This makes my blood boil…

… about the USFA's (United States Fire Administration) "fact sheet" about "manufactured housing."

Stuff like this makes my blood boil and I had to respond thusly, please see below.

I will let you know if they respond to me.

Ken Haynes, Jr.

(Editor's note: Ken was very kind to share this with our readers. This is a copy of the information he sent to the USFA. Frankly, we need more actions like this by industry pros from coast to coast. If every time a government agency, private firm or media misstated facts about manufactured or modular homes, an Industry pro would speak out, we would over time have fewer such errors and over time we would sell more homes too. Let us hereby thank Ken and encourage you and others to do the same.)

Thank you for submitting the following to USFA.

Comment for:

Dear USFA,

I just read your flyer titled, "Live Safely in Your Manufactured Home, A Fact sheet on Manufactured Home Safety."

You should be ashamed of yourselves publishing such drivel without explaining the differences between "mobile homes" constructed prior to the implementation of the Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act (HUD Code) developed and enforced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and "manufactured homes" constructed to the specifications of the HUD Code.

The information you have provided in the publication is inaccurate, misleading and slanderous. You have lumped together two completely different types of affordable housing. To make an analogy that you might understand, comparing it to the automotive industry, you are saying that the safety of a Ford Model A is in the same category as a 2011 Ford Fusion because they are both motor vehicles with four tires and a steering wheel.

The truth is that fire frequency and death rates of manufactured homes built to the HUD Code is comparable and even less than site built homes, yet your publication makes absolutely no reference to this fact.

You obviously have no idea of what you are talking about, grouping all factory built housing in the same category.

Are you purposely trying to kill the manufactured housing business with false claims put forth in publications such as this? It seems to me that you are.

In my opinion, this is just another effort to foster the notion that manufactured homes should be forced to have fire sprinklers, but that site built homes should not be forced to have fire sprinklers, thus promoting an unfair and costly expense to manufactured housing, diminishing their popularity and giving an unfair advantage to site-built home builders.

This form should be withdrawn and corrected immediately, a retraction issued, and an apology issued to the manufactured housing industry.

Sincerely,

Ken Haynes Jr

401 Shatto Dr

Carlisle, PA 17013

717-258-3799