In business or in advocacy, the case can be made that one should properly give credit or blame when it is due. This manufactured home industry expert news-analysis will explore the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) attempt on 3.21.2024 to bring to their readers and members attention a new policy initiative by the self-proclaimed New Democrat Coalition, also known as the New Dems. Per their headline on the news section of their website, MHI said this: “MHI Applauds the New Democrat Coalition’s Housing Action Plan.” The New Dems where previously spotlighted in a report by MHProNews linked here.

The complete text of the MHI news item is provided in Part I of this report.

Part II provides the introduction of the New Dems housing plan announcement, which includes part of what MHI has ‘applauded.’

Part III provides the self-proclaimed New Dems two-page housing plan (which they referred to as a one-pager). Note that it has but a single mention of manufactured housing, which is just one sentence long.

Part IV is additional information from the New Dems complete housing plan, with more insights into what their portion of the Democratic Party is claiming and proposing.

Part V is our additional information with more MHProNews analysis and commentary of both what MHI said, and what the New Dems are advocating. MHProNews’ note that in quoting either of these, or other groups, it should not be construed that we are endorsing them. MHProNews’ parent company management – while they may or may not agree with certain specific remarks made by this or that person, organization, or group – are politically independent.  We have not been registered with either major party for over a decade.

Part I – per the MHI website on 3.21.2024 is the following text.

MHI applauds the Housing Action Plan released by the New Democrat Coalition, which identifies actions the federal government can take to address our nation’s housing crisis. MHI is particularly pleased that the Plan recognizes the critical role manufactured housing plays in affordable homeownership, with its statement that the federal government should “ensure federal standards support the availability of manufactured housing as an affordable housing resource.”

The New Democratic Coalition Plan calls on HUD to “streamline their standard setting to enhance energy efficiency and preserve affordability in consultation with its Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee” (MHCC). It is critical that HUD’s 50 year exclusive jurisdiction over uniform manufactured home safety, construction, and energy efficiency standards be maintained. The MHCC – HUD’s non-partisan panel of experts, including consumer representatives – has developed energy standards that balance significant energy efficiency improvements with housing affordability. HUD should promptly adopt these MHCC standards.

The New Democratic Coalition Plan also recommends that “Congress should investigate whether the requirement that manufactured homes be built with a permanent chassis limits affordability, development, and reuse.” More flexibility here could increase the availability of manufactured homes, which are by far THE most affordable homeownership option for American families. MHI also applauds the Plan for calling attention to local zoning impediments to the creation of new affordable manufactured homes.

Commenting on the Plan, MHI’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Lesli Gooch, said, “MHI looks forward to working with the New Democrat Coalition and Congress on a bipartisan basis to advance legislation to increase affordable manufactured housing homeownership opportunities for working families.”

Part II – about the New Dems, per the New Dems website about us page (again, note that quoting the New Dems is not to be construed as an endorsement, these are an accurate quotes of their words from their website on 3.25.2024, not MHProNews’ thoughts or positions).

In no particular order of importance are the following facts and observations.

1) Nowhere in either the 2-page nor the 20-page Democratic housing plan document is the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (a.k.a.: MHIA, 2000 Reform Law, 2000 Reform Act or “Improvement Act”) mentioned. Yet as the reports linked here, here, and here reveal, the affordable housing crisis can’t be resolved without the MHIA – which MHI claims to want – being fully and properly implemented.

2) An MS Word search of the 20-page document reveals no use of the term “Duty to Serve.” Perhaps DTS doesn’t matter to MHI either?

3) An interesting observation from the New Dems are the following points, which cited the National Assocation of Home Builders (NAHB).

ISSUE: Increased wait times for building materials have significantly lengthened average completion times of housing units, reflecting supply-side challenges that have persisted for several years. The average completion time of a single-family home in 2022 increased to 9.6 months, a full 6 weeks longer than the average completion time in 2021.^[1]

[1] www.nahb.org/blog/2023/07/2022-single-family-build-times”

With unrelenting supply chain challenges delaying homes getting onto the market and making those homes more expensive, the federal government should act in several ways to transform supply-side scarcity into housing abundance and affordability.”

