Last night, the Senate passed legislation that would dramatically reshape regulation of the financial institutions. The legislation which passed the Senate on a largely party-line vote of 59-39, would create a new regulator tasked with safeguarding consumers from risky loans and investments, create a formal process for dismantling large financial companies and regulate the derivatives market more closely. At the request of MHI, the legislation contains an exclusion from the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) regulations for manufactured and modular housing retailers, and represents a major victory for industry retailers.

Representative Joe Donnelly (D-IN) offered an amendment with similar language to the House bill which passed by voice vote in the Financial Services Committee. The Senate and the House will now attempt to reconcile their bills (S. 3217, HR 4173). Senator Dodd hopes the conference could agree on a joint bill before the July Fourth holiday. Staff will monitor this issue and keep members apprised of any new developments.

MHI members with questions can contact Rae Ann Bevington at rbevington@mfghome.org.