According to a recent left-leaning CNN survey some 86 percent of renters can’t afford a house, and such surveys routinely mean a ‘site built house. Of those 86 percent, 54 percent think they may never be able to buy a house, per CNN.  Those facts ought to sound like potential talking points or hooks for several potential pro-industry growth Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) initiatives.  But as numerous reports on MHProNews and MHLivingNews have revealed, MHI may talk about their policy priorities, but even on their own website MHI’s self-described ‘action center’ shows no action whatsoever to move their own claimed initiatives forward.  With those facts as backdrop, a recent report in left-leaning Yahoo Finance that stated that Skyline Champion (SKY) insiders have made 11 sales of stocks, and no purchases of company shares in the past year. If the industry was poised for serious growth, wouldn’t at least one corporate insider at the second largest producer of HUD Code manufactured homes in the U.S. be buying shares instead of selling them? So, what’s really going on?

The Frank Rolfe remarks emailed to MHProNews are in Part II, below.  Those comments are not directly made about Skyline Champion, or any other producer, but are general remarks about the industry and in essence about the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI). His comments in conjunction with others will shed light on the authentic ‘state of the industry’ in recent years.

Part I

1) Insider selling can be caused by several factors, some of them entirely benign. For instance, someone who has stock may just need some cash for a personal need or desire, and they sell shares of Skyline Champion stock to get that cash.  That would be understandable.

2) That noted, one might think that if insiders at Skyline Champion (SKY) are optimistic about the future of their firm and the manufactured home business, as they routinely claim in investor relations (IR) presentations (pitches) and earnings calls, that at least one or two insiders might be buying shares of SKY instead of selling them. But that has reportedly not been the case.

3) Per Yahoo Finance and GuruFocus Research is the following information. Hot links are in the original. Note that MHProNews is not advising investing in investment advice but is rather sharing their research via these quotations.

On August 12, 2024, Keith Anderson, Director at Skyline Champion Corp (NYSE:SKY), executed a sale of 30,000 shares of the company. The transaction was filed on the same day through an SEC Filing. Following this transaction, the insider now owns 209,324 shares of Skyline Champion Corp.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with SKY.

Skyline Champion Corp is engaged in the manufacturing and retail of a wide range of manufactured and modular homes, as well as [for] mobile home parks and modular buildings for residential and commercial applications.

Over the past year, Keith Anderson has sold a total of 63,750 shares and has not made any purchases of the company’s stock. This recent sale is part of a broader trend observed within the company, where there have been 11 insider sells and no insider buys over the past year.

Shares of Skyline Champion Corp were trading at $83.53 on the day of the sale. The company has a market cap of approximately $4.93 billion…

4) Per those same sources was the following.

The stock’s valuation according to the GF Value is set at $60.96, indicating that with a current price of $83.53, Skyline Champion Corp is significantly overvalued with a price-to-GF-Value ratio of 1.37.

5) So, GuruFocus has deemed Skyline Champion “significantly overvalued.”

6) Per Yahoo Finance, in the last few months analysts have given the firm a mixed review of 6 buy recommendations with 8 hold recommendations.

7) GuruFocus reported on the same day as Anderson’s stock say the following.

On August 9, 2024, Timothy Larson, Chief Growth Officer of Skyline Champion Corp (NYSE:SKY), sold 5,500 shares of the company. The transaction was documented in a recent SEC Filing. Following this sale, the insider now directly owns 43,300 shares of the company.

8) Also, per Yahoo Finance, are the following top institutional owners and mutual fund holders invested in Skyline Champion (SKY).

9) See a related report to institutional ownership in several MHI insider brands in the report linked below.

Part II – Additional Information with More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary

1) In an emailed respond to any inquiry made by MHProNews, prominent MHI member Frank Rolfe said the following. Note that at first, this may not seem to relate to the Skyline Champion (SKY) item in Part I above, but possible connections to it will be explored further below once several manufactured home industry related facts are laid out. More facts from the preface and Part I above will be explored herein.

From Frank Rolfe to MHProNews.

