From a recent (January 2025) Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) email is this statement. “Political Action: Learn how to get involved with MHI’s Political Action Committee and hear more about the impact MHI is making on Capitol Hill.” More on that later, but an apparent primary purpose of MHI meetings and other in person industry events is to facilitate relationships that result in acquisitions. Now that observation isn’t what MHI meeting attendees are told, at least, not directly in the sense that the consolidators that operate MHI for their own benefit may share. Hold those thoughts as we pivot to other headline items, like the “Aha!” Moment and eye candy. There are several kinds of victories just as there are multiple types of losses. For example. An investor might see an increase in their share value but that increase may be more modest than if it that same firm used a different (as in superior) strategy. Sun Communities (SUI) Gary Shiffman gave an example of that during an earnings call. The company can still ‘honestly’ claim their stock has risen and merely fail to mention that a different and better strategy was available. It then becomes a question if one or more complaint(s) is/are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and/other federal (or in some cases state) regulator(s). Or it becomes a question if some plaintiffs’ attorney(s) learn about the issue and decide to launch a probe, issue a press release, or otherwise take legal action. Short sellers and others involved in investing may be interested, as in the Blue Orca case involving Sun Communities (SUI) and its ‘criminal’ CEO Gary Shiffman. Antitrust advocates like Matt Stoller could take an interest and decide that some aspect of MHVille fits his economic termite’s thesis and is thus worth it to him and his readers to report. A truly hit ticket might be if a big talk radio, podcaster, or other kind of influencer discovers the reason(s) that purportedly corrupt or inept practices in manufactured housing merits attention. Restated, numerous areas of potential triggers exist that could cause a long running but nevertheless problematic practice to ‘suddenly’ emerge for public officials, legal, or segments of society to take an interest in.

Now, that interesting topic to an outsider looking into MHVille becomes an issue that becomes in Johnathan Kanter’s lingo “kitchen table.” But that can start with the ‘Aha!’ Moment.

That preface can begin to frame the lens this quoted segment of a new Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) email is considered in.

 

 

Part I – Select Elements from the Manufactured Housing Institute January 2025 email

1) Soviet and Chinese Communist Era Style Propaganda – manipulation tactics – on display (see Part II). Big Bold Image. Big Bold Claim. Headline “Eye Candy!” But explore their claim carefully. If MHI has a 50-year “Partnership” with HUD, then why hasn’t MHI been able to get the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 “enhanced preemption” routinely provision enforced? Their propaganda falls apart once someone understands enough about the basic facts and realities regarding HUD Code manufactured housing in the 21st century.

 

 

2) MHProNews will skip most of their events’ pitch for now and focus on these two statements from their latest email.

MHI’s Winter Meeting is an opportunity to gather with manufactured housing industry leaders to examine the key issues impacting the manufactured housing industry. Along with meetings of MHI’s Divisions, Councils and Committees, there is ample time devoted to networking and collaboration outside the meeting room.

a) Wow! Just what you’ve been dreaming about! An “opportunity to gather with manufactured housing industry leaders…” A chance to discuss “key issues impacting the manufactured housing industry…” With “ample time devoted to networking and collaboration…” To decode that pitch, consider one more statement from an “MHI” event.

Get a jump start on your 2025 career and company goals with MHI…

b) MHI’s goal is to get you and your team to meetings and events. The more meetings, from their perspective, the better. The reasons for that are numerous, but they have to make it appealing to those who get the email. What is it that might motivate someone to go to an MHI meeting? “Get a jump start on your career and company goals” while hanging out with “manufactured housing industry leaders…” for that chance to discuss “key issues impacting the manufactured housing industry…” With “ample time devoted to networking and collaboration…”

c) Every mark has to have a hook. But the questions that ought to be asked by intelligent people is this. What is MHI’s track record? What have they actually accomplished so far in the 21st century? The graphic below will put it into an easy metric to measure. Production of new HUD Code manufactured homes. In 1998, the manufactured housing industry produced 373,143 new HUD Code manufactured homes.

1998

373,143

2023

89,169

2024	104,985 (at annualized current pace for Jan-Nov)

104,985/373,143

 

 

d) Here is the math 104,985/373,143 = 0.281353261. That means that MHI’s self-praised “leadership” is operating the manufactured home industry at less than 29 percent of its last highwater mark that occurred over a quarter of a century ago.

e) Is that MHI’s notion of leadership?

f) Is it any surprise that a graphic like the one above isn’t in their email?

