FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       Contact:  MHARR 202) 783-4087   

Industry Buckles Down as Production Decline Persists

Washington, D.C., July 7, 2011 — The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) reports that according to official statistics complied on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), manufactured housing production continues to decline in 2011.  In May 2011,  HUD Code manufacturers produced 4,464 homes, down from 4,989 homes produced in May 2010, representing a corresponding-month decline of -10.5%.  Cumulative production during 2011, to the end of May, stands at 18,131 homes, a decline of -13.5% from the cumulative production of 20,968 homes during the same period last year. 

This sustained twelve years decline continues to take its toll on the industry’s small businesses and, more so, on the industry’s post-production sector comprised of retailers, communities, finance and service providers. Without an exclusive and independent national representation, these entities have taken the hardest hit with the current and upcoming impediments that are at the roots of the industry’s continuing decline during the past decade. This, added to the impediments created by regulators’ foot-dragging to fully and properly implement key reform  provisions of the landmark 2000 housing law, has drastically slowed-down any robust recovery for the industry and consumers of affordable housing.

In an effort to simplify extremely complex information about such  impediments — particularly as relate to the reform provisions of the 2000 housing law —  for the industry grassroots, decision–makers and other program stakeholders, MHARR is continuing to publish a series of plain language, straightforward  fact sheets about relevant details of these matters. The association has already published  five such fact sheets and is releasing two more (copies attached) addressing the enhanced federal preemption – a key reform provision of the 2000 housing law – and HUD’s regulatory expansion in manufacturers’ plants.

The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) is a Washington, D.C.-based national trade association representing the views and interests of producers of federally-regulated manufactured housing.  Contact:  MHARR (202) 783-4087 # #