By:   Erik Edwards, Director, Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital
             Erik.Edwards@wellsfargo.com
 

Last in a series of articles on disaster preparedness  and how to safeguard your community, save lives and minimize damage.

When manufactured home community residents return to their homes after a disaster, they must be careful to go about it in a safe way.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency recommends the following checklist:

Fair Housing Testing - a tool used by enforcement officials and private fair housing organizations to ferret out unlawful housing discrimination. 

Fair housing testing involves paired testers—individuals with similar credentials but of different protected classes—who may contact your community by email, phone, your website, or by a site visit to check for differences in how they’re treated based on their race, national origin, or any other characteristics protected under federal, state, or local law.

This is the eighth in a series of articles on disaster preparedness and how to safeguard your community, save lives and minimize damage.

No matter how is starts, a fire ca destroy a home in just a few minutes.  In manufactured home communities, as in any densely populated community, fire is an especially dangerous problem, because the homes are often close together.  One fire could damage many homes.

While setting up a disaster plan for manufactured home communities, be sure to include steps that would reduce the risk of damage or injury. Here are some actions to consider: 

• Keep trees healthy and strong.  Remove dead limbs immediately, and cut back branches that overhang buildings or touch power or phone lines.

• Make sure all homes in the community are installed properly and comply with all local codes that apply to disasters.

Event information coming soon.

This is the fifth in a series of articles on disaster preparedness and how to safeguard your community, save lives and minimize damage.

In addition to the plan you are developing for your manufactured home community, you should encourage each resident family to have its own disaster plan in place.  

Residents should know what types of disaster could occur, and what they can do about each one.  A community newsletter is a good way to educate residents, and so are community meetings.

Over the years we have had many requests for a 'template' for Manufactured Housing Rules and Regulations. The copy (attached above) is a good start - but remember, your rules should reflect your community. In addition to the template check out the numerous articles MHCO has published over the years. Take advantage of your MHCO membership and check out the applicable articles. And as many of you know - you can always call the MHCO office if you have questions at 503-391-4496.

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