Private Roadways

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Chapter 1
Appraisal & Property Requirements
Page 1-15A

General (Ref. 24 CFR sec. 200.926d)

Each property shall be provided with vehicular and pedestrian access by a public or private street. Private streets shall be protected by permanent easements. Existing or proposed streets at the site shall connect to private or public streets and shall provide all-weather access to all buildings for essential and emergency use, including access needed for deliveries, service, maintenance and fire equipment.

FHA defines all-weather surface as a road surface over which emergency and the area’s typical passenger vehicles can pass at all times.

Private streets must be protected by permanent recorded easements and have joint maintenance agreements.

The recorded easement and road maintenance agreement must be reviewed and approved by the Direct Endorsement Underwriter and documented in the file when the loan is submitted for mortgage insurance. A letter to the file from the DE Underwriter is the only item to be included in HUD’s insuring file.

Criteria for Agreement Acceptance

	The agreement includes the entire private road system to the public road;
	The agreement and access must be legal and in perpetuity (i.e. run with the land);
	The road is in an acceptable condition. The roadway(s) within the system must have all-weather surface(s). An all-weather surface is defined above.
	The agreement states how the costs are to be shared (e.g. equally by all lots, pro-rata). The provision for maintenance must not create an unusual or abnormal burden upon the ownership of the subject property.
	All of the property owners served by the private road system must be party to the agreement.
	The roadway meets local jurisdictions emergency service access requirements.
	The above requirements may be waived by the Direct Endorsement Underwriter when the subject property abuts a publicly maintained road and the easement is a common driveway between two neighbors, and it is all weather, such as in a shared driveway in many older parts of cities.