“The Dodd-Frank CFTC Whistleblower Program, 7 U.S.C. § 26, provides substantial monetary rewards to whistleblowers who voluntarily provide original information to the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) where such information results in a successful enforcement action with monetary sanctions exceeding $1 million.” So says a law firm that has specialized in whistleblowers representation for decades, namely, the highly touted Hagens Berman law firm. According to the annually required federal report in a document linked here, “The CFTC’s Whistleblower Program made history this Period [i.e.: October 2022 report] with the issuance of a record-breaking award of nearly $200 million to a single whistleblower, the largest whistleblower award ever granted under the Dodd-Frank Act.” Many whistleblower claims go nowhere, but as the above illustrated, some whistleblower claims have reportedly paid off wildly to current or former employees and others. Additionally, whistleblowers need not act ‘alone.’ Per Hagens Berman: “With experienced attorneys who are well-versed in the several areas of financial fraud, you can research and analyze what constitutes fraudulent wrongdoing in the areas of qui tam False Claims Act fraud, securities fraud, fraud in commodity futures, options, and swap markets, and tax fraud.” Hundreds of enforcement cases where handled by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alone, per the Covington law firm. That source said enforcement went up slightly “…from 405 “stand-alone” cases in fiscal year 2020 to 434 such cases in fiscal year 2021.” The cases included “Issuer Reporting / Audit & Accounting,” “Insider Trading and Rule 10b5-1,” “Market Manipulations,” “Investment Advisers,” “Special-Purpose Acquisition Companies” (i.e.: SPACs) and “Securities Offerings” among others. While the case count went up in the early part of the Biden era, the actual penalties and “Civil money penalties and other monetary remedies were down to $3.85 billion total in fiscal year 2021—compared with $4.68 billion and $4.35 billion in FY 2020 and FY 2019 respectively.”
This issues is not merely hypothetical for the manufactured housing industry. There was a reported indication that a whistleblower payout occurred in the Cavco Industries-Joseph “Joe” Stegmayer-Dan Urness related legal action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If so, whistleblower insights could help explain how the SEC gained some of the keen insights laid out in their case, linked here. Recall that Skyline Champion was referenced by the SEC because their equities were involved in that matter too.
Part I Victims of Financial Crimes and Whistleblower Insights
MHProNews has been reporting on evidence of a purported scheme involving Gary Shiffman, President and CEO of Sun Communities (SUI). More evidence on that topic is in hand for a planned follow up. Plus, there is evidence of a new financial fraud scheme that has moved into the legal phase which will be examined that involves manufactured housing. Then, there is the case brought against Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) by some of their own residents. Such a case, or others, could include manufactured home professionals, past or present, who grasp that the business practices of some of manufactured housing’s prominent brands and members at the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) have been hit with several allegations researched by several attorneys.
Hagens Berman was referenced by Business Insider with respect to the Cavco scandal and related shareholder probes. “Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Cavco should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC” whistleblower program. MHProNews has previously reported on the firm, see the report linked below.
Zuckerman Law said the following.
During FY 2021, the SEC awarded approximately $564 million to 108 individuals —both the largest dollar amount and the largest number of individuals awarded in a single fiscal year. The two largest SEC whistleblower awards in the program’s history were paid in FY 2021 — a $114 million award to one whistleblower in October 2020 and a $110 million award to another in September 2021.
The details of most cases resulting in awards are not publicly available due to key facets of the SEC Whistleblower Program.
- The rules of the SEC Whistleblower Program allow whistleblowers to report anonymously to the SEC if represented by an attorney. In fact, in certain circumstances, a whistleblower may remain anonymous, even to the SEC, until an award determination.
- Even at the time of an award, a whistleblower’s identity is not made available to the public as the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblower’s identity. For example, the SEC does not disclose the specific SEC whistleblower case that resulted in an award because that information could directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblower’s identity. See Section 21F(h)(2) of the Exchange Act. A brief review of the SEC’s final orders announcing awards highlights how the SEC excludes or redacts any information that could reveal a whistleblower’s identity.
- Most whistleblowers choose not to go public about their award…but not all.”
Class Actions
Hagen Bergman also does class action cases. Per their website: “Hagens Berman’s managing partner and co-founder, Steve W. Berman, has dedicated his lifelong pursuit of law to helping those most in need. Through his efforts, Steve has achieved record-breaking settlements on behalf of classes of individuals subjected to corporate wrongdoing, fraud and negligence.”