Tony,

Here’s my “official” quote on this topic:

“It is amazing to me that any media person can stereotype millions of Americans without being worried about their career being at stake. In today’s politically correct world, why is it acceptable to use such a derogatory term as “trailer park trash”? Newscasters and journalists are losing their careers over the use of every other insulting slang term  — however minor — simply from special interest groups threatening to boycott the advertisers. So why is “trailer trash” the one insulting term in the U.S. that you can use without any fear of reprisal? Is it because the average American feels it’s true, thanks to the consistent negative portrayal of the industry in the media?

Not too long ago, the reverse was true. “The Long, Long Trailer” starring Lucille Ball was a big film in 1953. Elvis lived in a “trailer park” in the films “It Happened at the World’s Fair” in 1963 and “Speedway” in 1968. Back then, the media portrayed “trailer park trash” as wearing tuxedos and driving sports cars — a 180 degree difference. So why did they change their tune?

I think that education is the solution. Those in the industry know that there are some terrible properties out there, but they are a tiny fringe group of the 44,000 communities in the U.S. The average manufactured home community resembles a traditional subdivision — sometimes nicer than the surrounding subdivisions. We can only change the “trailer park trash” stereotype by convincing the general public that the term is unfair and offensive and not a statement of fact. That would generate a grassroots movement to protest the term aggressively and that, in turn, would scare the media away from ever using it again. If any journalist who uttered the phrase “trailer park trash” immediately lost their job, then it would disappear overnight.

So how do you educate the public about what our residents are really like? One method would be to fire off a barrage of articles — backed up by facts — on why the term has no place in a modern America; tied, via Google, to every article in which the negative terms are used.. Another would be to talk openly and honestly to the media and let them walk properties and talk to residents and break down their perceptions. Finally — and this would be very expensive –to do a proactive public relations campaign that is clever and effective.

Am I offended by the term “trailer park trash” in the media recently? Certainly. I’m also disappointed and amazed. But I think it also serves as a wake-up call that our industry has a huge amount of work to do. When these negative terms disappear forever, then we will have done our job and elevated the industry to the next level.

Frank

But I think it also serves as a wake-up call that our industry has a huge amount of work to do. When these negative terms [i.e.: “trailer park,” “trailer trash” “trailer park trash,” etc.] disappear forever, then we will have done our job and elevated the industry to the next level.

Newscasters and journalists are losing their careers over the use of every other insulting slang term — however minor — simply from special interest groups threatening to boycott the advertisers. So why is “trailer trash” the one insulting term in the U.S. that you can use without any fear of reprisal? Is it because the average American feels it’s true, thanks to the consistent negative portrayal of the industry in the media?

 

 

4) Among the sponsors of SECO, per their recent email, are Clayton Homes (BRK), Champion Homes (SKY), and Cavco Industries (CVCO). Another sponsor is RHP Properties, which has recently been slammed again by residents.  RHP Properties and with some 10 more firms (the lawsuits have similar, but not always the same defendants) are the subject of several filed lawsuits alleging illegal price fixing/antitrust violations.  Many of those firms are members of MHI and/or an MHI-linked state association.

 

 

A brief follow-up to the above on Olson and others is found in the report linked here. Note, that follow up will best be understood by reading the article linked above first. Besides sponsors, don’t be surprised if several other MHI member firms are in attendance. Keep in mind that based upon MHI’s stated policies, just because someone associated with MHI is at a meeting, that means – in MHI’s meeting policy view – that the MHI event code of conduct applies. That MHI event code of conduct has been described as a potential muffle for the free speech rights of attendees to question MHI leaders. Hold those thoughts.

5) Also, SECO linked George Allen (per a former client of his: with George it is always “AAA – it’s All About Allen“) has issued a challenge to independent community operators and others to achieve a doubling of manufactured home production by 2025. What makes that seemingly intelligent pitch for growth interesting is that it wasn’t made by MHI, but rather by an MHI member. More on Allen shortly. 

 

 

6) On 8.11.2024, it was disclosed by MHProNews in a fact check linked here that MHI’s so-called “action center,” despite several “policy objectives” has no – as in zero, zip, zilch, nada – action items to address. In checking that same MHI website page again on 8.18.2024 at about 4:37 PM ET, there are still no action items.  Yet per sources deemed reliable, multiple MHI leaders have visited this site and related and are aware of the that post. How long would it have taken someone at MHI to post a MHI priority related ‘action item? 30 minutes to an hour if it was a quick cut and paste from something that they already had written? 2 hours? If they spent a day discussing how to frame a statement to be posted on their so-called action center? More or less?  Yet, a week later, there has still been no such simple and obvious step taken by MHI on their own website. Is everyone at MHI on vacation? Or is this evidence that the action center is window dressing? MHProNews has previously reported that several of MHI’s items appear to be more window dressing than serious, and that exercise and others noted and linked here are just other examples of that evidence-based concern.  MHI is apparently posturing growth rather than doing the common steps needed for growth.

 

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What does that have to do with possible reasons for insider selling at Skyline Champion? Or what explains the evidence-based point that MHI seems to say in policy statements some potentially useful things that if implemented could result in organic growth as measured by increased sales and production, but then fails to take the obvious steps necessary and warranted to make those policy objectives become a reality? Or perhaps more vexingly, why MHI would openly align itself in recent years with the competitors of manufactured housing? Hold those questions in mind. 

7) MHProNews has previously exposed the point that MHVillage is “endorsed” by MHI, that MHVillage produces the MHInsider trade publication, and that Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) bought MHVillage, Datacomp and thus MHInsider. 

The above are detailed items that arguably make this point. While MHInsider, as its name implies, represents the interests of “MHI Insiders” and the publication’s owner, ELS, it is not a consistently reliable source for accurate information. It is not unusual to see in a post on MHInsider inaccurate information mixed in with potentially accurate insights. That may occur in a single paragraph found in that publication. An example from a recent paragraph on MHInsider will illustrate and may help shed light on why Skyline Champion insiders are selling in the past year rather than buying. The next bullet will explore elements from one recent paragraph authored by Patrick Revere.

8) Per MHInsider, noting that some of this information is factually disputed.

Community Living

How many manufactured homes are there, and how many go to communities?

There are an estimated 4.3 million manufactured home sites in the United States. Approximately 57 percent of new manufactured homes are placed in a community. The U.S. has approximately 43,000 manufactured home communities. …

MHProNews has previously provided information that disputes the claim that there are only 43,000 manufactured home communities (MHCs) in the U.S. George W. McCarthy with the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy has provided statements to MHProNews, based they said on FEMA research, that indicated there are over 50,000 communities in the United States, not 43,000. It may be less relevant if it were merely another example of MHI-linked publications making a mistake that the insiders could care little about.  But MHInsider is owned by ELS. There are arguably potential investor-linked concerns on if information they provide should meet the requirements of being materially accurate. Given that ELS has themselves stated the number of communities in the U.S. is closer to 50,000, as FEMA and the Lincoln Institute have asserted, it is curious at best that MHInsider keeps repeating the same apparent error over and over again. In a different topic, a law firm announced a probe of ELS on a different issue that relates to materially inaccurate information. Meaning, their attorneys and leadership ought to be sensitive to this potential exposure. What makes this more intriguing is that ELS has a seat on the MHI “executive committee” and another seat (total of two) on the main MHI board of directors.

Those points noted, let’s focus on this line from the above:

Approximately 57 percent of new manufactured homes are placed in a community.

For purposes of this discussion, let’s presume that statement is accurate. There is no specific time frame given.  Deeper into that same post by MHInsider it says this: “Data provided by Datacomp, MHVillage, Statistical Surveys, and the Manufactured Housing Institute.”

In a post that is dated June 6, 2024, Northmarq said that the occupancy rate nationally of manufactured home communities (MHCs) rose modestly to approaching 95 percent.

Occupancies rose further in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 94.7%, while the national occupancy rate increased by 30 basis points in 2023.

Northmarq on this date stated on their website:

Buy, sell, and finance under the guidance of a specialized team

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The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) has for years made the point that zoning and access to more completive financing, are the two top issues facing the industry.  MHARR more recently has called those two issues the industry’s bottlenecks “suppressing” manufactured housing industry production.

 

 

Our MHLivingNews sister site’s insights into those bottlenecks asserted by MHARR are linked below.

 

 

For years, Curt Hodgson, Legacy Housing’s (LEGH) co-founder, and more recently, Legacy’s CEO Duncan Bates has said that the single biggest headwind that manufactured housing faces are zoning barriers. Hodgson called it the place to put problem.

