Follow-up to May 26 Housing Alert

This Industry Voices post is a follow-up to the May 26 MHI Housing Alert.

MHI members have been working hard on issues related to the SAFE Act, both on the national level and the state level for almost two years, and we appreciate all of your efforts leading up to this point. Based upon some questions MHI is receiving about the Housing Alert of May 26 on the SAFE Act and H.R. 5369, I want to emphasize that the proposed legislation does not seek an outright exemption for retailers of manufactured and modular homes. The language in H.R. 5369 is intended to exempt activities which are administrative and clerical in nature that facilitate the sale of a home to a consumer such as assisting customers in completing paperwork by answering questions, etc. Language in the SAFE Act as originally passed by Congress in 2008 should have accomplished this goal, however, as we all know, the model legislation developed for the states canceled out this exemption.

Initially, our strategy was to advocate for an outright exemption, but Members of Congress indicated that this was not an option. They clearly communicated that the intent of the SAFE Act was to regulate the activities of individuals, not specific professions. The introduction of H.R. 5369 is an important step in bringing the influence of Congressional leadership into the process and will serve as a tool to elevate the need for clarification and relief for this industry before both Congress and HUD. The bill, in combination with over 5,000 comment letters submitted on the proposed rule to implement the SAFE Act, will assist MHI members and states in accomplishing the goal of allowing clerical and administrative tasks to be exempt activities under the SAFE Act.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Thayer

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Thayer Long | Manufactured Housing Institute
2111 Wilson Blvd. Suite 100 | Arlington, VA 22201
Phone: (703) 558-0678 | Fax: (703) 558-0401 | Email: tlong@mfghome.org

Editor’s Note: The Capitol Switchboard, (202) 224-3121 or use:http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml