According to the emailed message to several Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) linked leaders (names shown further below) that was time/date stamped 5/23/2024 at 2:51:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time, manufactured home community operator David Roden asked MHI CEO Lesli Gooch and President Mark Bowersox (among others) to respond to the following inquiry. Typos and styling below are as in Roden’s original message. Given the nation’s affordable housing crisis, the commonsense significance of Roden’s inquiry is apparent.

1)

Subject: Is affordable housing possible anymore?

From: davidroden@yahoo.com

Many articles like this are more common.

2) According to a search of the internet using Bing’s AI powered Copilot, there is no known published response to Roden’s message to several MHI staff and corporate leaders, among others.

The inquiry by Roden was also sent to several bloggers and trade publishers (see list in #3 below). It was obtained by MHProNews, perhaps because others did not publish what Roden had shared with them directly. Not even Roden’s and Roane’s colleague at the periodic SECO meeting of community operators, blogger George Allen, has mentioned his inquiry to MHI in his two most recent blog posts (5.24 and 5.31.2024). It is almost as if Roden’s message never occurred.

3) The “to” list in the email below mirrors precisely those addressed by Roden, in the message quoted above.  Some were added by MHProNews to the BCC line. MHProNews has reasons to believe that these messages were delivered for several reasons, including (but not limited to) the lack of any bounce or error messages.

 

from:		L. A. Tony Kovach (for MHProNews.com)
to:		Lesli Gooch <Lesli Gooch @mfghome.org>, (Manufactured Housing Institute CEO). Mark Bowersox <Mark Bowersox @mfghome.org> (Manufactured Housing Institute President). MHARR DG @ aol.com (Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR), but ultimately addressed to Mark Weiss, J.D., President and CEO of MHARR). George F Allen – (Blogger associated with David Roden and Spencer Roane in SECO meetings). Danny Ghorbani – (former MHI VP and MHARR founding president, CEO and current Senior Advisor). Byron Stroud <@championhomes.com> (Works with Community Operators on manufactured homes for land lease). Spencer Roane <@roane.com>, (Associated with Roden and Allen in SECO meetings). Darren Krolewski @mhvillage.com (owned by Equity LifeStyle Properties, “endorsed” by MHI, and parent to MHInsider), Patrick Revere @datacompusa.com, (also: MHInsider – an industry trade publication) Kurt Kelley @mobileagency.com (publisher of MHReview – a quarterly industry trade publication) John Gelzer, Esq. @equitymc.com Jimmy Cotty as Executive Director @gmha.com (MHI state affiliated manufactured housing trade group)Jim Ayotte @fmha.org (MHI state affiliated manufactured housing trade group) Donie Wood @claytonhomes.com, (apparently the “Chief Customer Officer” for Clayton Homes, a Berkshire Hathaway owned brand) Tim Williams <@21stmortgage.com> (Williams has had several leadership roles at MHI). Affordable Casa Group David Roden  Judy Roden
cc:		David Goch @wc-b.com, (an MHI’s outside attorney) molly.boyle@fpmgi.com, Frank Rolfe (Impact Communities, MHU, MHI member who has also made a recent published critique of MHI).

David, Molly, and Manufactured Housing Institute connected leaders,

MHProNews has received an email addressed from David Roden to several of you. I’ve been provided with a response from Mark Weiss at MHARR made to David Roden, it is not clear at this time if MHARR copied others in their response to David, and if so, how many others and who was copied. It is also not clear if MHARR plans to post their response to David on the MHARR website or not. But at this time, Bing’s AI powered Copilot search tool can’t find any mention of a response by MHI, nor of any reporting by an MHI linked trade publisher or blogger.

Additionally, Copilot said the following.

Copilot

Thank you for your patience, and I appreciate your attention to detail. Let’s delve deeper into the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and its promotion efforts during National Homeownership Month.

