(This is the second in a series of articles on disaster preparedness in manufactured home communities)

For manufactured home communities, emergency management experts recommend putting together a committee of residents, with the following minimum responsibilities:

• Working with management to develop an evacuation or shelter plan
• Setting up an emergency notification system for the community
• Conducting community education programs on disaster readiness
• Setting up evacuation practice drills
• Training residents on securing their property before evacuating
• Maintaining a list of residents with special needs
• Identifying members of the community with special skills, such as nurses, doctors or others trained in CPR or medical assistance, who could help in an emergency
• Preparing contact lists for relatives and next of kin

Question.  Following your article on screening for criminal history, I’m needing some help digesting all the Do’s and Don’ts.  Are there any recent visual aids that might help?

MHCO has uploaded a revised Form 1 (Resident Application) and a completely new Form 1A. MHCO created the additional form (Form 1A) to accompany the general application (Form 1) to be used if the applicant reports any criminal history. These changes will go a long way in complying with the HUD memo, without unduly burdening landlords and managers.

We are currently working on language for your 'screening criteria' - we hope to have that available shortly. There will be an extensive seminar on the new application process at the MHCO Annual Conference on October 24th and 25th. In the meantime MHCO will be providing information as it becomes available.

If you have any questions please contact the MHCO office at 503-391-4496.

The financial markets thus far in 2016 have proven unpredictable, yet have simultaneously offered very attractive opportunities for income property owners looking for capital. While the stock market and oil prices have continued to plunge over the past several weeks, very few experts predicted that major interest rate indices would be retesting historic lows as they have.

The financial markets thus far in 2016 have proven unpredictable, yet have simultaneously offered very attractive opportunities for income property owners looking for capital. While the stock market and oil prices have continued to plunge over the past several weeks, very few experts predicted that major interest rate indices would be retesting historic lows as they have.