February 1, 2016 — Issue Brief

A new rule proposed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) will give Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac the incentive to invest in manufactured home financing—but only if the homes are classified as real property. Most states have significant policy barriers to classifying manufactured homes as real property. Failure to reform the existing inadequate laws will preclude these states, the manufactured home industry and homeowners from reaping the full benefit of the Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s increased investment in this area. Adoption of the Uniform Law Commission’s Uniform Manufactured Housing Act (UMHA) is a straightforward and well-vetted way to maximize the ability of industry and homeowners to benefit from the new rule and to clarify existing state titling laws.