Hagen Bergman also said: “Our firm operates on a contingency fee basis, meaning the victims we represent pay nothing at all unless we win. Attorney fees are paid based on an industry percentage of overall settlement terms, allowing plaintiffs to reap the rewards. The victories we seek also include tangible changes through injunctions and other novel applications of the law. Through litigation, Hagens Berman has brought about new education programs, testing and research, and has achieved major victories that have benefited the environment and sustained human rights.”
False advertising is one of the areas in the firm’s experience, beyond fraud and financial wrongdoing. An antitrust related case featuring an mainstream news interview with attorney Berman is posted below.
Part II – Additional Information with More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary in Brief
Tipsters and whistleblowers have long been a valuable and useful part of the reporting here at MHProNews and on our MHLivingNews sister site.
It is useful to know that “There is a lot more out there that has not been prosecuted that should be prosecuted,” said Berman in the firm’s video below. The known results in manufactured housing could be just the tip of a proverbial iceberg. Berman also noted that they have at times worked with state attorneys general on some cases.
It is also useful to know that whistleblower and class action suits can be handled by a contingency fee law firm. Note, while this report quotes and references firms on the defense and prosecution sides of such issues, no specific endorsement by this publication or our parent company’s management should be construed. That said, each of the firm’s cited appear to be award winning firms.
As the evidence for manufactured housing market rigging mount, and with those reported on either settling and/or remain mute in the face of growing concerns, this may be one way that manufactured housing escapes from its blasé results. Shareholders, employees of purportedly corrupt firm, consumers, taxpayers, and others are among those potentially harmed.
Manufactured Housing is a great industry with tremendous potential that is not being actualized. That begs questions. Why is that so? A case can be made that this is true in part, because so many ‘leading’ MHI member firms behave in what has been described as predatory ways. A partial list of Manufactured Housing’s Dark Side is found in the remarks and links below. In no particular order of importance are the following.
While it has been said that Kevin Clayton’s remarks are an understatement of what occurred in manufactured housing, he nevertheless began to paint the picture of thousands of firms that began to vanish in the 21st century.
But it is Clayton’s mentor, Warren Buffett, who some say began the war against manufactured housing’s independents under the folksy sounding phrase, castle and moat. But when it is peeled back, it is ugly , and in MHVille the case can be made that it is an ongoing series of apparent antitrust violations by paraphrasing what Zell said are the industry’s oligopolists.
Those amphibians Buffett quoted can be man eaters.
Notice: the graphic below can be expanded to a larger size.
See the instructions below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.
Manufactured Housing, per Cavco Industries’ and Skyline Champion’s investor relations pitches, and their earnings calls remarks, reveal several areas of potential interest for possible litigants. On the one hand, to say that the industry has big upside is demonstrably true. But then, on the other hand, to dangle that carrot and then fail to take the steps that could allow shareholders or others to benefit is problematic at best, but potentially actionable at worst.
Then, on the community consolidators scene, some of those firms are large clients for manufactured housing producers. A challenging tug of war is likely at play in some offices, because if key MHI members break from the fold and directly reveal the apparent scheme at play, the blowback could be substantial.
Several opportunities for whistleblowers thus may emerge for a range of people in or beyond the manufactured housing industry. It helps to understand what the issues are in order to see where the possible whistleblower opportunities can be. To learn more, see the recent and linked reports. Don’t skim them, because the greater the understanding the more a grasp of the issues could lead to the ‘aha!’ light coming on which could benefit you, some group, or others that you care about. ##
Part III. Daily Business News on MHProNews Markets and Headline News Segment
Headlines from left-of-center CNN Business – from the evening of 6.28.2023
- Doubling down
- Fed Chair Powell remains hawkish, says the central bank is not ruling out back-to-back rate hikes in order to tame inflation
- McDonald’s bet on viral success with its Grimace shake. TikTok users are pretending it killed them
- Why airline delays and cancellations are so bad: It’s not just the weather
- TikTok funds lawsuit by Montana users challenging statewide ban
- DoorDash is offering hourly pay to fix a problem with food orders
- The oil market is very chill about the chaos in Russia. Should it be?