You’re absolutely right that the MHI’s promotion seems less robust compared to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Let’s break it down:

1. NAR and NAHB Efforts:
   • NAR and NAHB actively engage in promoting homeownership. They provide toolkits, webinars, and resources for REALTORS® and builders to celebrate and educate about homeownership.
   • NAHB’s “National Homeownership Month Toolkit” emphasizes the evolving role of homes and their importance in our lives¹.
   • Freddie Mac also participates, highlighting the work done to make homeownership possible¹.
2. MHI’s Efforts:
   • MHI’s promotion appears more tepid:
     • Social Media: MHI has social media presence and produces quality videos, but this alone may not be sufficient to create a significant impact.
     • Innovative Housing Showcase: Manufactured homes were on display on the National Mall from June 7 to 9, 2024, as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Innovative Housing Showcase². However, this event is not prominently featured on their homepage.
     • Website Content: As of June 1, 2024, there is no direct mention of National Homeownership Month on MHI’s homepage. The relevant content is buried within items accessible only to members.
     • Criticism: You raise a valid point. Some members and industry stakeholders have criticized MHI for not adequately promoting the manufactured housing industry. While MHI represents all segments of the factory-built housing industry, there have been concerns about the effectiveness of their promotional efforts.

In summary, MHI’s promotion efforts during National Homeownership Month appear less visible and impactful compared to NAR and NAHB. Addressing this gap could enhance the industry’s visibility and advocate for attainable homeownership. It’s essential for MHI to consider more transparent and accessible ways to promote the industry and engage with a broader audience. ¹²

Learn more
1 manufacturedhomepronews.com 2 manufacturedhousing.org 3 manufacturedhomepronews.com 4 manufacturedhousing.org…”

MHProNews is hereby requesting a response from MHI, an MHI attorney, or any others that can shed light on why MHI seems to be doing such a poor job promoting the industry during an affordable housing crisis that David Roden and Copilot said the following? I’m copying Frank Rolfe, because he is among those involved at MHI has has publicly questioned MHI’s effectiveness (see article about Frank on that linked further below).  Note Copilot’s summary included this remark: “It’s essential for MHI to consider more transparent and accessible ways to promote the industry and engage with a broader audience.”

A timely response is requested, as we plan to publish on this topic. Note a few involved in MHI are in the BCC of this message. Those in the address line are to my understanding the same as those addressed by Roden in his original request to MHI.

Thanks. L.A. “Tony” for MHProNews. 

See relevant forwards mentioned above.

———- Forwarded message ———

_______________________________________________________________________

From: davidroden@yahoo.com
To: Lesli Gooch, Mark Bowersox, MHARR (ultimately Mark Weiss), George F Allen, Danny Ghorbani, Byron Stroud, Spencer Roane, Darren Krolewski, Patrick Revere, Kurt Kelley, John Gelzer, Jimmy Cotty (GMHA), Donie Wood, Tim Williams/21^st, Affordable Casa Group, David Roden, Judy Roden,

Sent: 5/23/2024 2:51:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Subject: Is affordable housing possible anymore?

Many articles like this are more common.
Our affordable housing options should be
more out front of the nations eyes than
ever before.

A national Manf. Housing marketing program
should be on TV like “Go RV’ing” and “Got Milk”
was for years.

As a park owner, I’ll contribute $100 to a fund for this
for every new home I place.

Now go ask lenders, mfgs. state associations, insurance for the same and let’s increase
production and placement to the levels they use to be at.
If not, someone please explain to me in simple terms that I can
understand. Please.

DR

Buying a home is getting more difficult — and it isn’t just because of price…” ##

 

4) MHProNews note: Forwards included recent articles on MHProNews, including the two posted below. Those two linked items are among the reasons that Rolfe and Allen were copied.

 

 

 

5) Rolfe and Allen are both MHI members. Roden is apparently a George Manufactured Housing Association (GMHA) member, which that trade group in turn is an MHI state affiliate. Both the Rolfe and Allen related items linked above were among the most-read items for May 2024 on MHProNews, which in turn is the apparent runaway largest trade publisher in manufactured housing, per Copilot and other sources.

Meaning industry professionals appear to be keen on subjects that shed light on criticism of MHI for their unwillingness and/or inability to advance manufactured housing successfully in the 21st century.  More on that will follow.

 

6) It seems that the cadence of professionals critiquing MHI – not only Roden, but Rolfe, Allen, but also others – who are directly or indirectly associated with that national trade group which collects dues from retailers and communities in the “post-production” (as contrasted with MHARR, which is a producer’s and federal regulatory-focused trade group) sector may be increasing again. Some are raising the sorts of questions or concerns that MHARR, MHProNews and MHLivingNews have reported for years.

How routinely Roden may read MHProNews is not known at this time. But MHProNews has all but answered his inquiry – which is absolutely valid and ever-relevant – in several prior reports’ numbers of times.

For example.

MHI launched what was supposed to be a marketing initiative some 20 years ago that resulted in what was called the Roper Report, made available to the industry in 2005. The Roper Report stressed the very need that Roden raised. Namely, to educate the public about the benefits of HUD Code manufactured housing similar to the RV industries successful GoRVing campaign.

The Roper research, commissioned and paid for by MHI, said in part that manufactured housing was one of the least liked industries that they had ever studied. While that is obviously troubling, former MHI communications professional Bruce Savage aptly pointed out that the opportunities to clear up misconceptions and thus grow the industry were tremendous (see link in #7, below).

 

7) Per AHA, an MHI linked operation: “Savage served as Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs for the Manufactured Housing Institute from 1982 through 2007 where he was a strong advocate for the manufactured and modular housing industries. He also served as editor of MODERN HOMES, a quarterly magazine focusing on the attributes and value of factory-built housing. A former owner of a manufactured home for more than 15 years, Savage has experienced first-hand the tremendous advances that factory-building technologies deliver today and how these homes represent one of the best values in today’s housing marketplace.” Bruce Allen Savage (BAS), July 7, 1950 – January 9, 2021, reportedly died of complications linked to COVID19.

Savage’s pitch on behalf of MHI was as follows in the linked report. Note that the second linked report reflects remarks by others who were or with firms and organizations that are MHI members.

 

 

8) With all due respect to Roden, who may have been raising those thoughts and questions posted above for a variety of possible reasons, for those who grasp the history of manufactured housing, the issues he raised are obviously not new. Roper acknowledged these issues almost 20 years ago. MHI commissioned the Roper research.

So, what Roden asked for are not new questions or concerns posed to Gooch, Bowersox, or other MHI leaders.

Rather, they are issues that MHI apparently has no plan to publicly address. Indeed, MHI has posted what amounts to a thinly veiled threat on their website that if someone questions the trade group at an MHI event, they could be ejected for doing so.

While Copilot, perhaps as generously as possible, mentions social media and the IHS among MHI’s efforts for promotion, the facts speak loudly.

The manufactured housing industry has been on a roller coaster ride, largely downhill, since the last peak of 1998 (see the Sunday report linked here with more facts and related insights to comparisons between how MHI behaves vs. how the National Association of Realtors (NAR) or National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) does).

 

9) Indeed, as MHProNews has reported – and others in the MHI orbit have downplayed or ignored, MHI is often partnering with the competitors of manufactured housing. While outside researchers have identified the ways that NAHB, for example, have undermined or “sabotaged” manufactured housing expansion, MHI has openly partnered with the very people who have helped limit manufactured housing industry acceptance and growth? Troubling, or should be for those who want the industry to grow to its potential, but that is demonstrably true.

 

 

 

10) In fairness to MHI, they have been promoting a new class of manufactured homes that later was branded as their CrossMods initiative since 2017.  Regrettably, our analysis at the time (Trojan Horse, linked below) has proven to be correct. CrossMods apparently have harmed manufactured housing industry acceptance rather than helped it. MHARR has long critiqued the Clayton Homes supported MHI initiative, as did the Modular Home Builders Association (MHBA).

 

 

11) It is simply inconceivable that MHI’s leaders could be as inept as they appear to be when performance is measured by the powerful and objective metric of actual new home production. The apparent answer, then, logically becomes that MHI is posturing efforts when what they actual desire is lower performance to allow for steady industry consolidation.

 

 

12) Kevin Clayton bragged in a video interview posted in the report linked below that Warren Buffett told him he could have whatever capital support that Clayton needed. Clayton said over a dozen years ago that the industry was ready then to do a national promotion (not unlike what Roden asked MHI’s leaders about). Yet, Copilot on several occasions said that no such national campaign is apparent. Thus, Roden’s inquiry makes sense.

 

 

13) More bluntly. What Roden, or any others, who may sincerely wonder why the manufactured home industry hasn’t been properly promoted by MHI and their leading brands should be obvious. The leaders who control MHI do not want effective promotion that yields growth for manufactured housing at this time.  Maybe later? Who knows?

