Someone put together a list of what he would need to do before he moved his home. The list is quite extensive and may contain some items not applicable to everyone and the cost will vary for many reasons. To view his list please click the Library/Links Tab to locate the list.

There are 2 new articles now in the Library/Links tab. Please take the time to review them. They are;

1). “Hosting a Candidates’ Forum” which gives advice that is always needed.

2). “Running an Effective Board” which was presented at MHOAA’s National Convention by Dan Barrett – President, Association of Manufactured Home Owners.

Within the last month, the following states have used the Contact Form on our web site to ask for help and/or direction in a variety of needs: 3 from Florida and 1 from each of the following: California, New York, Virginia, Maine, Arizona, Minnesota,  and Vermont.

Annual Convention Report by Ishbel Dickens

I am delighted to report that the Manufactured Home Owners’ Association of America (MHOAA) held a very successful Annual Convention in Silver Spring, MD, from October 20-22, 2011.

The Convention exceeded all of our expectations, in large part, because of the financial support provided to MHOAA by CFED and NeighborWorks America.

Forty three (43) attendees from seventeen (17) different states managed to find the resources to pay for their travel and part of their accommodation because attending MHOAA’s Annual Convention means so much to them. MHOAA is particularly pleased that there were attendees from 4 states that had not previously been represented at a MHOAA Convention (Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia).

The Convention, the theme of which was: “MHOAA – Advocating for a Secure Future” began with a welcome reception on the evening of Thursday October 20^th. Ishbel Dickens, Executive Director of MHOAA, welcomed everyone to the event and introduced Rick Haughey of CFED and David Dangler of NeighborWorks, both of whom made great speeches congratulating MHOAA on its growth and its future potential. To hear that “MHOAA has legs” in the eyes of its sponsors was gratifying and gives everyone the encouragement they need to truly move MHOAA to scale.

On Friday morning attendees were welcomed at the CFED offices in downtown DC where we listened to updates on policy work that has been going on at the state level (courtesy of Carolyn Carter from the National Consumer Law Center) and from CFED policy staff (primarily Carol Wayman and Katherine Lucas-Smith). CFED staff also presented a role play on how “not to meet” with legislative staff as well as “how to meet” with elected officials. These role plays set the attendees in good stead for their afternoon on “the Hill”.

CFED staff had arranged appointments for all attendees to have at least one meeting (some had three) with their senators and representatives where attendees presented the main federal issues that manufactured home owners would like to see addressed. These include: a bill of rights so that home owners may enjoy the same constitutional protections as others; a tax credit bill that provides incentives when a community owner sells the land to a home owners’ association or other qualified non-profit owner; and a bill that would provide assistance to home owners who want to replace pre-HUD standard homes with new energy efficient models. Ultimately attendees had meetings with staff representing more than 40 different legislators.

A short debrief session in one of the rooms in the Russell Building rounded out a very busy but productive Friday.

Saturday morning began with an update from Mike Sloss on ROC USA’s resident owned cooperatives as usual accompanied by a very informative power point.

After this Ishbel Dickens presented information on Washington State’s Attorney General’s (AG) Dispute Resolution Program – a program that manufactured home owners in Washington worked hard to get implemented so that a neutral third party (AG) could accept and investigate complaints when landlords violated the Manufactured/mobile Home Landlord Tenant Act. MHOAA members from Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon and Utah are all interested in introducing a similar process to their state legislatures so this was a very timely presentation.

Dan Barrett, President of the Association of Manufactured Home Owners (WA) then gave a fabulous presentation on building an effective board. He touched on many of the issues facing volunteer board presidents and encouraged everyone present to look at not only, the strengths volunteers bring to the table but also, when it is time to transition to new board members in an effort to keep the board vibrant and relevant.

Sean Wendliner from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development was the final speaker of the morning. Sean shared some great grant writing tips with attendees and highlighted some useful web-based programs to help people get started.

Our lunch keynote speaker was Andrea Levere, CEO of CFED. As always, Andrea was passionate about manufactured housing and the role that MHOAA can play to make sure that everyone understands that manufactured housing is the solution to affordable housing, not the problem.

In the afternoon manufactured home owners from Missouri, New Jersey, and Washington shared stories about current struggles they are facing as well as successes they are celebrating.

The Convention ended with the MHOAA Annual Meeting and election of board members. Congratulations to Jesse Martinez (MA) and Leslie Ann (MN) who have been elected to the MHOAA Board as First Vice President and At-Large Member, respectively.

All in all it was a busy and productive annual meeting and feedback received to date has been very positive. MHOAA staff looks forward to staying in close touch with all attendees, especially those from states where MHOAA has not previously had a presence. There is a lot of work to be done in all states across the country and hopefully at some point MHOAA staff will be able to travel to states where the need is great and support manufactured home owners to become a voice for long-term preservation of manufactured housing communities as the answer to unsubsidized affordable home ownership for low-income families and seniors.

Convention Picture

CFED Policy Round Table

SAVE THE DATE – Oct 20-22, 2011 – Silver Spring, Maryland

The Manufactured Home Owners Association of America (MHOAA) is holding its annual convention on October 20 -22 in Silver Spring, Maryland. “MHOAA – ADVOCATING FOR A SECURE FUTURE”

Manufactured home owners from around the country will gather in Silver Spring, MD on Thursday October 20 and enjoy a networking opportunity at an evening reception generously hosted by CFED. On Friday we will meet at CFED’s offices in DC for updates on federal and state policy initiatives. After lunch manufactured home owners will have an opportunity to meet with their congressional representatives on the “hill”.

Other Convention events include national and local experts presenting on a wide range of topics of interest to everyone involved in manufactured housing. The Convention will culminate with MHOAA’s annual meeting on the Saturday afternoon, leaving you with the rest of the weekend for sight-seeing if you so choose.

Additionally, we are holding a silent auction on Saturday October 22. Please consider donating hand crafted items to the auction and bring your check book since you will for sure want to purchase something special at the auction to take home with you.

The registration fee is $50 for manufactured homeowners and $100 for everyone else. Registration fee includes Friday and Saturday lunches.

Rooms at the rate of $105/night plus tax are available at the Crowne Plaza, Silver Spring, Maryland where the rest of the Convention will be held. Please call 1-866-829-4126 to make your room reservation and use this code “MHO” to ensure you get the discounted room rate.

If you want to keep costs down by sharinga room, please contact Ishbel Dickens at 206.851.6385 so that she can match you with a roommate.

Registration details are available on-line at: www.mhoaa.us or call 206-851-6385 for more information.

We hope to see you there!

Register for the 2011 Conference Now

Category

Manufactured Homeowner $50.00 Interested Participant $100.00

Meal Preference

Regular Vegetarian Vegan Diabetic Gluten Free

Any Additional Information