Marty Lavin, an expert on MH lending, adds that reduces sales and resale values. “We’re taking away the free choice of people without good cause,” he said.
The snowball effect resulting from the implementation of Dodd-Frank leaves many would be buyers and sellers of less expensive MH unable to acquire financing, which in turn prevents those who want a more expensive MH unable to sell their older, but useable MH–except for cash–which reduces overall sales.
Says Dick Jennison, president and CEO of the Manufactured Housing Institute, “We need to remove the shackles that the Dodd-Frank Act and the CFPB rules have placed upon our industry.” Barney Frank said the legislation that bears his name was never intended to have the deleterious effect on MH that it does.
Furthermore, as pressreleaserocket points out, the loss of new MH sales reduces industry employment in production, retail, moving, insurance, etc.
Noting that people who are shut out of buying a manufactured home because of lending restrictions often have to opt for rental living, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), tells MHProNews, “They are ending up paying more for rental housing than they would end up paying by actually purchasing a lower-cost home.”
To which the CFPB’s Dir. Cordray might say, as he once did, “That doesn’t sound optimal from anybody’s standpoint… We should be thinking about whether the (lending) thresholds are exactly right.”
Lending restrictions on manufactured housing not only hurt the economy—they can endanger the health and safety of those of the most modest means by preventing them from purchasing a safe home to raise a family.
For a video of views from across the MH spectrum, click here. ##
(Image credit: bloombergbusinessweek)
