You may or may not have seen the below unauthorized memorandum sent out by an MHI staffer on June 24, 2013 regarding the publication of a vacancy announcement for the manufactured housing program administrator position at HUD.  Based, however, on: (1) the volume of inquiries that MHARR has been receiving at its offices from confused and/or dismayed industry members; (2) the fact that MHARR and MHIhave, as reported by both associations, been working for over six months to advance the appointment of an agreed and vetted candidate for appointment to this key position on a non-career basis as provided by the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000; and (3) potential damage that this misleading June 24, 2013 memorandum could cause to this joint effort, a thorough clarification and explanation is essential – particularly in the event that the said memorandum is forwarded to you or other industry members for specific action or follow-up.

I am writing this clarification in order to assure you and others in the industry that nothing has changed regarding this joint effort and that MHARR and MHI remain strongly committed to advancing their one previously-agreed candidate for this position.  This statement is based on personal conversations, communications and messages between MHI President Dick Jennison and me since this June 24, 2013 memorandum was released.  Through these multiple communications, Mr. Jennison has assured me that this joint effort continues to have the full support and backing of MHI.  Further, according to Mr. Jennison, the June 24, 2013 MHI memorandum was not read, cleared and/or authorized by him as to content and/or dissemination. While industry members are routinely asking how such an unauthorized memorandum could be disseminated at such a sensitive time, MHARR’s official and direct response is that this is a matter to be addressed and resolved internally by MHI.

Consequently, based on the personal assurances that I have received from Mr. Jennison, please disregard the MHI June 24, 2013 memorandum and please take the extra step of forwarding this clarification to other industry members to help contain and limit the damage that this memorandum could potentially cause in unraveling the joint industry effort to advance the appointment of an agreed program administrator candidate that the two national associations have worked so diligently to advance for many months. 

By copy of this statement and in order to halt the further dissemination and spread of any  misinformation resulting from the June 24, 2013 memorandum, I am advising other manufactured housing state associations of these facts so that these events and their implications are as clear as possible not only to those who directly received the original June 24, 2013 memorandum, but also — based on reports that it may have already been disseminated by some state associations – to those who may have received it via other means. 

cc: Mr. Richard Jennison
Other Manufactured Housing State Associations 

Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR)