For awhile, it seemed doubtful that any changes to the Dodd-Frank bill governing financing for residential or manufactured housing (MH) might pass. Now, there seems to be a ray of hope for the MH industry. The evidence is a rider attached to the 2015 federal budget passed late on the evening of Thursday, December 11, that reversed the Dodd-Frank rule concerning the purchase and sale of derivatives.

According to Paul Krugman, writing in the New York Times, “Dodd-Frank forbid banks from dealing in exotic securities, the kind that played such a big role in the financial crisis. In itself, last week’s action wasn’t decisive, but it was clearly the first skirmish in a war to roll back much, if not all of the financial reform.”

This should give hope to supporters of a bill such as HR 1779 and S 1828, the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act, might be passed in the upcoming 2015 legislative sessions.

Krugman points out that “it’s hard to find Republicans expressing major reservations about undoing reform.” However, he says that few Democrats actually believe that undoing Dodd-Frank is a good idea.

That opinion was vociferously expressed by Senator Elizabeth Warren who tried to block the Dodd-Frank revision from being included in the new $1.1 trillion federal spending bill. Warren’s high-profile budget move failed, but dramatically raised her standing among the Democrats’ left-of-center party base, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time for Hillary Clinton’s anticipated 2016 presidential candidacy.

According to the New York Post, “This Warren thing puts Hillary in a horrendous position.” The Post continued by saying a prominent New York Democratic consultant involved in presidential politics stated, “Wall Street money has always been Hillary’s bread and butter, and she’s been counting on it for 2016. Now, because of the Senate debate, she’ll be forced to say where she stands on things like the derivatives rule and Wall Street’s continuing effort to repeal Dodd-Frank.”

The debate concerning Dodd-Frank continues. Although some Democrats oppose any changes, with the Republicans gaining control of both the House and the Senate, the prospect of more changes to that bill is promising.

Thus the outlook for a manufactured housing backed reform of parts of Dodd-Frank in 2015, ala the Manufactured Housing Institute led HR 1779 and S. 1828, now looks brighter. ##

(Photo credit: Photo courtesy of the DC SHPO and NPS.gov)

Article submitted by Sandra Lane to – Daily Business News – MHProNews.