Senator Sherrod Brown Pokes Legacy Communities, Fannie Mae Charged-Turn Manufactured Homes ‘From Affordable to Unaffordable,’ Related Antitrust Raised by Brown; plus MHVille REITs, Stocks Update
It isn’t just manufactured home communities that are developing a reputation for attracting institutional investor dollars which are used to buy properties and substantially hike rents and fees. That is just one of several possible takeaways from Senator Sherrod Brown (OH-D) letters to Legacy Communities’ and VineBrook Homes’ management on 12.19.2022 and 12.14.2022 respectively. Those letters by Brown, related regional news videos, and other information about manufactured home community operator Legacy Communities will be the focus of this report. But because Senator Brown’s letter to conventional housing VineBrook Homes corporate leadership is also illuminating, that letter from Brown is also included further below. Among the issues Brown has raised? Possible antitrust concerns. This is potentially significant and appears to support MHProNews recently reported contention that the manufactured home industry is increasingly becoming a ‘target rich’ environment for plaintiffs’ attorneys.
This report will include insights from local media as well as downloads and copies of letters from Senator Brown. Beyond Legacy Communities and VineBrook Homes, Brown addressed Fannie Mae too.
Fannie apparently made loans to Legacy Communities that may have ironically turned an affordable “Duty to Serve” (DTS) manufactured housing mandate on its head by making manufactured home living in land lease communities less affordable. Who says? Senator Brown’s letter to Fannie Mae, which said in part: “Unfortunately, Freddie Mac’s financing of manufactured housing communities at times undermines affordable housing, and in some cases enables community owners whose actions ramp up rents, turning this housing from “affordable” to “unaffordable” for residents.”
That same letter to “Mr. Michael DeVito Chief Executive Officer Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation” (i.e.: Fannie Mae) also noted that “sudden and drastic rent increases are putting Ohio seniors, many of whom live on fixed incomes, in an impossible situation – they can’t afford the rent increases, and they aren’t able to sell their homes because few potential buyers can afford Legacy Communities’ new lot rents.” That Senator Brown letter to Fannie Mae CEO DeVito is linked here.
That practice is hardly limited, per critics, to Legacy Communities. See the report linked below to grasp the apparent contradiction between the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) so-called “Code of Ethical Conduct” and the behavior of several of their larger and more prominent members.
From Senator Brown’s office the following media remarks and documents were obtained by MHProNews. These will be followed by additional information beyond Brown’s letters and mainstream media reports coupled with more MHProNews analysis and commentary. UPDATE: an MHI member tells MHPronews that Legacy Communities is an MHI member.
DECEMBER 19, 2022
BROWN PRESSES MANUFACTURED HOUSING INVESTORS TO HALT RENT INCREASES AND PROTECT OHIO SENIORS
Legacy Communities’ Management Practices Could Lead to Homelessness for Hundreds of Ohio Seniors
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Legacy Communities LLC, a real-estate company that owns multiple manufactured housing communities in Ohio. The letter follows several complaints from Ohioans regarding drastic rent increases and service reductions in Elyria and Navarre. Brown also wrote to Freddie Mac to request a review of their financing practices for manufactured housing communities owned by Legacy Communities and other institutional investors.
“I am deeply concerned that Legacy Communities’ management practices will cause financial instability, displacement, and homelessness among hundreds of Ohio seniors. As a national company doing business from Delaware and Florida and with leadership in Arizona, Legacy Communities will be far removed from the consequences of its decisions. But Ohio seniors, their families, and local communities will have to deal with the fallout of Legacy Communities’ policies,” wrote Brown. “I urge you to immediately halt rent increases for existing and new residents in your communities and meet personally with tenants in both of Twin Lakes and Navarre Village to hear their experiences living in your communities.”
Brown has long fought to protect Ohio’s homeowners and renters from bad actors in the housing market and to support access to affordable homeownership. Last week, he sent a letter to VineBrook Homes Trust after multiple Cincinnati residents reported neglectful ownership practices. He also held a listening session with tenants hurt by institutional investors in February, and held hearings in February and August on big investors in the housing market and the harm they cause local communities.