Part of the problem with the ‘supply chain’ is that some supply items are coming from Communist China. Covid19 and shipping bottlenecks have slowed that supply process down. Despite Kevin Clayton’s remarks on the topic, it should be obvious that the first choice for the U.S. should always be domestic supply of essential items, be it for housing, pharmaceuticals, health care, tech, food, energy, or virtually any other needed item.

4) Odd at best, or a surprising (as in woefully) low estimated figure at worst is the data claim for the New Dems 20-page housing plan document is this remark: “The United States has a housing shortage of 2.3 million units.” Freddie Mac pegged the deficit at some 3.8 million units in 2021, almost 3 years ago. The NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun put that number at 8.3 million units needed circa 2017. No one in their right mind, including the New Dems, claims that the housing gap is being closed by the production of more housing of all kinds. A more common view among those MHProNews has examined is that the housing deficit is in the 6 to 10 million (or more) units’ range. 6 million units needed is what Cavco Industries (CVCO) has asserted in their investor relations pitch. Here is part of how the New Dems put it in their 2-page housing plan document that “MHI applauds.”

• “Historic levels of housing underproduction and the lack of federal investment have led to millions of homes missing from the market; historically high interest rates have made housing financing unaffordable for many and have further slowed housing production; a shortfall of hundreds of thousands of workers constrains the ability to get new homes on the market.”

6) Perhaps even more ironically, Senate Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse (CT-D) pegged the housing shortage significantly higher than the House “New Dems” did.  Per a document from the Senate website under the headline: “WHITEHOUSE: Expanding Housing Affordability Drives Economic Growth” obtained by MHProNews and provided as a download linked here is the following.

“Across the country, the U.S. faces a shortage of four to seven million housing units available for sale or rent.”

7) There is no mention of the estimated $2 trillion-dollar annual economic drag caused by the housing shortage cited by MHI member Cavco, which is a figure also used by Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (CT-D), the left-leaning National Low Income Housing Coalition, and the Foundation for Affordable Housing (among others). MHProNews has used that figure for some years, based on research that dates back to the Obama-Biden era.

8) Some of the moves that Democrats have argued for on the surface may seem to make sense. They say, for instance, that they want to remove “incentivize state and local governments to reform land-use and zoning policies that constrain affordable housing.” But that is counterintuitive, when more closely examined.  Why is Congress spending money to “incentivize” state and local governments” when Democrats made the cast over 20 years ago that zoning barriers for manufactured housing could be removed by HUD simply asserting HUD’s enhanced preemption authority? The disconnect logically is stark.

9) MHI’s plug of the Dems housing plan has made NONE of those observations, which begs the question: why not?  But there is more in the way of logical disconnects for MHI’s advocacy.

10) Speaking of advocacy, MHI – as do millions of other internet platforms – uses a website page building system. But MHI’s post linked above had 3 links. One was to the page shown below.  What are MHI’s staff doing with their time? Apparently, they are not reading their own content, nor are they checking their own links.

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To be clear, the above is hardly a life-or-death issue. But what it does illustrate is that several at MHI have an apparently lax attitude about their own duties and image. How could MHI ever sue someone else for disparaging “the Institute” when “the Institute” is apparently doing a fine job of embarrassing (and thus disparaging) itself?

Per Oxford Languages, “disparage” means: “regard or represent as being of little worth.” Getting details, large and small, wrong is embarrassing – or should be to MHI.  Then, leaving a linked format page with the example (sample) text unchanged is – or ought to be – embarrassing for MHI too. When somethings are wrong, it logically is of “little worth.” Maybe attorney Goch will sue MHI’s own staff for disparaging “the Institute” through such embarrassing goofs?

11) Let’s begin a review. The New Dems may be less leftwing that much of the balance of the party. Okay. But they are clearly supporting Biden and Democratic policies that have caused this sharp decline in housing production, including manufactured housing. Democratic policies fueled inflation, as then House Majority Whip James “Jim” Clyburn (SC-D) said. MHI say they “applaud” a housing policy stance that may do little or nothing for the industry. If new legislation is needed, based on the industry’s experience with failures to properly implement the MHIA and DTS, why should the industry think that some new – not yet enacted legislation will do better? The lack of logic is shocking.  What MHI appears to be doing, is calling to the attention of their trusting members any time that manufactured housing is merely mentioned by federal officials. It is a reminder of how MHI recently said that ‘manufactured housing features prominently’ during an oversight hearing, when a fact check using Bing’s AI powered Copilot labeled that as fitting the definition of “lie,” “false,” “misleading.”

