§ 700. Vermont Manufactured Home Improvement and Repair Program

(a) There is created within the Department of Housing and Community Development the Manufactured Home Improvement and Repair Program. The Department shall design and implement the Program to award funding to statewide or regional nonprofit housing organizations, or both, to provide financial assistance or awards to manufactured homeowners and manufactured home park owners to improve existing homes, incentivize new slab placement for prospective homeowners, and incentivize park improvements for infill of more homes.

(b) The following projects are eligible for funding through the Program:

(1) The Department may award up to $20,000.00 to owners of manufactured housing communities to complete small-scale capital needs to help infill vacant lots with homes, including disposal of abandoned homes, lot grading and preparation, the siting and upgrading of electrical boxes, enhancing E-911 safety issues, transporting homes out of flood zones, and improving individual septic systems. Costs awarded under this subdivision may also cover legal fees and marketing to help make it easier for home-seekers to find vacant lots around the State.

(2) The Department may award funding to manufactured homeowners for which the home is their primary residence to address habitability and accessibility issues to bring the home into compliance with safe living conditions.

(3) The Department may award up to $15,000.00 per grant to a homeowner to pay for a foundation or federal Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved slab, site preparation, skirting, tie-downs, and utility connections on vacant lots within a manufactured home community.

(c) The Department may adopt rules, policies, and guidelines to aid in enacting the Program.