Urge Congress to Preserve Affordable Manufactured Housing by
Reducing Regulatory Burdens on Manufactured Homeowners
BACKGROUND: The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203) is the most sweeping rewrite of rules governing banking and financial services in decades. The Act adds significant new requirements on residential mortgages, including limitations on origination activities, high-cost mortgages and appraisals. Administration officials are already in the process of drafting regulatory changes required by the Act.
ISSUE OVERVIEW: Unless Congress passes legislation reducing burdens the Act places on low- and moderate-income manufactured homeowners, credit available for manufactured housing could be cut in half. Click here to view MHI’s issue paper. Click here for additional talking points and a PDF version of this alert.
GRASSROOTS ACTION NEEDED: MHI members and all industry stakeholders must contact their U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives and urge they support legislation that offsets Dodd-Frank’s unintended consequences of constraining lending activities within the manufactured housing market, particularly among low- to moderate-income homebuyers, specifically:
1) MHI members, including state executives, manufacturers, suppliers, community owners and lenders, are asked to personally contact their Senators and Representatives and ask them to champion legislation to help low- to moderate-income families seeking affordable financing for manufactured housing.
a. A sample letter to Members of Congress is provided here
(Note: please fax or email the letter, do not mail):
b. Personally contact your Member of Congress or staff responsible for housing issues and explain the impact provisions within Dodd-Frank will have on the availability manufactured home financing.
c. MHI has developed sample legislation that proposes several remedies to the Dodd-Frank Act to ensure that affordable manufactured housing financing remains available. If your Member of Congress is interested in introducing legislation, please have them follow up directly with MHI staff (Jason Boehlert at 703.558.0660 orjboehlert@mfghome.org).
2) If you have a Member of Congress in your delegation that serves on either the House Financial Services Committee or Senate Banking Committee, please personally contact their offices as soon as possible (in addition to sending the letter mentioned above)— click here for the membership rosters for the committees, with staff contact information and urge they:
a. Help champion and/or introduce legislation that ensures low- and moderate-income manufactured homeowners will continue to have access to financing to buy, sell or refinance manufactured homes.
b. Contact the Chairman and/or Ranking Member of the Senate Banking or House Financial Services Committees and specifically request provisions that address the specific financing needs of manufactured homeowners be included in any Dodd-Frank corrections bill.
3) If you are a manufactured home community owner, please urge community residents to also contact their Members of Congress. Samples are provided here:
4) Please forward copies of correspondence to MHI, specifically, MHI Vice President of Government Affairs Jason Boehlert at jboehlert@mfghome.org. Providing this information will allow MHI staff to follow up with Congress staff and provide additional information and guidance on action needed to remedy the unintended consequences of the Dodd-Frank Act.
5) Click here for additional talking points and a PDF version of this alert.