A copy of the letter to Freddie Mac is available here.
A copy of the letter to Legacy Communities, LLC is available here and below:
Mr. Patrick O’Malley
CEO
Legacy Communities LLC
Dear Mr. O’Malley:
I am writing regarding the devastating effects that Legacy Communities’ acquisition of senior manufactured housing communities in Ohio is having on the communities’ residents.
In recent weeks, I have received an influx of notes from residents in Ohio two manufactured housing communities that Legacy Communities has acquired: Twin Lakes in Elyria, and Navarre Village Manufactured Housing Community in Navarre. Both communities are “55 plus” communities and include many residents who have lived in their community for years, even decades. Many of the residents own their home, but rent the lot it sits on.
Community residents have reported to me and to local news outlets that Legacy Communities is raising rent by 8 percent per year for existing residents while raising the rent for new residents as high as $850 per month, all while reducing services. These sudden and drastic rent increases have left residents on fixed incomes scared and without options. Residents report that they will not be able to afford rent increases, nor can they sell their homes because prospective buyers are unable or unwilling to pay the high and increasing lot rents that Legacy Communities charges. Seniors who have worked hard their whole lives and bought a house believing they had found a safe, stable place to live now face the prospect of losing their home and having nowhere to go. And news reports indicate that Ohio is not alone – residents are reporting exorbitant rent increases in Legacy Communities properties across the country.
Communities like Twin Lakes and Navarre Village are a critical source of affordable housing for lower-income families and seniors. Whether rent increases are affordable must be assessed relative to the incomes of the residents who call that property home. Jacking up rents based on national or regional rental rate trends without considering what residents can actually afford could overburden its residents, especially those on fixed incomes, and create an unaffordable community.
I am deeply concerned that Legacy Communities’ management practices will cause financial instability, displacement, and homelessness among hundreds of Ohio seniors. As a national company doing business from Delaware and Florida and with leadership in Arizona, Legacy Communities will be far removed from the consequences of its decisions. But Ohio seniors, their families, and local communities will have to deal with the fallout of Legacy Communities’ policies. In light of the irreversible harm that unaffordable rent increases would cause for Ohio’s seniors, I urge you to immediately halt rent increases for existing and new residents in your communities and meet personally with tenants in both of Twin Lakes and Navarre Village to hear their experiences living in your communities.
To help residents and communities better understand the way Legacy Communities’ manages its properties, please also respond to the following questions no later than January 9, 2023.
Please provide the average lot rents charged at each of Twin Lakes and Navarre Village when Legacy Communities assumed ownership, the percentage increase in rent at each community for renewals, and the lot rent being charged for new residents in each community today. Please include any fees in each rent calculation.
Please explain how Legacy Communities discloses any rent or fee changes to residents and how far in advance Legacy Communities communicates these increases.
Please explain how Legacy Communities establishes rent or fees and rent or fee increases for existing and new tenants.
Legacy Communities specializes in senior manufactured housing communities. Does Legacy Communities consider what rents are affordable (defined as housing costs taking up no more than 30 percent of a household’s income) to existing residents, including those on a fixed income, when setting rents and fees? If yes, please explain how those data points are considered. If not, why not?
Please describe in detail what engagement Legacy Communities has had with residents to discuss recent rent increases and other changes.
If Legacy Communities residents are unable to afford lot rent increases, does Legacy Communities have a policy or program to help tenants remain in their home? If so, please describe these policies or programs in detail. If not, why not?
If a resident is unable to afford their lot rent and cannot remain in their home, please describe what happens to ownership of a resident’s home.
Does Legacy Communities rent any manufactured homes within their communities to tenants? If so, please provide the proportion of units that Legacy Communities rents out and the number of units owned by Legacy Communities residents.
Does Legacy Communities sell homes in its communities directly to tenants?
Do you or any staff of Legacy Communities have regular contact with residents and with local governments in each of the towns or cities where Legacy Communities owns a community? If yes, please provide the frequency of those contacts with residents and local leaders in both Elyria and Navarre. If not, why not?
Please provide a list of management at Legacy Communities and the names of any Legacy Communities staff located in Ohio.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this critical issue. ###
The letter below is provided to MHProNews readers not because it is directly manufactured housing focused. Rather, it is provided because it sheds possible parallel insights.
Furthermore, for those who are unaware, it is a reminder that the vexing challenges reported about Legacy Communities and other manufactured home industry consolidation-focused operations – which are often members of MHI and/or an MHI state affiliate – are not limited to manufactured home land-lease communities.
Against that backdrop is the following from Brown’s office provided to MHProNews about the apparent drama around VineBrook’s purported business practices.
DECEMBER 14, 2022
BROWN TO VINEBROOK: STOP EXPLOITING CINCINNATI FAMILIES
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, hosted a news conference call to discuss a letter he wrote to VineBrook Homes Trust, Inc., a real estate company that owns tens of thousands of homes, including nearly 7,900 homes in Ohio. Brown’s letter requests information about the company and its policies after multiple Cincinnati residents reported neglectful ownership practices to Brown’s office. This follows reports that VineBrook has been aggressive in evicting tenants, and has frequently charged residents improper fees.
“VineBrook’s rapid expansion and systematic neglect of properties and tenants has severe consequences, not only for the local families living in the properties but also for the entire City of Cincinnati,” wrote Brown. “In light of the many concerns raised by Cincinnati renters, aspiring homeowners, and local officials, I am deeply concerned that VineBrook’s opaque, investor-focused business model is generating outsized profits by exploiting taxpayers and families in Cincinnati and across the 20 states in which VineBrook operates.”
Brown was joined by Jordan Cotleur, a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati who has represented dozens of VineBrook tenants in eviction cases.
“Vinebrook’s business practices are incredibly harmful to the Greater Cincinnati community,” said Cotleur. “The private-equity backed landlord relies on an automated online system to extract rising rents and unlawful fees while leading the county in eviction filings and failing to maintain safe and sanitary housing.”
Brown has long fought to protect renters from bad actors in the housing market and to support access to affordable homeownership. Last month, he sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking the agency to review whether RealPage’s rent pricing software violates antitrust laws. In August, he also held a hearing on institutional investors – like banks and insurance companies — and the current rental market, where the Committee heard testimony from Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority President and CEO Laura Brunner about the harm VineBrook has caused.
I am writing regarding VineBrook Homes’ ownership and management of single-family homes, particularly allegations that properties are being neglected throughout Ohio and across the country.
Since 2018, VineBrook Homes Trust and its subsidiaries have acquired a significant portfolio of single-family rental homes across Ohio and 19 other states. In just four years, VineBrook has increased its portfolio of homes by 646 percent, to nearly 27,000 homes. As of September 2022, VineBrook reports that it has a “geographic market concentration” in one market, which represents more than 10 percent of the value of its homes – Cincinnati.
VineBrook’s rapid expansion and systematic neglect of properties and tenants is having severe consequences for not only the local families living in the properties but also the entire City of Cincinnati. VineBrook, and its practices, first came to my attention when a resident in one of your Cincinnati-area homes contacted my office desperate for help to get their heat repaired. Your company had failed to respond to the tenant’s multiple maintenance requests, leaving them without heat for several weeks in the dead of winter. Another tenant contacted my office reporting that VineBrook was attempting to evict them for nonpayment of rent, even though the rent had been paid. Unfortunately, these tenants’ experiences were not unique.
Maintenance issues have been so common at VineBrook properties that, in July 2021, the City of Cincinnati sued VineBrook Homes for unpaid fines, fees, abatement costs, and water bills. In its complaint, the city reported that many of VineBrook’s properties were now “in a state of disrepair due to deferred property maintenance and neglectful ownership practices.” In some cases, properties were “so dangerous that the City’s Building and Inspection Department has ordered them vacated and/or kept vacant.” Yet VineBrook has ignored code enforcement attempts by the city, costing the city and its taxpayers money not just in unpaid fines, but in police, fire, and maintenance costs, and lower property values for neighboring homeowners.
