Congressmen Marlin Stutzman (R-3 IN) and Jackie Walorski (R-2^nd IN) announced Thursday October 9^th legislation they’ve introduced legislation aimed preventing recreational vehicles from being regulated as manufactured housing.

Brian Francisco at the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette tells MHProNews that the RV industry is seeking to avoid “restrictive taxing, zoning and consumer lending rules if certain vehicles are considered manufactured housing and regulated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.”

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Manufactured Housing program director, Pam Danner, published official guidance on HUDs rule regarding what constitutes a manufactured home under the code. Danner’s HUD memo – which would count porches as part of their 400 square foot or less exemption limit for RVs – and MHARR’s commentary, are linked here.

The issue is thorny for many in manufactured housing, as some HUD Code home producers are in both RV and MH. Further, a number of manufactured housing communities look to the RV industry to fill certain smaller or older sites. States like IN, MI and MT have joint RV-MH associations.

Meanwhile, manufactured housing purists want to draw a line in the sand, without creating friction with their sister industry. Manufactured homes – in its pre-HUD Code ‘Mobile Home’ days – historical evolved from the RV business. The generally warm ties between the two are exemplified by the joint RV MH Hall of Fame.

“Indiana’s robust RV industry should not have to fear that Washington bureaucrats will suddenly change the rules on them,” Stutzman said Thursday in a statement.

His and Walorski’s bill is House Resolution 5658 and titled the Recreational Vehicle Certaintly Act of 2014. They said their bill defines RVs “to ensure that they clearly and consistently remain distinct products from manufactured homes.”

With RVs out shipping manufactured housing by roughly 5 to 1, it will be interesting to see how this bill fares compared to HR 1779/S 1828. Strategically, some key players in MH want to see the RV industry support the reforms of the CFPB through that legislation. ##

(Photo credit of Congressmen Marlin Stutzman (R-3 IN – left) and Jackie Walorski (R-2^nd IN – right), Wikipedia)

(Editor’s note: Related story on CFPB and MH financing, linked here, may suggest why RVs are trying to escape CFPB financing and HUD regulations. RVs are currently regulated at the federal level by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, and are not treated as permanent housing under federal law).