Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) Senior Vice President Lesli Gooch, Ph.D. – following the lead of months of Daily Business News reports – recently said, “With the national homeownership rate at a 50-year low, rents increasing at a rapid pace, and mortgage credit still tight, a key focus in Washington should be increasing the supply of affordable housing in America.”
Gooch, in MHR, touted the MHI agenda to reign in the HUD Code manufactured housing programs overreaches.
She gave examples of MHI’s efforts in Washington, D.C., including…“They are:
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) unnecessary and excessive regulations that have increased the cost of producing and placing manufactured homes and impeded manufacturers’ ability to offer popular amenities. •
One-size-fits-all regulations that limit the availability of financing and that “protect” consumers right out of becoming homeowners.”
While these comments would find widespread agreement, what Gooch didn’t say is what MH Industry professionals have been increasingly asking about.
Namely, the removal of Pamela Danner, JD, from HUD. MHI sources say Danner’s position at HUD occurred in part because of the efforts of now former MHI Vice President, Lois Starkey.
Starkey separated from MHI, in a report exclusively covered on MHProNews. Now, Starkey works for Danner at HUD, reported here in another MHProNews exclusive.
Coincidences?
Gooch also failed to acknowledge the about-face, 180-degree shift by MHI on the DOE energy rule.
That shift, per sources, was caused by pressure from reports by MHARR and MHProNews — as well as third-party university and federal studies that MHProNews spotlighted. Each of these showed the flaws in MHI’s position. In the face of weeks of such exposure, MHI flip-flopped, without admitting to their members they’d done so.
In an article that appeared on MHProNews about 3 weeks before some others carried it, Weiss laid out his case for the Fake News from Arlington and Washington D.C., at this link here.
Weiss has said that the industry could be doing hundreds of thousands of new home sales a year. The holdup? Per Weiss, regulatory and MHI road blocks.
MHARR’s president also itemized the numerous failures and industry problems caused by Danner, linked here.
Note: Ms. Danner has been given – and still has – the opportunity to reply to these allegations. She has to this date, declined to answer, while she has replied on other, unrelated issues. “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (News, analysis.)
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