 

14) But this isn’t a mere academic or intellectual exercise. It is a legal and ethical question too. MHI makes certain promises and claims to their members. MHI makes certain promises and claims to those that they seek to attract into MHI membership. The claim, for instance, that they represent “all segments” of the industry may be true in some technical sense. But what they are apparently doing is more effectively representing the desires of those who want to consolidate the industry in a slow, steady fashion while they posture efforts that may sound appealing to all others but has yet to bear noteworthy fruit.

 

 

15) MHARR has steadily documented what MHI’s behavior has been and what it has yielded. MHARR has done so while calling for the needed reforms.

 

 

16) Consider what Copilot said in response to this Q&A on the legal and ethical duties of MHI board members.

In a trade association such as the Manufactured Housing Institute, are nonprofit board members supposed to act on behalf of special interests only, or are they legally obliged to act on behalf of all the members of a nonprofit group?

The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) serves as the national voice of the manufactured housing industry. Its diverse membership includes manufacturers, developers, retailers, community operators, investors, lenders, suppliers, and state associations, all working together to make home ownership possible for more Americans¹. Let’s explore this further:

1. Representation and Obligations:
   • Board members of a nonprofit organization, including trade associations like MHI, have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the organization as a whole. This duty includes acting on behalf of all members, not just special interests.
   • While board members may have specific expertise or affiliations, their primary responsibility is to advance the organization’s mission and serve the collective interests of its members.
2. MHI’s Role and Advocacy:
   • MHI is recognized as a leader by the federal government and housing-related groups. It focuses on regulatory reform to improve government regulations and engages in grassroots campaigns to advance industry interests and those of its customers¹.
   • The institute’s lobbying efforts aim to protect and promote manufactured housing interests with federal policymakers through lobbying, monitoring, and analyzing legislative and regulatory issues².
3. Membership and Inclusivity:
   • MHI’s membership includes various stakeholders: manufacturers, developers, retailers, community operators, investors, lenders, suppliers, and state associations. Regardless of the type of manufactured housing business, all members have a place at MHI¹.
   • Therefore, board members should consider the broader interests of the entire industry and its diverse membership when making decisions.

In summary, nonprofit board members within organizations like MHI are legally obligated to act in the best interests of all members, not just special interests. Their role is to advance the organization’s mission and serve the collective welfare of the industry they represent. If you have any further questions or need additional information, feel free to ask! 😊🏠 …”

 

17)

Have there been documented concerns that the Manufactured Housing Institute has been acting on behalf of consolidators of the industry instead of on behalf of all dues paying members? For instance, Sam Strommen while at Knudson Law made the argument that the Institute was breaching antitrust laws in a felonious way. If so, what is the potential liability or risks for Institute board members if such allegations of breach of fiduciary duties are pressed?

 

18) So, David Roden, Rolfe, and any others that may want to see something different in practice have some choices to make. They can keep going along to get along. Or they can forge a new post-production trade group that will do what MHI claims but has in fact failed to provide for over 2 decades. Because Roden’s core point is arguably correct. There could be many more manufactured homes sold.  Indeed, the evidence-based case can be made that only HUD Code manufactured housing can close the gap via new production.

 

 

19) But if recent history is any indication, many of these apparent critics may say something, but do little or nothing of practical merit to force MHI to change and do their job properly, or to supplant it with some other organization that would do the job MHI claims but won’t in fact do. No wonder litigation, probes, and critiques of manufactured housing companies and MHI mount.

 

 

20) Don’t quit yet, David Roden. We editorially hope you are just starting to warm up and will keep raising such pertinent questions publicly and persistently. Make more noise on such topics related to MHI’s lack of performance, because that may be needed to get genuine change underway at MHI. Time will tell. But as the prior Masthead said (2nd link below), the proverbial cat is out of the bag. ###

 

 

PS: MHProNews has been provided a trade association response.  Watch for a follow up report. ##

 

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Stay tuned for more of what is ‘behind the curtains’ as well as what is obvious and in your face reporting that are not found anywhere else in MHVille. It is all here, which may explain why this is the runaway largest and most-read source for authentic manufactured home “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)

By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.

Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.

For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.

This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.

http://latonykovach.com

Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach