MHI Praises Measure to Preserve Access to Affordable Manufactured Housing
Washington, D.C., August 3, 2012 —Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection, yesterday formally introduced legislation (S. 3484) to reduce regulatory burdens impeding access to affordable manufactured housing financing.
The bill (titled the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act) is a companion measure to the bipartisan bill (H.R. 3849) that was introduced in the House of Representatives in February 2012 by Reps. Stephen Fincher (R-TN), Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Gary Miller (R-CA), all of whom serve on the House Financial Services Committee.
Similar to the House bill, the Senate measure addresses two significant issues impacting the manufactured housing industry’s ability to provide affordable financing options to low- and moderate-income families seeking to purchase manufactured homes:
· Reducing the threshold by which small balance manufactured home personal property loans are considered High-Cost Mortgage Loans under provisions within in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203) and thereby subject to punitive and onerous liabilities.
· Clarifying that those selling manufactured homes—who are not fundamentally engaged in the business mortgage origination—are not to be considered mortgage originators under the federal SAFE Act and thereby better able to provide adequate technical assistance to consumers throughout the manufactured home buying process—similar to the SAFE Act treatment of real estate brokers.
Upon introduction of the bill, MHI Chairman and Cavco Industries Chairman and CEO Joe Stegmayer stated “we are truly grateful for Chairman Brown’s leadership and commitment to ensure financing for the 21 million Americans currently living in nearly 8.7 million manufactured homes across the country remains accessible. The legislation is an essential step in preserving the affordability advantage of manufactured housing and protecting the equity millions of manufactured home residents have built in their homes.”
MHI Treasurer, and Government Relations Committee Chairman, Nathan Smith added that introduction of the Senate bill “is true bipartisan recognition of the important role manufactured homes play in providing safe, reliable and sustainable housing to Americans across all income classes. Ensuring financing options remain readily available to manufactured homebuyers is the first step in preserving manufactured housing as a viable housing option.”
MHI will continue to work on a bipartisan basis to educate Members of Congress and develop solutions to the financing crisis within the manufactured housing market. A copy of the legislation is attached to this email. For more information contact MHI Vice President of Government Affairs Jason Boehlert at 703.558.0660 or jboehlert@mfghome.org.
