Our theme today will be: “Burping Against SAFE.”

Let’s keep this message clear, like a brilliantly told Dr. Seuss children’s story, Yertle the Tertle. A vote for a candidate who voted for the SAFE Act is, for most in the Industry, a vote for regulations that harm honest business men and women. Regulations like this one may help a minority, but they arguably don’t help the American people as a whole.

A leading retailer called me this week, to share one of the ‘unintended consequences’ of the SAFE Act.

While this certainly applies to manufactured housing community operators, please keep in mind that this gent retails homes from a ‘street dealership.’ And a very sharp retail center at that! But this retailer’s point was this. In the past, if he wanted to make a loan on say a used home, he could do so. He might use land equity, or down payment or some other form of collateral to make that loan. Today, due to the SAFE Act, he no longer can afford to do that.

So he reasoned that the presence of the SAFE Act now denies credit and denies a business transaction that would otherwise have taken place. This is a negative impact indeed.

He went on to say that the SAFE Act drives up the cost of money, because it drives up the lender’s costs of compliance. SAFE also marginalizes smaller lenders, or those manufactured home community operators or manufactured housing retailers who, like himself, may have in the past made the loans directly themselves.

While some may like the SAFE Act for their own reasons, as a whole, the costs of compliance and the dampening effect this has on manufactured housing lending is considerable.

If you feel the same way, this Tuesday, why not “Burp Against SAFE!”

In the fabled Dr. Seuss children’s story, Yertle the Turtle was a king who wanted to lord it over others by piling up more and more turtles, one on another. King Yertle, of course, was on the top of this throne of turtles. Down at the bottom of the pile was a turtle named Mack. Mack moaned and groaned because of the weight of all the turtles piled above him.

Now think: weight of regulation, weight of taxation, weight of intrusion, economic weight, etc. King Yertle would silence Mack’s complaints, but Mack would moan and groan again. Finally, with thousands of turtles piled on his back, Mack had enough. “Plain little Mack did a plain little thing. He burped!” Mack’s burp toppled this unruly and unhappy pile above him! Mack burped, and King Yertle the Turtle tumbled down and ended up in the mud!

Tuesday is Election Day. Think of your vote as a burp against regulations like the SAFE Act. It doesn’t matter if those regulations were well intended or not. What matters as that retailer explained to me, is that those regulations are harmful to the very people they were intended to serve. They harm some in the home-buying public. Those regulations are harmful to businesses. Those in the Congress, House or Senate who voted for those regulations like SAFE should have taken the time to think through the consequence of their vote. Those who supported that vote should be dethroned next Tuesday. Think of your vote as a burp.

Remember to “Burp Against SAFE” on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. A list of key details on HERA, which included the SAFE Act, is at this website and link: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3221. For the list of who voted how, please see the list supplied below.

Between elections, we can complain like Mack did. But on Tuesday, please take action and Burp against SAFE. # #

From: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2007-832

House Vote Details:

Red Voted No, Blue Voted Yes, light blue, not voting.

 

Senate votes on HERA which contains the SAFE Act:

From: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s2008-35

Senate Vote Details:

Red Voted No, Blue Voted Yes, light blue, not voting.

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