Life is filled with nuance. So, for years, MHProNews and our consumer-focused sister site has hit the theme of separating the ‘wheat from the chaff’ with all people, companies, products, and organizations. For example, upon close inspection, there are nonprofits doing important work in the manufactured housing arena, some are for the good, but other times they are for ill. This report will show how a seemingly odd topic can take lemons and make them into lemonade. 

 

That said, the following data from the Florida Manufactured Housing Association (FMHA) is an example of a tidbit of information that properly presented and understood, could yield more sales to retail customers.  It is dubbed by the FMHA as the “complaint report.”

Before going further, as an interesting footnote in this report is the point that the FMHA astutely raises that some retailers in Florida were essentially shut down, at least for a time, by Hurricane Michael.  That must be born in mind as it can influence upwards the number of complaints by consumers over service issues. 

The complaint report below is not published monthly by all state associations, and the Manufactured Housing Institute is not known to have produced something similar for the public. It is arguably something every post-production state and national association should do. Why?

First, while MHProNews tends to hammer away at the topic of the years of under-enforcement of the enhanced preemption provision established under the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (MHIA), it is by no means the only good part of that federal law. Another key feature of the MHIA is the dispute resolution process. It is a consumer protection that is not found in laws regarding other forms of mainstream housing.  The dispute resolution process takes place at the state level, and a report like the one below should be viewed through that prism.

Boiled down, if a service issue on a HUD Code manufactured home isn’t resolved to the customer’s reasonable satisfaction by the retailer, installer, and/or the factory that produced the home, a consumer can take their complaint into dispute resolution. To learn more, contact your state association. 

Bear in mind in looking at this report that Florida is a top seller of manufactured housing. Thousands of homes are delivered and sold into Florida by in-state and out-of-state producers. So to see just a handful of complaints rise to the dispute resolution process is impressive.

 

This is a topic we have covered before on Manufactured Home Living News and plan to do so again soon. Watch for it there, and point your retail prospects to it, because once someone understands this aspect of federal law and manufactured housing, it is a potentially powerful tool. Why? Because it is a good, third-party data-point that spells piece of mind for savvy consumers.

To see previous consumer focused reports that highlight manufactured housing satisfaction, scroll down to the related reports, below the byline, offers, and notices. To really grasp the full meaning of this new data from the FMHA, see our conventional housing exposé, complete with videos, linked below. That’s a wrap on this first report today of manufactured home “Industry News, Tips, and Views Pros Can Use,” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (News, analysis, and commentary.)

Submitted by Soheyla Kovach for MHProNews.com.
Soheyla is a managing member of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. Connect with us on LinkedIn here and here.

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