12) As yesterday’s Sunday report revealed, a significant MHI member firm has watched as their stock’s valuation fell and their target value reduced due in part to what was called manufactured housing “industry softness.” The evidence-based case can be made that MHI’s pattern of behavior (i.e.: failure to get policies in place 15 and 24 years after the legislations was enacted, is costing some firms millions of dollars annually, and is costing the industry billions of dollars annually. Will Goch and MHI sue that B.Riley analyst for “disparaging” the industry? Unlikely.

 

13) Only a robust new supply of homes will close the affordability gap. So says Investopedia, citing in part information from NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. That might be good news for manufactured housing, but manufactured housing is underperforming with production at historically poor levels.

 

 

14) Kevin Clayton (for MHI) and John Bostick (for MHARR) are quoted in the article linked below. That very much relates to the topic at hand.

 

15) What MHI might have done had they been doing their jobs more earnestly. In no particular order of importance, instead of applauding, MHI might have noted the following from the New Dems instead of ‘applauding’ them.

a) It is approaching 25 years since a strong bipartisan vote by Congress enacted the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (a.k.a.: MHIA, 2000 Reform Law, 2000 Reform Act).

b) MHI itself has said that HUD has failed to properly implement the 2000 Reform Act multiple times over the course of years. Why does MHI think this housing plan will be any different in outcome? Especially when the focus IS NOT manufactured housing, but rather is on subsidies and benefits to mainstream conventional housing?

c) It was largely Democratic policies and Democratic spending plans that fueled inflation and the rise in interest rates which stymied all housing production including manufactured housing. See Clyburn’s remarks, linked below.

d) MHI in conjunction with the Texas Manufactured Housing Association (TMHA) has sued the federal government’s Department of Energy (DOE) over the pending DOE energy standards and related enforcement policies. What happened in the initial instance that such a problematic piece of anti-manufactured housing legislation made it into federal law? Who pushed that in the first place? Wasn’t it Dems? Given that MHI has off and on proposed amending that law, why is it assumed that all will go correctly with these New Dem proposals?

16) Perhaps the leaders at MHI are stupid, forgetful, and inept (see this humorous illustration again), OR maybe they hope their rank-and-file members are dumb, forgetful, and totally trust them after decades of purported MHI failures. OR it could be some combination of those factors plus which they corruptly think will allow them to once more pull a fast one over trusting independents’ eyes.

17) That brief outline begins to explain the numerous reasons that MHI has no business endorsing these plans. But there are more. Let’s focus on what might be the most important part of the disconnect between what MHI is applauding and what MHI ought to be doing instead.

18) Much of the New Dem housing plan is pork barrel spending that will flow to competitors of manufactured housing. Again, are they inept, stupid, or think their readers are going to forget 25 years of history because MHI leaders apparently corruptly hope their members will simply go along?

It should be obvious that MHI’s behavior is not garden-variety incompetence. A small group of consolidation focused insiders at MHI appear to be pleased with their leadership. But in the meantime, the industry has shrunk dramatically.  The top 2 brands in production stats – which were MHI members – 25 years ago no longer exist as independent entities today. The same is true for numbers of other once independent brands that now are under some consolidators umbrella.

19) While MHI is busily posturing, the affordable housing crisis woes continue. Millions are suffering the ill effects of these policies.

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20) One thing that New Dems said that is worth noting is that they have acknowledged just how important an issue affordable housing is to voters and American residents. This could be a defining topic for potentially millions of voters in 2024, if the New Dems are correct on that point.  But either way, MHI’s job is supposed to be to protect, educate, and promote (P.E.P.) on behalf of “all segments” of the industry.  They are clearly not successful at getting existing federal laws properly enforced. The time to do something about MHI’s apparent failures that is long overdue. AI powered Copilot has uplifted MHARR and questioned or critiqued MHI. It isn’t a pretty look for the Arlington, VA based trade group. We began this article by noting that: “In business or in advocacy, the case can be made that one should properly give credit or blame when it is due.”  It seems MHI has blown it, not unlike their featuring that Newsweek article uncritically. See the linked reports to learn more.  ###

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By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.

Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.

For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.

This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.

http://latonykovach.com

Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach

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