On top of neglecting its properties and racking up costs for taxpayers, recent news reports also reveal that VineBrook has a pattern of being quick to evict its tenants and raise their rent. A legal aid attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio reports that VineBrook is “one of the worst landlords in our service area” because the company frequently charges improper fees, locks tenants out of its online payment portal when they are delinquent, and frequently files to evict.
VineBrook’s pattern of mistreating tenants and neglecting its properties is made possible in part by the way VineBrook structures its business. As Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority President and CEO Laura Brunner testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, VineBrook’s business model is “based on maximization of profit by hiding behind a cloak of anonymity.” VineBrook has hidden its property ownership behind an increasingly complex web of limited liability companies, making it difficult for local or federal officials to determine whether VineBrook is ultimately responsible for a home. For example, it took a substantial investment of time and resources for local officials to map VineBrook’s property ownership throughout Cincinnati. When they did, they found VineBrook operated behind a cloak of more than 90 LLCs holding properties.
VineBrook has built this widespread and profitable portfolio by outbidding aspiring homeowners. Cincinnati residents looking for an affordable home report that they were beat out time and again by VineBrook for the city’s starter homes, and VineBrook has a growing concentration of ownership in some neighborhoods within the city. For example, VineBrook now owns 29 homes on a single street in Cincinnati’s West Price Hill neighborhood – many of which used to be owned by individual homeowners. Families who are outbid are left with no option but to rent, possibly in the home they hoped to buy.
As VineBrook has grown and pushed more families out of homeownership, renters in the Cincinnati area have faced more competition in the rental market and escalating rents. Over the past year, rents have increased more than 17 percent in the Cincinnati area, among the fastest growth in the nation. VineBrook itself reported that its rental income over six months in 2022 was more than double the rental income for the same six month period in 2021 due, in part, to “increases in rental rates.” And while VineBrook’s rate of rent increases was slower than Cincinnati’s average, its average rent increased more than eight percent over the past year alone.
VineBrook’s investor materials clearly lay out the company’s objectives: “to maximize the cash flow and value of properties owned, acquire properties with cash flow growth potential, provide quarterly cash distributions and achieve long-term capital appreciation for its stock holders through targeted management and a renovation program for homes acquired.” Notably, these objectives include nothing about the well-being of residents or the communities where VineBrook does business – and that VineBrook relies on to generate profits.
In light of the many concerns raised by Cincinnati renters, aspiring homeowners, and local officials, I am deeply concerned that VineBrook’s opaque, investor-focused business model is generating outsized profits by exploiting taxpayers and families in Cincinnati and across the 20 states in which VineBrook operates. To better explain VineBrook’s policies and practices in Cincinnati and across the country, please respond to the following questions by January 6, 2023:
VineBrook’s stated objectives are related to investor profit. They do not speak to housing safety, resident experience, or contributions to local communities. Does VineBrook have a set of minimum protections for tenants to which it adheres, or any long-term goals with respect to property maintenance or resident satisfaction? If so, please provide those protections or goals. If not, why not?
Do VineBrook representatives regularly meet with local officials and residents in the communities where it owns properties? If so, please provide the frequency of meetings in each jurisdiction. If not, why not?
What was the average yearly rent increase, in dollars and percent of rent, including fees, for VineBrook homes in Cincinnati and nationwide over the past year? Does VineBrook have a limit on rent increases for existing tenants?
How far in advance does VineBrook notify tenants of a rent increase? Is this policy consistent nationwide?
How does VineBrook respond to maintenance requests? What is the average time between a request being submitted and a repair being completed for tenants in Cincinnati and nationwide? Please include separate maintenance timelines for standard maintenance requests and exigent maintenance requests.