 

 

 

3) Let’s put that in more MHI specific terms, for greater clarity. Starting at the top of the collage below, the quotes are by MHI in their recent email or from MHI previously as shown.

 

4) If MHI was so effective, why is it that over 2 dozen years after the enactment of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (a.k.a.: MHIA 2000, MHIA, 2000 Reform Act, 2000 Reform Law) and its enhanced preemption provision, that the law isn’t properly enforced? There are only a few possibilities. Let’s explore some of the more obvious ones.

a) MHI is sincere in their desire to get enhanced preemption enforced. But they are incompetent.

b) Why would MHI leaders possibly be incompetent? Because there are obvious steps that MHI leaders could take, like litigation of the issue, that MHI leaders have dodged for decades. Furthermore, they are unwilling to authentically discuss or debate their behavior in a public forum. If they are sincere and competent, then what do they have to hide from engagement? If they are correct, and their critics are incorrect, then why won’t they publicly debate them?

c) Another possibility is that MHI is not sincere in their desire to get enhanced preemption enforced. Rather, they are posturing support while favoring the status quo. Is there evidence for that position? Sadly, yes.

 

5) Danny Ghorbani, ex-MHI VP, and MHARR’s founding president and CEO, told MHProNews in a systematic Q&A response that MHI wants to claim leadership, fine. Then they are also responsible for the status quo. MHARR’s current CEO Mark Weiss offered in 2019 to litigate enhanced preemption enforcement. MHARR said no takers. There is no known change to that status.

 

MHProNews doesn’t necessarily endorse the corporate remarks in the call out boxes on their production history graphic below, which represent the stated views of then Skyline Champion, now Champion Homes (SKY).  They are an MHI member. Look how low the industry has slid. If MHI have had a 50-year partnership with HUD, what have they done with that partnership? Clearly, that partnership hasn’t worked for the independents in manufactured housing that were lost along the way to ever-lower production since the mid-to-late 1990s.

 

 

6) Only by reading each and every part of the above, including the various call out boxes on the images, or the captions under images, can the Aha! Moment occur for those who don’t already get it.

7) Compared to 1998, national manufactured housing production has dropped about 71 percent per the projections for total production in 2024. How is the effective? How is the something to be proud of, given that the population has grown?

 

 

Part II – Additional Information with More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary 

1) MHProNews programming notice. There will be a more in depth look at the balance of the MHI email of January 2025 planned for next week.  Watch for it.

2) If MHI wasn’t afraid of engaging on these issues, they would hold an open forum with MHARR, with this publication, and with other critics of their organization, some of which are MHI members.

3) But MHI has not only dodged such open engagement for years, based on their own remarks, they claim the right to eject people from meetings and events where MHI has a presence. That is a kind of suppression of discussion on steroids. They call that power their Code of Conduct.

 

 

 

4) If MHI was so confident in their position, they would engage and debate. But they apparently do the opposite of that, don’t they? Because so many members fear (regardless of what they may say) that they could ‘lose’ access to 21st Mortgage originated loans (for example), industry members don’t speak up. They don’t question. Because MHI has apparently and wrongfully barred this publication from attending events and allowed us to ask questions that their leaders will answer on the record, MHI creates a carefully managed illusion.

 

 

 

4a) Earlier it was said in Part I that MHI was using communist style tactics with their imagery. That’s not an exaggeration. Here are historic examples of that tactic.

 

5) MHI is a multi-million dollar a year organization backed by several multibillion-dollar companies. If MHI had a genuine ‘partnership’ with HUD, then the questions that are asked herein wouldn’t be necessary. Because MHI would simply say, ‘hey HUD. Start implementing the enhanced preemption provision of the 2000 Reform Law.’ But that isn’t happening. There is no known evidence that MHI has ever asked a HUD official for that while they had them in a public setting. That behavior is strong evidence that MHI has no sincere intention to get what they have asked for in writing.

The result? Consolidation of the industry as the industry continues to underperform. Multi-year MHI member Andy Gedo said as much. See his remark below, and that of Kevin Clayton. Reminder: watch for our planned follow up on this email as we unpack more evidence from MHI’s own words vs. their actual deeds.