 

 

That is not news, save for the fact that it is an ongoing problem. MHLivingNews brought this issue up approaching a decade ago (2015/12/13).

9) Summing up a critical takeaway from Part II #8 above: this place to put challenge that faces manufactured housing could, if the current challenges aren’t successfully addressed, simply mean that manufactured housing could hit a wall on production. If existing land-lease communities fill up, if new ones are rarely being developed, and if zoning/placement hurdles aren’t overcome, then it only stands to reason that factories that are not yet operating at capacity, with numbers reportedly idle (per Skyline Champion), then where will new manufactured housing go?

This writer for MHProNews raised that topic with several producers and others at what turned out to be the last MHI meeting attended in 2017.  MHI refunded our firm’s membership for that year. Their reason for cancelling membership was arguably spurious, claiming that they had no membership category for news. Yet, MHProNews’ parent company also provides consulting-marketing-webtech and other services besides news. The letter from MHI was unsigned. It didn’t matter than others in MHI also then, and now, offer what they call industry ‘news’ and views. Put differently, the parent company to MHProNews/MHLivingNews was singled out not to be a member, after this writer had been serving on an MHI Supplier’s Division board of directors.

Besides having publicly critiqued two of that national organization’s top staffers – then president and CEO Richard “Dick” Jennison and then EVP Lesli Gooch – for apparently purposefully misleading scores of members of the manufactured home industry on what actually occurred during a Senate hearing dealing with Dodd-Frank and then pending legislation that MHI claimed to be pushing, that and respectfully raising the issue the community sector moving toward full occupancy was raised by this writer for MHProNews. 

A reasonable person might wonder, was MHI deliberately attempting to mislead the industry on key issues that where then and still are limiting the manufactured housing industry’s growth potential?

Hold those thoughts. Because it may shed light on why insiders at Skyline Champion (SKY) have been selling stocks in the firm instead of buying stocks.

10) Bluntly, if you were an insider at Skyline Champion, and you knew that the industry’s leaders – despite their rhetoric about policy priorities to help grow the industry – had no intention at this time of pushing for organic growth, might you be tempted to sell some of your shares in the company too? Skyline Champion has a board seat at MHI’s primary board too.

11) The evidence of what appears to be collusion by several MHI “Insiders” working in conjunction with each other at some level not to effectively pursue the steps needed to increase industry placement opportunities is difficult to miss.  Merely talking or writing about it for over 20 years is hardly a plan. What makes the issue even more apparently corrupt is that two different AI (artificial intelligence) platforms, when asked about the importance of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (MHIA, 2000 Reform Law, 2000 Reform Act, MHIA 2000, etc.) and its enhanced preemption provision each pointed out the logic of seeing that law robustly enforced.

12) Let’s make a few more linked point before beginning to sum this report with analysis up.

a) Rolfe recently said that there were special interests that had no serious intention of solving the affordable housing crisis at this time, and Rolfe said he blames MHI for the industry’s underperformance on production.

b) About 15 months ago, during a Cavco Industries earnings call, analyst Greg Palm pointedly but politely asked CEO William “Bill” Boor, why is the industry’s production so weak? Boor provided a response that arguably ought to be considered deflection or paltering.

c) However useful Rolfe’s remarks can be from time to time, it must be kept in mind that Rolfe’s operation has been repeatedly accused of predatory practices by residents and advocates. Rolfe and his partner Dave Reynolds reportedly settled a complaint at the state level. One wonders how they have thus far avoided the kind of class action challenge that others involved in manufactured housing communities have faced, but perhaps it has to do with Datacomp? There is no known statement by the duo on that point.

d) Rolfe ripped UMH Properties President and CEO Sam Landy, J.D., for promoting – along with his father, Eugene Landy, J.D. – the notion of essentially tripling the number of land-lease communities in the manufactured housing industry in the upcoming years.  Rolfe called it asinine, likely because it apparently goes against he and his partner’s notion – similar to that of ELS, Sun Communities, and others at MHI – that the lack of new development benefited the current investors in the industry’s MHC sector.

