II-insured mortgage is in fact 
installed in accordance with the Model Installation Standards.
    As a result, HUD submits that it would not be appropriate to 
promulgate a final rule based on the September 15, 2008 proposed rule, 
which assumed fully compliant installation programs would be 
operational in all states and territories, that does not take into 
consideration the implementation issues that have resulted from the 
June 2008 final rule. HUD submits for consideration and public comment 
that it would be appropriate for manufactured homes in a state with an 
operational state-certified and fully accepted installation program, or 
HUD-administered installation program, to be eligible for Title I and 
Title II insurance, even while review, full acceptance, or 
implementation of installation programs in other states and territories 
still is pending.
    Accordingly, HUD is soliciting public comment on whether HUD 
should: (a) Promulgate a final rule based on the September 15, 2008 
proposed rule, but that is applicable to a state only at such time that 
the state has an operational state-certified and fully accepted 
installation program or a HUD-administered installation program; or (b) 
delay promulgation of a final rule based on the September 15, 2008 
proposed rule until all states and territories have an operational 
state-certified and fully accepted installation program or a HUD-
administered installation program.

    Dated: January 27, 2010.
David H. Stevens,
Assistant Secretary for Housing--Federal Housing Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 2010-2367 Filed 2-3-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P