“The greatest hindrance and the greatest threat to the industry is not the economy, the homes or the communities, it is governmental interference and over-regulation,” said Neal T. Haney.
”The manufactured housing industry has long been a mainstay of affordable housing in the United States. For decades the industry has provided an unmatched quality of life with an affordability not seen in any other sector of the housing market. The homes and the land lease communities in which they are situated have become fixtures across the country providing an affordable, quality lifestyle to all segments of our population. Over the years it has seen its ups and downs, but has been able to survive and even thrive through the difficult times,” said Haney, the president of the newly formed National Association of Manufactured Housing Community Owners, Inc. – or NAMHCO.
We’ve been reporting on the emergence of a new association for community owners, in articles like the ones linked further below. It is a move that the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) has been encouraging for years.
Now, that new NMHCOA association is taking shape. Their organizers are making their appeal in writing.
“The Manufactured Housing Communities of Arizona (MHCA) is a statewide association representing community owners in Arizona. As state associations do, the MHCA has been very active and productive at the state level in combatting governmental interference with its burdensome regulations and obstacles,” said Haney, as he walked through some history. “At the state level most community owner associations have been able to not only monitor proposed local and statewide legislation, but interact with legislators to prevent onerous regulations that are detrimental to our industry.”
‘No Effective National Representation’…
“The national legislation and rule making over the last ten years has proven that we do not have that representation” at the federal level, Haney explained. “One only has to look at the passage of the Safe Act and the Dodd-Frank Act to see how devastating and onerous national legislation can be. Other similar chattel groups (the RV industry) saw the proposals and their representation managed to have them exempted.”
It was a devastating finger pointed at the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), which two state community associations broke from last year, due to a lack of effective national representation. The group passed out literature at MHI’s annual meeting.
“The national organization to which we belonged [i.e. MHI] was apparently unaware of the legislation and its ramifications until after passage and it was already being implemented. The rule making in the aftermath has been horrendous and little if anything has been done to stop the bleeding,” said Haney’s letter.
Recently, HUD has issued rules concerning the screening of prospective tenants for our communities. Again we find no one aware of what is happening, much less advocating on our behalf. Installation requirements are being implemented that have no basis in common sense and the result will be additional burdens on community owners and added costs for homeowners,” said Haney.
“We need someone to advocate on behalf of the community owners. This singular task needs to be done at the congressional level and in the departments that make policy affecting our industry. Every community owner, and every association that is accepting membership dues from community owners, should be concerned with the lack of representation at the national level and should be involved in finding adequate representation. If you are willing to be a part of the solution, please contact our association office.” Haney pointed to Susan Brenton, who has served the Arizona community owners for several years.
Brenton previously worked with resident groups in her state, so she is aware of the dynamics on both sides of that fence.
Brenton’s contact information is: 2158 N, Gilbert Rd., Suite 116, Mesa, AZ 85203, 480-966-2446 • suebrenton@me.com.
It should be noted that MHProNews is reporting on this ongoing development of the NAMHCO, and is not taking a position on this particular group either way at this time. “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (News, analysis, and commentary.)
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