e) Institutional ownership is significant (see above) at several of these MHI member brands that seem to be OK with manufactured housing industry underperformance. Why is that so? One plausible reason may be this. Some of those same institutional investors are invested in single family housing producers, rental properties, and multi-family housing projects. If new manufactured housing were soaring then perhaps new and existing rental properties, for example, might be worth less.

f) If that seems like twisted and tortured rationalizations and reasoning, what other explanations are there for otherwise bizarre behavior of key firms involved at MHI?  And why is it that HUD and FHFA seem to be okay with the status quo? If regulators are often seen as an extension of key powers in a regulated industry, it may make sense that some leaders involved give a wink and a nod to each other and play their respective roles accordingly.

g) MHI’s curious dance with now former HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge is a case in point. For some reason, a congressman asked about enhanced preemption during a hearing with Secretary Fudge. Fudge bluntly stated that there would be no changes in HUD’s policy on preemption enforcement, even though she is a Democrat, appointed by the Democratic Biden-Harris regime, (now Harris Biden?) and several fellow Democrats previously said in a letter that they wanted a Republican HUD Secretary (Mel Martinez) to enforce federal enhanced preemption as the MHIA was intended by Congress.

h) AI powered Copilot, in a satirical piece, mocked MHI for the ‘sand traps’ and ‘industry intrigue’ in “Hit the Ball and Drag Jack.”

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i) But more seriously, Copilot said it was simple. If MHI is serious about advancing the industry, they would push to enforce existing laws.

j) In that respect, what Copilot said is similar to what MHARR’s leaders have said.

k) Some 5 years ago, MHARR offered to join forces with an MHI linked state association to litigate enforcement of enhanced preemption. They said that neither MHI, nor an MHI linked state association affiliate would do so. The “Incredible Shrinking Zoning Problem” is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, a jab intended to mock the target.

13) Summing up. Manufactured housing has the laws needed already in place necessary to grow the industry organically without additional taxpayer funding. One might think that would appeal to public officials, but if a problem is solved, then what do those public officials do next? Solving problems may not be in the best interests of those paid to lead organizations that dole out billions and billions of dollars to favored interest groups. And even though manufactured housing is arguably an essential part of the solution hiding in plain sight to the affordable housing crisis, some believe that it is in their selfish best interest to allow the industry to careen headlong into yet another avoidable downturn. Because if zoning and placement issues aren’t overcome, and if robust developing advocated by the Landys is thwarted, then another industry downturn is surely ahead. It is simple math. So long as existing homesites are moving toward full occupancy, too few home sites are being developed, and too many roadblocks to industry placements is accepted as the status quo, then a downturn is inevitable. That may help explain why insiders at Skyline Champion are selling instead of buying shares.

14) But if board members (MHI and specific, not all, MHI linked publicly traded firms) and corporate staff at certain firms are thinking something along those lines, then they are failing at their fiduciary duties. That involves legal risks. Let’s close with some remarks made about the manufactured home industry’s seemingly bizarre behavior made by outside antitrust researcher and consumer advocate Samuel Strommen while he was at Knudson Law.

After exiting the manufactured housing market in the early 2000s, the two GSEs have yet to return in any meaningful sense.¹⁰³  There are indications that the GSEs have securitized [only a limited number of manufactured home loans] in the industry since their departure after the aforementioned subprime lending crisis that occurred in the late 1990s.¹⁰⁴ The MHVillage’s [MHInsider], which serves as an unofficial trade publication for the Manufactured Housing Institute, has heralded in several of its recent issues that the MHI has made great inroads with the GSEs, particularly in their implementation of the MHAdvantage and CHOICEHome programs. However, for the two GSEs to securitize these loans, the price range must be between $200,000-$250,000, and they must be titled as real property, [nor are] and they available to homes that will be placed in land lease communities. With a broader view of the industry in mind, these programs essentially serve no one, and certainly do not fall within the scope of the GSEs’ Duty to Serve mandate. In the same issue, Tim Williams, the same gentlemen from 21st Mortgage [and former MHI Chairman] who authored the letter that may be a violation of tying mentioned above, stated that they (Manufactured Housing Institute members) “are better suited to serve communities than GSEs.”¹⁰⁹

Furthermore, while MHI claims to represent the industry as a whole, a look at the incestuous nature of the Big 3 and MHI make it clear whose interests are actually being represented: currently, half of the MHI executive [committee board members] are former employees of Clayton Homes.¹¹⁰  As mentioned above, MHI (and MHInsider) has touted programs such as MHAdvantage and CHOICEHome.¹¹¹  However, these programs benefit a single new, trademarked class of manufactured housing: CrossMod™ homes.¹¹²  A cross-reference on the U.S. Patent Office’s website indicates that MHI is the holder of the CrossMod trademark.¹¹³ The only manufacturers (in principal) able to produce—and thus take advantage of programs such as MHAdvantage and CHOICEHome are [essentially] MHI members.¹¹⁴  It would appear that MHI’s lobbying efforts are done less to serve the industry as a whole, but rather to keep competitors—and consumers—from accessing competitive rates on lending if the Duty to Serve were properly implemented.

MHI’s relationship with HUD and the GSEs is no secret: most recent issues of MHVillage[’s MHInsider] touts some form of progress.¹¹⁵ And yet, only a few loans for this new class of home have been securitized by GSEs.¹¹⁶  MHIs lobbying of the FHFA, or for that matter HUD, seems to invariably result in in policies that either benefit the Big 3, or at the very least, mitigate detriment. The outcome of these lobbying efforts is stultifying at best, and an abject failure at worst.

For as heavily as MHI has promoted CrossMod™ homes, sales appear to be stagnant, particularly when demand in the sector remains focused on traditional manufactured housing.¹¹⁷ This begs the question: when lobbying [FHFA on the Duty to Serve], was MHI acting in good-faith? The U.S. Supreme Court has held in Eastern Railroad Presidents’ Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight Inc.,¹¹⁸ and United Mineworkers v. Pennington¹¹⁹ that the use of governmental processes such as lobbying or litigating by private [enterprise] is covered by the First Amendment right to free expression and the right to petition.  That right extends even if the use of said processes is done to achieve an anti-competitive purpose that would otherwise be unlawful under antitrust law. The famous Noerr-Pennington doctrine is not without exceptions, however. In California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited, the Court identified that there is a “sham” exception to the doctrine’s protections.¹¹² While the Court has never elucidated what exactly constitutes a sham, it is essentially an attempt to disguise the anticompetitive, purely business-related behavior as political—antitrust legislation is designed, after all, to regulate the sphere of business alone.

…

The author of this paper submits that the MHI’s conduct in obfuscation judicious decision-making by the [FHFA and HUD] constitutes a conspiracy to restrain trade under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, and by virtue of the misrepresentative nature of the conduct, should not be afforded Noerr protection. The intent of the MHI to influence [FHFA and] HUD to act in a particular way, or omit to act in a certain way, would be protected—however, the chief misrepresentation is that lobbying efforts are representative of an industry and not a select few companies. The data supplied to governmental officials is likely erroneous,¹³¹ and the attempts by the MHI to obtain governmental intercession on the industry’s behalf is likely a ruse.

Under Noerr, if obtaining securitization of loans for CrossMod™ homes is in fact MHI’s desired political outcome, its lobbying efforts to support that would be protected under the First Amendment. However, this would appear to be a strategy not dissimilar to the old cup-and-ball trick: a misdirection by MHI at the behest of its principal benefactors—the Big 3—an act of skillful subterfuge to misdirect the government in one area, allowing the Big 3 to engage in anticompetitive in another area unabated. This is supported by more than simple inference: industry leaders have lauded GSEs failure,¹³² sales of CrossMod™ homes remain far below that of traditional manufactured homes,¹³³ and that seemingly every time reform in the industry or intrusion by GSEs is proposed, in nearly the same breath it vanishes.

The manufactur[ing] and lending sectors of the industry are rife with potential antitrust violations, from the Sherman Act, to the Clayton Act, to potential violations of the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine. It is clear that the Federal Trade Commission and United States Department of Justice should investigate these companies.

Note how neatly what Strommen alleged fits into the other known facts from this report. Further note that Rolfe blasted CrossMods for a similar reason as Strommen did. MHARR, the Modular Home Builders Association, MHProNews/MHLivingNews have been calling into question the prudence of what was later rebranded as CrossMods almost from the time it was rolled out as a “Trojan Horse.”