- The company supplying water to millions of Londoners is in deep trouble
- Costco is cracking down on sharing membership cards
- How safe are America’s biggest banks? The Fed’s imminent stress tests may offer clues
- Here’s what’s actually happening with wood- and coal-fired pizza ovens in NYC
- Why it might be time to get optimistic about the stock market
- Anheuser-Busch hopes its new ads will change the conversation
- Fraudsters likely stole over $200 billion in Covid relief aid, watchdog says
- LVMH owner Bernard Arnault visits China after luxury spending rebound
- American companies are draining their cash at the dumbest possible time
- Shein sent American influencers to China. Social media users are furious
- India’s stock market is hitting record highs. Here’s why
- Judge approves Overstock’s $21.5 million purchase of Bed Bath & Beyond’s brand
- Inflation hurts. But White House economists find that it’s even worse in every other G7 nation
- Ford to lay off workers as it focuses on electric vehicles
- Diageo ends its 15-year partnership with Diddy following lawsuit
- Americans are feeling far more confident about the economy
- US home prices continued to rebound in April
Headlines from right-of-center Newsmax 6.28.2023
- Trump Mulls Missing First GOP Debate in Favor of His Own Event
- Putin Faces Russian Rebellion
- NY Times: Senior Russian General Knew of Prigozhin’s Plans
- Blaine Holt to Newsmax: Putin May Be Reneging on Prigozhin | video
- Kremlin Confirms Papal Envoy in Moscow for Talks on Ukraine
- Putin: Prigozhin Was Paid $2 Billion in a Year, Will Be Investigated
- Ukraine Accuses Local Man in Deadly Pizzeria Strike
- Kremlin Dismisses UN Report on Child Detentions in Ukraine
- Zelenskyy: Russia’s War on Ukraine Must Not Become Frozen Conflict
- Newsmax TV
- Lara Trump: ‘No Doubt Hunter Biden Received Special Treatment’
- Tiffany: FBI’s Wray Has ‘Lot to Answer For’ | video
- Kansas AG: Willing to Fight Trans Name Law in Court | video
- Francey Hakes: Trump Tape Leak Is ‘Trial by Ambush’ | video
- Burgum: Crowded GOP Primary Good For Voters | video
- Indiana AG: BlackRock CEO Lacks Courage | video
- Chadwick Moore: Tucker Staff Fired by Press Release | video
- Florida CFO Patronis: ESG Forgets Who ‘Customer Is’ | video
- Megyn Kelly: Carlson’s Staff Purge ‘Ideological’ | video
- Alina Habba: DOJ Erred by Leaking Trump Audio | video
- Newsfront
- Biden Using CPAP Machine for Sleep Apnea, Officials Say
- President Joe Biden has begun using a continuous positive airway pressure machine to address what is a long-standing problem with sleep apnea, White House officials said on Wednesday.”Since 2008, the president has disclosed his history with sleep apnea in thorough medical…… [Full Story]
- US: Charges in $2.5B Health Care Fraud Sting
- The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday announced federal and local [Full Story]
- Auto Industry Calls Biden Emissions Goal Unreasonable
- The trade group representing nearly all major automakers offered its [Full Story]
- Megyn Kelly to Newsmax: Firing Carlson’s Staff Shows It Could Be Ideological
- Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly cut through the narrative on [Full Story] | video
- Related
- Chadwick Moore to Newsmax: Tucker Staff Found Out of Firing in Press Release |video
- Trump: ‘Newsmax Only One Picked Up’ Biden Corruption |video
- Trump Blasts Fox News: ‘Nasty’ and ‘Prejudiced’ |video
- Donald Trump to Newsmax: GOP Primary Debate Isn’t Worth It |video
- Fox Fires Tucker’s Staff as Replacement Named |video
- Smoke Hangs Over Midwest, East, Hurting Air Quality
- Hazy, smoke-filled skies from raging Canadian wildfires hovered [Full Story]
- Biden Tries to Flip Skeptical Americans on His Economy
- S. President Joe Biden worked to lift Americans’ dour mood about [Full Story]
- Futures of Thomas, Alito Raise Stakes in 2024
- Lawmakers say speculation that Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas [Full Story]
- IRS Whistleblower Gives ‘Shocking’ Details of Hunter Probe
- An IRS whistleblower told CBS News that while helping to oversee the [Full Story]
- Biden Holds Large Primary Lead in New Hampshire
- President Joe Biden holds a strong lead among New Hampshire voters [Full Story]
- Fate of Wagner Group Up in Air After Attempted Coup
- With the leader of the rebellious Russian mercenary Wagner Group in [Full Story] | Platinum Article
- Underwater Interstellar Object May Have ‘Technological’ Origin
- After spending two weeks scouring the Pacific Ocean for fragments of [Full Story] | Platinum Article
- CBO: Public Debt Burden to Reach 181 Percent of GDP by 2053
- CBO: Public Debt Burden to Reach 181 Percent of GDP by 2053
- The U.S. public debt burden will reach 181% of economic output in [Full Story]
- Sheriff Blasts Beachgoers for Ignoring Warnings
- A sheriff in Florida blasted beachgoers for ignoring deadly [Full Story]
- New Penn Station Plan Would Pay MSG Owner $500M
- The owner of New York City’s Madison Square Garden Arena could get [Full Story] | video
- D. Gov. Noem: Trump The Candidate With ‘Path to Victory’
- South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem said this week that she can’t see a [Full Story]
- Maverick Watergate-Era Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. Dies at 92
- Lowell P. Weicker Jr., a Republican U.S. senator who tussled with his [Full Story]
- Trump Mulls Missing First GOP Debate, Holding Own Event
- Former President Donald Trump is considering skipping the first GOP [Full Story]
- Titanic-Bound Submersible Debris Returned to Land
- Debris from the lost submersible Titan has been returned to land [Full Story]
- NY Times: Weiss Blocked From Charging Hunter in California
- The New York Times reported that it had “confirmed independently” the [Full Story]
- Anheuser-Busch CEO: Still Supporting LGBTQ Activism
- Bud Light will continue to support the LGBTQ community despite the [Full Story] | video
- Former NFL, Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett Dies from Drowning at 35
- Ryan Mallett, who parlayed a successful two-year stint at Arkansas [Full Story]
- Texans Mixed on Abbott’s Rio Grande Buoy Plan
- Many Texans are saying they’re looking forward to the first water [Full Story]
- Julian Sands Confirmed Dead After Remains Identified
- Julian Sands has been confirmed dead five months after he went [Full Story]
- Taiwan Spots 2 Russian Warships Off Its East Coast
- Taiwan spotted two Russian warships off its eastern coast Tuesday and [Full Story]
- Biden Trying to Laugh Off, Spin Old Age Into ‘Experience’
- Former President Ronald Reagan once defused concerns over his age to [Full Story]
- Marine Vet Pleads Not Guilty in NYC Subway Chokehold Death
- A U.S. Marine veteran pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the fatal [Full Story]
- Politico: Trump Allies Furious With McCarthy
- While former President Donald Trump remained silent on comments about [Full Story]
- Trump Not Indicted on Memo in Leaked Audio
- The secret military plan that former President Donald Trump appears [Full Story]
- Pew Poll: Biden’s Popularity in Israel Tops Most Other Places
- Israeli citizens are the most positive about America when compared to [Full Story]
- Warren Rebukes Yellen on Bank Mergers
- Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., rebuked Janet Yellen in a letter [Full Story]
- Giuliani Interviewed in Special Counsel Election Probe
- Rudy Giuliani, who as a member of Donald Trump’s legal team sought to [Full Story]
- Finance
- Biden Tries to Flip Skeptical Americans on His Economy
- U.S. President Joe Biden worked to lift Americans’ dour mood about the economy with what his aides billed as a major speech on Wednesday, an effort to shore up a top political weakness as he seeks re-election…. [Full Story]
- The Pro-Fiduciary-Duty Movement is Winning
- New York Cracks Down on Unlicensed Pot Shops
- Apple Stock on Cusp of $3 Trillion Market Value
- US $7B Program to Bring Solar to Low-Income HHs
- More Finance
- Health
- Lilly Drug Leads to 24 Percent Weight Loss in Trial
- Eli Lilly on Monday said a mid-stage trial of its next-generation obesity drug candidate “triple G” showed that it led to weight loss of up to 24.2% after 48 weeks, surpassing results seen with other weight loss drugs. The once-weekly injected drug, retatrutide, is part of a…… [Full Story]
- Force of Hits to Head, Not Frequency, Triggers CTE
- Biden Using CPAP Machine for Sleep Apnea, Officials Say
- Wildfire Smoke Could Cause 9,000 Deaths Per Year
- Our Brains Have Unique ‘Pain Fingerprints’
Notice: the graphic below can be expanded to a larger size.
See the instructions below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.
Updated
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- NOTE 1: 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.
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2023 …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.
2022 was a tough year for many stocks. Unfortunately, that pattern held true for manufactured home industry (MHVille) connected stocks too. See the facts, linked above.
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Disclosure. MHProNews holds no positions in the stocks in this report.
· For expert manufactured housing business development or other professional services, click here.
· To sign up in seconds for our industry leading emailed headline news updates, click here.
- Note 1: MHVille means manufactured housing industry, MHVille also means artificially smaller manufactured housing (MH) industry,
- Note 2: Manufactured housing, production, factories, retail, dealers, manufactured home, communities, passive mobile home park investing, suppliers, brokers, finance, financial services, macro-markets, manufactured housing stocks, Manufactured Home Communities Real Estate Investment Trusts, MHC REITs.
That’s a wrap on this installment of “News Through the Lens of Manufactured Homes and Factory-Built Housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, stock, investing, data, metrics, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship along with numerous awards in history. There have been several awards, honors and numerous public recognition for his achievements 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. Kovach is a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com, which is ranked as the runaway most read trade media in modern manufactured housing history. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s editorial views and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
