12.7 STREET ACCESS AND ROAD MAINTENANCE [7 CFR 3555.201] (05/17/17)

© RHS HB-1-3555 SFH Guaranteed Loan Program Technical Handbook

A. Access

The site must be contiguous to, and have direct access from, a public or private street, road, or driveway. Private roads or streets are acceptable provided each property has vehicular or pedestrian access. Private roads or streets must be protected by permanent recorded easement (non-exclusive and non-revocable easement without trespass from the property to a public street) or the street must be maintained by a homeowners association. (HOA). Shared driveways must also meet these requirements requiring a permanently recorded easement for ingress and egress. Evidence of a road maintenance agreement is not required. This agreement must be binding to successors and title. A copy of a title report, retained in the lender’s mortgage file, may be used to evidence the easement. Private streets must have a permanently recorded easement or be owned and maintained by a Home Owners Association (HOA). All recorded easements must be reviewed and approved by the approved lender’s underwriter and documented in the lender’s permanent loan file.

B. Maintenance

Streets and roads must be hard surfaced or all-weather surfaced. An all-weather surface is a road surface over which emergency and the area’s typical passenger vehicles can pass at all times. A publicly maintained road is automatically assumed to meet this requirement. If a HOA is responsible for maintaining streets and roads, it must meet the criteria set forth by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), or U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).