15) If corporate leaders at Skyline Champion were sincerely pushing for industry growth, they would be pushing for the enforcement of existing laws (see linked reports below #16).

16) To learn more about Strommen’s thesis and that of others peering into the world of manufactured housing, see the reports linked here and here.  To learn more about obvious failures enforce existing federal laws that could benefit manufactured housing, see the linked reports below and others found above or crosslinked within the reports provided. ###

Postscript. There are two trillion dollars lost annually to the U.S. GDP, per Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI-D) due to the lack of affordable housing. That is the same number Cavco Industries has cited. Yet, despite that noble economic and social goal, the industry’s leaders who are linked with MHI appear to be working in near lockstep to not get more affordable housing produced? What explains that strange move? Consolidation. Underperformance leads to more consolidation. We began with the CNN survey that reveals the thirst for affordable home ownership. MHI and their insider brands are obviously in a position to address yen for affordable housing and have been for years. They have failed to do so. They can’t plausibly be so stupid, shortsighted, and yet well qualified, can they? While the apparent scam by manufactured housing insiders differs from the multi-billion-dollar Madoff scandal, there may be some points of commonality. The Madoff scam operated for years successfully. They did so in part because some people perceived that they benefited from the scam. Both operated in plain sight. Both the Madoff scam, and the purported sabotage of manufactured housing potential have had plenty of whistleblowers who sounded the alarm but were ignored for years. The day may come when media, public officials, investors, and others look back at apparent problems in manufactured housing and say that the problems were obvious. They were with Madoff, and they apparently are in MHVille too.

Report – 61% of Renters Can’t Afford Median Apartment Rate in U.S. per Redfin and Center Square’s Bethany Blakely – Obvious and Subtle MHVille Implications-Facts-Analysis; plus MHMarkets

MHAction Demand Letter to Impact Communities’ Dave Reynolds, Frank Rolfe’s Partner, Calls on Manufactured Housing Institute to Cancel Impact Communities MHI Membership – “Hypocrisy Anyone?”

The One Thing that Might Work at Improving U.S. Housing Crisis Faster than More Manufactured Housing Production – Which Others in MHVille Have Downplayed-Ignored; plus MHVille Markets

Again, our thanks to free email subscribers and all readers like you, as well as our tipsters/sources, sponsors and God for making and keeping us the runaway number one source for authentic “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)

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

Related References:

The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.’

‘Homeownership Slipped Out of Reach for Millions in U.S.’ ‘Investors Snatching Up 1 in 5 Homes for Sale Scooping Up Affordable Housing’ Redfin and Other Data Reveal MHVille Obstacles and Opportunities

Niskanen Center Armlovich-Jimenez-Justus Tout Manufactured Homes-House Financial Services Committee Housing Affordability-Governmental Barriers-Market Based Solutions; Sunday MHVille Headlines Recap

Enforce the Law? HUD Office of General Counsel “They Would Not Enforce” Enhanced Preemption Provision of Manufactured Housing Improvement Act, Per Tip-Longtime HUD Insider; plus Sunday Headlines Review

June is National Home Ownership Month-Affordable Housing-Manufactured Housing Institute Controversies plus Industry Facts-Figures-Trends-Challenges in May 2024 – The Top 40 – plus MHVille Markets Update

Unpacking PR with Kevin Clayton-‘Clayton Applauds New FHA Appraisal Requirements Improving Valuation of Off-Site Built Homes’ What Manufactured Housing Institute Members May Not Say; plus MHMarket$

Evidence of Truly Affordable Housing Hiding in Plain Sight – ‘Average Sales Price of New Manufactured Homes by Region and Size of Home’ per U.S. Census Bureau Data; plus MHVille Markets Update

Investopedia Asks Common Sense Question – What Would it Take for Houses to Be Affordable in the U.S. Again? NAR’s Lawrence Yun Weighs In – MHVille Takeaways; plus MHVille Markets

‘See To It That No One Deceives You’ – Better Understanding the State of the U.S.A., World, and Manufactured Housing Today; plus MHVille’s Top 30 Report and the MHMarkets Update