FREE WEBINAR SERIES
How to Emerge & Thrive
5 Actionable Strategies for Success
As a nation and an industry, we are currently facing an unprecedented business environment. When the recovery comes — and it will come — will you and your business be ready to emerge and thrive? Manufactured housing provides the logical solution to the ever-growing problem of affordable housing and it is imperative that we are prepared to handle the new reality of a post COVID-19 world.
Come join us for a series of free informational webinars designed to help you hit the ground running as we arise from months of quarantine. ManufacturedHomes.com and LearnMH.com, in association with several state associations, are presenting an educational series on the power of digital marketing in today’s quickly changing sales environment.
Thursday, July 2, 2020, 2:00 PM ET
Retaining, Recruiting & Developing Talend
Paul Barretto
Webinar Will Be Presented at 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
These will be more than just your standard PowerPoint webinars. During each webinar we will cover specific questions and issues requested beforehand by those that sign up. To submit a request for a topic to be discussed on our broadcast, send your request to Binzer@manufacturedhomes.com. Please pass this invitation along to anyone that may be interested and we look forward to you joining us!
Wolf Administration: CARES Act Funding for Small Businesses Available Now
Beginning June 30, eligible businesses may begin applying for the COVID-19 Relief Statewide Small Business Assistance program at https://pabusinessgrants.com/.
The first application window will remain open for ten days. Applications will continue to be accepted after 10 business days but will be considered for future rounds of funding, as this is not a first-come, first-served program. Applications will be prioritized and selected for funding based on the program criteria.
The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) will distribute the funds to the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which will then administer the funding in the form of grants.
DCED Secretary Dennis Davin joined state Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Senator Vincent Hughes, Senator John Blake, Representative Jordan Harris, Mark Masterson of Northside Community Development Fund, Leslie Benoliel of Entrepreneur Works, Jim Burnett of West Philadelphia Financial Services, and Dan Betancourt from the Community First Fund at a virtual press conference to announce the opening of the first of four application windows.
Eligible businesses will be able to use the grants to cover operating expenses during the shutdown and transition to re-opening, and for technical assistance including training and guidance for business owners as they stabilize and relaunch their businesses.
The funds will be available through three programs:
• $100 million for the Main Street Business Revitalization Program for small businesses that experienced loss as a result of the governor’s March 19, 2020 order relating to the closure of all non-life-sustaining businesses and have or will incur costs to adapt to new business operations related to COVID-19;
• $100 million for the Historically Disadvantaged Business Revitalization Program for small businesses that experienced loss as a result of the business closure order, have or will incur costs to adapt to new business operations related to COVID-19, and in which socially and economically disadvantaged individuals own at least a 51 percent interest and also control management and daily business operations.
• $25 million for the Loan Payment Deferment and Loss Reserve Program, which will allow the CDFIs the opportunity to offer forbearance and payment relief for existing portfolio businesses that are struggling due to the impact of COVID, as well as shore up the financial position of the CDFIs that are experiencing significant increased defaults in their existing loan portfolios.
This project is financed by a grant from the federal Department of U.S. Treasury, under the administration of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania CDFI Network. The PA CDFI Network is a group of 17 PA-based community development financial institutions that primarily provide financing options for small businesses.
More information about the COVID-19 Relief Statewide Small Business Assistance program can be found on DCED’s website; https://dced.pa.gov/programs/covid-19-relief-statewide-small-business-assistance/.
PennDOT Extends Expirations to July 31, 2020
On June 25, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced that expiration dates for driver licenses, identification cards, and learner’s permits, will be extended for Pennsylvania residents in response to statewide COVID-19 mitigation efforts.
Effective June 23, 2020, expiration dates for driver licenses, photo ID cards and learner’s permits scheduled to expire from March 16, 2020 through July 31, 2020, have been extended until July 31, 2020. These extensions are in addition to those announced on May 27, 2020.
A camera card is considered a driver’s license, so it is covered by the same terms and conditions extending other driver’s license products. Camera cards with expiration dates within this timeframe are also extended through July 31, 2020.
The following products were previously extended until June 30,2020, and will not be extended:
• Vehicle registrations of all classes which includes, but not limited to, mass transit vehicle registrations, apportioned vehicle registrations, fleet vehicle registrations, dealer plate registrations, temporary registrations and biennial farm exemption certificates scheduled to expire from March 16 through June 30, 2020.
• Safety inspections and emissions inspections scheduled to expire from March 16 through June 30, 2020.
• Persons with Disabilities parking placards scheduled to expire from March 16 through June 30, 2020.
Customers may continue to complete various transactions and access multiple resources online at www.dmv.pa.gov. Driver and vehicle online services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and include driver’s license, photo ID and vehicle registration renewals; driver-history services; changes of address; driver license and vehicle registration restoration letters; ability to pay driver license or vehicle insurance restoration fee; and driver license and photo ID duplicates; and driver exam scheduling. There are no additional fees for using online services.
PennDOT will continue to evaluate these processes and will communicate any changes with the public.
FHFA and FHA Extend Foreclosure and Eviction Moratoriums Through August
On June 17, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will extend their moratorium on single-family foreclosures and evictions until at least Aug. 31, 2020. The foreclosure and eviction moratorium applies to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-backed single-family mortgages only. The current moratorium was set to expire on June 30.
Separately, HUD announced that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is also extending its foreclosure and eviction moratorium an additional two months through Aug. 31, 2020, for home owners with FHA-insured single-family mortgages.
FHA’s single-family foreclosure and eviction moratorium extension applies to home owners with FHA-insured Title II Single Family forward and Home Equity Conversion (reverse) mortgages, and continues to direct mortgage servicers to:
- Halt all new foreclosure actions and suspend all foreclosure actions currently in process, excluding legally vacant or abandoned properties; and • Cease all evictions of persons from FHA-insured single-family properties, excluding actions to evict occupants of legally vacant or abandoned properties.
Both FHFA and FHA said these moves were made to protect borrowers and renters who are at risk of losing their home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
