Please see the following e-mail that was sent out by HUD regarding the Hand Rail issue and whether the absence of a handrail at a property can be considered a health hazard requiring remediation by a servicer.

-----Original Message-----
From: Boris C._Whiteside
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 11:55 AM
Subject: Hand Rail Decision

Everyone, Leslie has researched the handrail question and can find no authority for us requiring mortgagees to install handrails where none existed before. If an existing handrail is loose and unsafe, it should be secured to protect health and safety. If a stairway had a handrail which is missing and this poses a threat to health and safety, some temporary replacement should be constructed. However, if there is no obvious threat to health and safety i.e. there is no drop off potential, it is not a health and safety issue and we cannot require the mortgagee to construct a replacement.

Please notify the M&Ms of this decision. Thanks