How many evictions did VineBrook file in Hamilton County, Ohio, in each of 2020, 2021, and year-to-date 2022? How many of those evictions were completed in each year?
How many evictions did VineBrook file nationwide in each of 2020, 2021, and year-to-date 2022? How many of those evictions were completed in each year?
How many LLCs own rental properties from which VineBrook or its subsidiaries receive rental income? Why does VineBrook hold its properties in such a large number of LLCs?
Please provide a list of the senior leadership and Board of Directors, as applicable, for each of the owners and advisors of VineBrook listed below:
VineBrook Homes Trust, Inc.
VineBrook Homes Operating Partnership, L.P.
NexPoint Real Estate Opportunities, LLC
NRESF REIT Sub, LLC
NexPoint Real Estate Advisors V, L.P.
Thank you for your prompt response to this important issue. ###
Part II. Additional Information with More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary
The video below from Scripps-owned ABC News 5 in Cleveland 7:37 PM, Dec 19, 2022 the following.
Retirement communities’ fears over rising rent prompts letter from Senator
Neighbors in several Northeast Ohio retirement communities are grappling with drastic rent hikes after a company [Legacy Communities] took over properties in Navarre and Elyria. The seniors, many of whom are living on fixed incomes, worry how they’ll afford to stay in their homes” wrote ABC News 5 Cleveland’s reporter Catherine Ross. “News 5 stories highlighting the concerns are now being cited by Congress in a demand for answers.
Monday, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown issued a letter to Legacy Communities, LLC about the steep rent hikes at Navarre Village and Twin Lakes. He also sent one to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, better known as Freddie Mac, requesting a review of its financing practices for manufactured home communities.
“They’re just preying on the elderly people,” said Bob Cowger, who’s lived in Navarre Village for about 10 years.”
Residents in the manufactured home community own their houses, but pay monthly fees for the lots in the park. In September, Legacy Communities, LLC took over Navarre Village, but did not mention any increasing lot rents.
When several people tried to sell their homes, they discovered the company was more than doubling monthly lot rent for incoming residents. The steep hike has been driving away prospective buyers.
“Who would come in and buy a house and pay $850 or even $700 when your neighbors are paying $370 or $425?” said Christine DiSabatino, a realtor who has lived in Navarre Village for 5 years and helped sell properties in the community since 2007.
Bob Senften, who’s lived there 5 years, added, “We’re stuck. If we wanted to move, we couldn’t move.”
The neighbors said existing residents were told their monthly fees would go up by more than 8% when they renewed their contracts. More recently, they’re hearing the rent will rise by 14.9%, though they’ve received no official notice. … ”
ABC News 5 said Legacy Communities has not responded to multiple inquiries. That is not dissimilar from MHI failing to respond to multiple inquiries in recent years to media requests by MHProNews. MHI apparently prefers engaging with ‘friendly’ media outlets rather than possibly probing or even critical media.
Among the points not mentioned by ABC News 5 is the Senator Brown has an apparently cozy relationship with Nathan Smith. Smith has touted his active participation in Democratic Party politics. Smith has held fundraisers for Senator Brown and other candidates (see Google screen capture, part of the image collage by MHProNews, shown below). Smith is a former MHI chairman. Smith is a cofounder of SSK Communities, which has since rebranded as publicly-traded Flagship Communities.
Smith has told MHProNews that he has, at times, supported Republican candidates too. But the evidence reflects that his primary political donor support flows to Democratic candidates.
Smith’s business practices, while not specifically named by in the viral HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’s misnamed “Mobile Homes” video report, was nevertheless one of the businesses that were featured in a video clip in that satirical hit.
Put differently, based on the evidence revealed in this report and linked from this article, Brown’s stance is curious at best. Given the fact that Senator Brown’s campaign has accepted donations from and support from a prominent MHI corporate leader who is seemingly similar in ethically and legally questionable behaviors akin to what Legacy Communities is accused of engaging in. Legacy may be, based on local reports and claims made by Brown, more aggressive in some senses than SSK-turned Flagship. But SSK-Flagship also has a poor rating by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), see the image collage above and reports linked below.
