As always, there is so much going on in Manufactured Housing (MH), picking a topic to focus on tonight is a little like picking from the smorgasbord at a top notch buffet. Given the looming discussion in the U.S. Senate on a key issue for our industry, millions of MH consumers and prospective buyers, we will focus today on that pending bill.
Let’s start with what MHI has to say on this topic, quoting:
“The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) today lauded Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) for including in his regulatory reform package important pro-consumer provisions designed to improve access to affordable financing for manufactured home buyers. Click here to view The Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015. Manufactured housing language is covered in section 108.
The provisions, are identical to those contained in S. 682, the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Senator Donnelly (D-IN) and cosponsored by Senators Toomey (R-PA), Manchin (D-WV), and Cotton (R-AR). They also mirror legislation recently passed in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 650), a bill supported by the National Association of Realtors, Mortgage Bankers Association, National Organization of African Americans in Housing, National Association of Federal Credit Unions, NAMB, National Association of Mortgage Professionals, and the California Association of Mortgage Professionals.
Manufactured housing lenders have left the industry or eliminated certain loans because of increased liability, which has made it extremely difficult for buyers to find financing. The situation has hurt the resale market, forcing existing owners to accept lowball, cash-only prices for their manufactured homes. This drives down surrounding property values and negatively impacts entire neighborhoods.
Chairman Shelby’s regulatory relief package addresses the harm consumers are experiencing due to current regulations that don’t work for smaller affordable homes, making it difficult for lenders to make these loans. The bill adjusts percentage thresholds that already exist under the Dodd-Frank Act to address the impact of fixed costs on smaller loans. The bill also improves the definition of a mortgage originator, enabling manufactured housing retailers to help consumers as long as they receive no compensation – e.g., payments from lenders. This is the same standard that applies to real estate agents selling site-built homes. These are minor and reasonable adjustments to federal regulation, and preserve all the major consumer protections such as QM Ability to Repay, prohibition against steering, and loan term disclosures.
The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to consider Chairman Shelby’s regulatory relief legislation on May 21st at 10:00 a.m.”
Countdown to Conflict
In the light of this pending Senate clash over access to more MH lending, can we wonder why OZY Media picked this time frame to target manufactured housing with their spin-filled and denigrating “Trailer House Nation“ series last week?
Is it surprise that Ishbel Dickens at NMHOA and Doug Ryan at CFED are ducking the private and public invite to engage OZY to correct that publisher’s errors in their series that undermines the very MH values that they claim to be advocating on behalf of with their work?
When you can’t defend a policy, there are tactics that can be used by those with a weak argument in a public debate. Some of them include:
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Ignore the questions.
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Point to something entirely different (red herrings).
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Use the ad hominem (attack on the person).
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Use the straw man argument, where you set up a false narrative (“the straw man”), and knock that wimpy figure down; posturing as if that KO was a legitimate blow at a real argument.
We’ve seen Ms. Dickens fail to respond before to issues and facts that don’t fit their narrative. But it is simultaneously disappointing and enlightening to see CFED’s Ryan ducking on tough questions.
Policy wonks ought to be able to articulate something beyond their talking points. When confronted with facts, a serious policy advocate ought to be able to defend it, or if shown to be wrong, be woman or man enough to admit it. Anything other than that is a kind of charlatanism.
That said, we have and will continue the policy of allowing organizations and perspectives across the spectrum here on MHProNews.com. That is how a trade journal can fuel the understating of an issue.
Let me hasten to add that a different non-for-profit has sent a private message saying they did reach out to OZY, and chided them for poor terminology and other errors. Will others stand up and do the same?
The letter Barney Frank sent to James Cook, that our reader so thoughtfully sent to MHProNews.com to be published, was read into the Congressional record in the discussion on HR 650, which passed. Working with pros like you, together, we are making a difference.
That difference depends on YOU and your circle to be engaged.
We have had team members and myself write our Senators in support of S 682. So I can look you in the digital eye and say, please,
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call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. They can connect you to your two U.S. Senators.
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Or email them – find your senator at this link…
http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
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…or use MHI’s Engage.
Pick your favorite way to reach out and ask for support on S 682.
Count on the fact that the other side is doing all they can to undermine the MH industry’s position. We are seeing it in slanted media coverage that hardly deserves the name ‘journalism.’
We are in a conflict over the future of our industry and the security of our MHI home owners. There are in fact many conflicts over our industry’s future and potential. These arise from within and without the MH business community. Pick up the phone to email or call your Senator. Ask them to support S 682, the Preserving access to Manufactured Housing Act.
Looking ahead…
Watch for something eye popping in the very near future. We will keep you posted. Please pass the good word on. ##
UPDATE: The article has been RELEASED! Here it is:
Dodd-Frank and Manufactured Home Financing: The Place Where Good Intentions and Unintended Consequences Collide
