UMH’s Sam Landy on Trump/Pence Ticket’s Election, Dodd-Frank and MH Industry Impact

The reason UMH did so well in Tennessee is that Al Gore was Vice President. When the Vice President is from your state, a lot of projects move forward in that state.

UMH hit the ball out of the park on our investments in TN. A strong economy creates demand for workforce housing. If there is demand, we know how to be the best supplier of cost-effective housing.

During the past four years, UMH has invested heavily in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

With Mike Pence as the Vice President-elect, we are very bullish on Indiana.

Additionally, President-elect Donald Trump campaigned heavily in Ohio and PA. Those areas of the country were devastated by our nation’s economic downturn.

Low-priced energy from the Marcellus and Utica shale could bring manufacturing jobs back to those areas.

The Shell Cracker Plant and the Panda electric generating stations are examples of what Marcellus and Utica Shale can do for the region. The Panda electric generating stations are projected to add $5 billion dollars to the Pennsylvania economy.

I personally met with Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (OH). Senator Brown sent his chief of staff to UMH’s community in Columbus, Ohio. Senator Brown actively sought amendment to Dodd-Frank in recognition of the harm it was doing to people who lived in or wanted to live in a manufactured home community.

Unfortunately, Democrats and Republicans were not able to come together for amendments of important laws.

President-elect Trump and the Republican Congress also understand the problem, and now have the ability to repeal Dodd-Frank.

In 2001 – when Greentree no longer was actively lending and securitizing manufactured home loans – UMH realized we could profitably do loans that larger outside lenders often could not do. The cost of a single repossession wiped out the profit on a number of good deals, so that outside lenders could not take on that kind of risk for manufactured home loans in communities.

UMH realized that as the community operator, we could cost-effectively handle repossessions so that we could take the risk outside lenders wanted to avoid. We originated over $30,000,000 in loans. These loans generated 8% interest plus lot rent on lots that would otherwise be vacant.

This was a great business for us, until government decided that we had to use their standards rather than our judgement, despite the fact that we were using our own money, not government guaranteed funds.

Residents of manufactured home communities who own financed manufactured homes are protected borrowers, because owners of manufactured homes in communities can file bankruptcy to modify or nullify their home loan.

Owners of homes with attached/owned land are permanently locked into their loan terms, because those terms cannot be modified in bankruptcy court.

Dodd-Frank was never meant to and never should have been applied to manufactured homes in manufactured home communities. There is no mortgage and our residents are fully protected without Dodd-Frank.

I believe the economic outlook for the areas in which UMH purchased communities the last 4 years is brighter than ever.

Further, repeal of Dodd-Frank would mean that UMH could again originate manufactured home loans.

This combination of changes in the economic and regulatory outlook may in fact make UMH a more exciting company than even our supporters imagine. ##

Sam Landy, Esq.
President and CEO
UMH Properties, Inc.

 

(Editor’s Notes and Links: “Esquire” – Esq. – is a title appended to an attorney’s surname.  As a lawyer and as an MH Industry professional, Sam Landy’s Op-Ed raises a number points that those who are not already informed about should be made aware of, so we are hereby providing links to the following that document some of his points above.

• Letter from then-Congressman Barney Frank to a constituent, provided to MHProNews/MHLivingNews.com
• $6.7 Billion in Opportunities Bubbling Up?
• Sam Landy on Dodd-Frank, Manufactured Home Lending – Video

Also, note the comments from other MH Industry professionals, including, but not limited to:

• Jim Clayton, founder of Clayton Homes and Clayton Bank
• Patch – As Thousands Protest, and Industry Celebrates the incoming Trump Administration

Other perspectives on the election – on or off the record – or other industry topics are welcomed.)