None of that keeps Smith from his high profile and ‘award winning’ positions in the Kentucky Manufactured Housing Institute (KMHI), which is an affiliate of MHI.
These facts and related evidence are not intended to whitewash Legacy, Smith, or Flagship. Rather, it shows that there appears to be some posturing and hypocritical behavior by some lawmakers and public officials who decry business practices while collecting donations from those who are engaged in similar behaviors.
As the late Bob Van Cleef told MHLivingNews, the problems faced by manufactured home community residents is real. There is no apparent room for doubt about the genuine angst those Legacy Community residents are expressing. But the solution, time and again, is the need to enforce existing laws in an effective and robust fashion.
Untangling the various threads of paltering, posturing, head-fakes, and apparently contradictory disconnects is what we do day by day at MHProNews. It is why our platforms apparently dwarf the readership of MHI and several of their cat’s paw blogging surrogates. See the fact check linked below for evidence of that statement. ##
Part III. Daily Business News on MHProNews MHVille Markets Segment
The modified format of our prior Daily Business News on MHProNews post that recap yesterday evening’s equities market report is provided below. It still includes our signature left (CNN Business) and right (Newsmax) ‘market moving’ headlines that allows readers to see in moments the distinction between the left- and right-leaning media. The macro market graphics provide context and comparisons for those invested in or tracking manufactured housing connected equities. In a properly operating manufactured home industry, the industry’s equities ought to consistently outperform several other publicly traded investment options. Regrettably, that is often not the case. The graphics that follow will routinely illustrate that point.
Understanding media bias is useful to sifting through possibly hidden agendas.
In minutes a day readers can get a good sense of significant or major events while keeping up with the trends that are impacting manufactured housing connected investing.
Reminder: several of the graphics on MHProNews can be opened into a larger size. For instance: click the image and follow the prompts in your browser or device to OPEN In a New Window. Then, in several browsers/devices you can click the image and increase the size. Use the ‘x out’ (close window) escape or back key to return.
Headlines fromleft-of-center CNN Business – from the evening of 12.20.2022
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In instances such as Apollo, Berkshire Hathaway, Blackstone or others, manufactured housing may only be part of their corporate interests. Note: depending on your browser or device, many images in this report and others on MHProNews can be clicked to expand. Click the image and follow the prompts. For example, in some browsers/devices you click the image and select ‘open in a new window.’ After clicking that selection you click the image in the open window to expand the image to a larger size. To return to this page, use your back key, escape or follow the prompts.
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NOTE 1: The 3rd chart above of manufactured housing connected equities includes the Canadian stock, ECN, which purchased Triad Financial Services, a manufactured home industry finance lender.
NOTE 2: Drew changed its name and trading symbol at the end of 2016 to Lippert (LCII).
NOTE 3: Deer Valley was largely taken private, say company insiders in a message to MHProNews on 12.15.2020, but there are still some outstanding shares of the stock from the days when it was a publicly traded firm. Thus, there is still periodic activity on DVLY.
Note 4: some recent or related reports to the REITs, stocks, and other equities named above follow in the reports linked below.
2022 …Berkshire Hathaway is the parent company to Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage, Vanderbilt Mortgage and other factory-built housing industry suppliers. · LCI Industries, Patrick, UFPI, and LP each are suppliers to the manufactured housing industry, among others. · AMG, CG, and TAVFX have investments in manufactured housing related businesses. For insights from third-parties and clients about our publisher, click here.
Disclosure. MHProNews holds no positions in the stocks in this report.
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All on Capitol Hill were welcoming and interested in manufactured housing related issues. But Congressman Al Green’s office was tremendous in their hospitality. Our son’s hand is on a package that included a copy of the Constitution of the United States and other goodies. Tamas has grown considerably since this photo was taken.
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews. Tony earned a journalism scholarship along with numerous awards in history. There have been several awards and honors and also recognition in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
