BOISE - A $480,000 grant commitment has been made between the Idaho Community Reinvestment Corporation (ICRC) and the Idaho Housing and Finance Association to make older mobile homes in the state safer and more livable, IHFA officials announced today. ICRC and IHFA contributed an additional $130,000 to the original $350,000 designated to the Home Safety Grant Program. The ICRC is a not-for-profit corporation owned by fifteen Idaho financial institutions, formed in 1993 to provide long term financing for multi-family, affordable housing throughout Idaho.

The grant is used to inspect and repair pre-1976 mobile homes, which in turn makes them eligible for residence in mobile home parks throughout the state. Up to $5,000 can be provided to low-income qualifiers for the safety upgrades on an individual unit. The grants cover life-safety issues related to older homes, ranging from the installation of smoke detectors and emergency exit windows in each bedroom, to testing and repair of wiring, plumbing and gas connections.

The program is administered by Community Action Agencies and other agencies in Idaho. The agencies visit the home, identify needed repairs, obtain bids from licensed contractors, ensure that the repairs are completed correctly, and pay for the repairs. The owners may then obtain a rehabilitation certificate from the State of Idaho Division of Building Safety—a prerequisite to obtain installation permits from city or county building code agencies.

Prior to this program, older mobile homes were often denied entrance into these parks because of their perceived fire danger. It is estimated that between 30,000 and 40,000 pre-1976 models in Idaho fall short of meeting current safety and code requirements. The grant applies only to those mobile homes built prior to 1976, because all mobile homes built after 1976 must conform to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Acts, commonly known as the "HUD Code."

The program was introduced in June 2000 in the Lewiston area, and started statewide that December. By December 2001, the ICRC and IHFA had awarded $200,000 in Home Safety grants.

For more information on the Home Safety Grant Program, please contact ICRC Executive Director JoAnne Wertz at (208) 853-2431 or IHFA Residential Lending Senior Manager Jim Lau at (208) 331-4744.

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The Idaho Housing and Finance Association, a financial services and housing organization, provides funding for affordable housing in Idaho communities where they are most needed and when it is economically feasible. IHFA uses no state funds or state employees to support its operations. For more information, visit our Web site at www.ihfa.org.