MARYLAND HOUSING FUND
Earl De Mans, Director
Victoria S Davis, Deputy Director

100 Community Place
Crownsville, MD 21032 (410) 514 7350

The Maryland Housing Fund was established in
1971 (Chapter 669, Acts of 1971) Through a pro
gram of mortgage insurance and other credit en-
hancements, the Fund assists State citizens of low and
moderate income to secure housing The Fund uses
a variety of innovative mortgage insurance programs
to stimulate the flow of private investment capital into
the State for this purpose (Code 1957, Art 83B, sees
3 201 through 3 208)

CREDIT ASSURANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE

Mark Sissman, Chair, 1996

The Governor established the Credit Assurance
Review Committee in December 1993 (COMAR
05 06 05) The Committee advises the Division of
Credit Assurance on the credit assurance programs of
the Maryland Housing Fund The Committee alerts
the fund to new programs for housing insurance or
credit assurance or to innovative uses for current
programs The Committee also recommends how to
use Fund resources for the benefit of State residents
and for raising capital to support insurance reserves or
programs through pubhc or pnvate sources

For underwriting insurance of mortgage loans
and managing the insured loan portfolio, the Corn
mittee advises the Fund on what policies and criteria
should be used The Committee also counsels the
Fund on the structuring of its credit assurance
programs to maintain the fiscal integrity of the
Fund and of the reserve backing for each program

ASS£TMANAG£M£NT
Gary Prevatt, Manager
(410)5147527

Asset Management began as Housing Manage
ment in the Community Development Administra-
tion Under its present name, it transferred to the
Division of Housing Credit Assurance in May 1994
and continues under the Division of Credit Assur
ance since 1996

Asset Management monitors and manages the
Department's multifamily portfolio, including
State funded loans and bond loans insured by the
Maryland Housing Fund, the Federal Housing
Authority, and others To oversee the portfolio, the
unit uses automated databases, standardized proce-
dures, and early warning indicators The database
also provides a means of monitoring performance
trends of the portfolio as a whole

BUILDING CODES ADMINISTRATION
James C Hanna, Manager
(410) 514-7212

Functions of the Building Codes Administration
began with the Code .Enforcement Certification
Board m 1971 Within the Department of Economic
and Community Development, the Board became the
Division of Building Codes Administration by 1975
Two years later, the Division was renamed the Codes
Administration W^hen the Department of Housing
and Community Development was formed in 1987,
the Administration reorganized as the Building Codes
Administration under the Division of Community
Assistance In 1996, the Administration transferred to
the Division of Credit Assurance

The Administration works with local govern
ments, design professionals, and code inspectors to
guarantee that the highest performance standards are
met m building construction The Administration is
responsible for enforcement of the Industrialized
Buildings and Mobile Home Regulations, the Model
Performance Building Code, and the Maryland Ac
cessibihty Code The Administration also administers
the Maryland Safety Glazing Law and Maryland En
ergy Conservation Building Standards

Established m 1971, the Industrialized Building Pro
gram offers certification standards for any building,
building subsystem, or component that is manufactured
and assembled off site (Chapter 662, Acts of 1971) The
Program encourages the growth of industrialized build
ing construction by using preemptive uniform statewide
codes and standards Building systems that are certified
by the State can be used or erected anywhere in Maryland
without having to comply with different local building
codes, as long as they comply with local zoning laws The
Building Codes Administration also inspects mobile
homes to resolve consumer complaints and enforces the
standard of the U S Department of Housing and Urban
Development (Code 1957, Art 83B. sees 6-201
through 6 208)

The Model Performance Building Code was
adopted m 1971 (Chapter 663, Acts of 1971) Based
on the National Building Code of the Building Offi
cials and Code Administrators International, Inc
(BOCA), the State's Model Performance Building
Code was intended by the Gencial Assembly eventu
ally to be adopted statewide so builders might adapt
their construction practices to a single set of modern,
performance oriented standards Compliance with
that code was voluntary

In 1993, mandatory standards—the Maryland
Building Performance Standards—were enacted by
the General Assembly (Chapter 200, Acts of 1993)
Also based on the most recent edition of the National
Building Code issued by BOCA, these standards apply
to all construction permits issued on or after August 1,
1995, with two exceptions Counues or murucipalines
with no budding code at all must comply by 1997, and