Stating the obvious, it is campaign season. Despite dozens of charges (some 91) and legal maneuvers against their biggest challenger, the Biden-Harris (D) ticket is behind in most polls for the past 6 months when compared to deposed prior President Donald J. Trump (R) in a two or multi-person race. So, it is no surprise that the Democratic run White House and federal agencies are rolling out “plans” and announced efforts that appear to pander to various possible constituencies. For example, more student loan forgiveness is on tap from team Biden, perhaps hoping to stem the tide of younger adults who are steadily drifting toward Trump for economic and other reasons. While it may be understandable that an association would avoid poking a finger in a sitting administration’s eyes, it is arguably less acceptable that manufactured home trade media should effectively carry water for the Biden-Harris White House when manufactured housing production crashed 21 percent as a result of their policies. But it isn’t just that MHInsider is de facto carrying water for Biden-Harris and Democratic policies that are arguably harming manufactured housing production. They also have a rather humorous factual error in their report, which will be highlighted by MHProNews and unpacked in the analysis in Part III.

• Part I of today’s report is the text of Patrick Revere MHInsider article, minus the image/caption.
• Part II is the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) article on what amounts to the same topic. The contrast is striking.
• Part III is additional information that fact checks the above with more MHProNews analysis and commentary.
• Part IV is largely omitted as an error occurred in the headline captures. That said, the ticker captures occurred as normal and are provided in Daily Business News on MHProNews market report segment, further below.

Part I 

White House Releases Plan for Housing Supply, Affordability

By Patrick Revere March 5, 2024

$225 Million Made Available to Support Manufactured Housing Communities

The White House has released a plan to increase the supply and lower the cost of housing, including a multi-pronged approach to protect manufactured housing and to provide support for home-only loan programs.

“Manufactured housing provides an essential path to increasing overall housing supply and offers significant savings over site-built housing. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing steps to preserve and rehabilitate existing manufactured home communities and to make it easier to finance the purchase of manufactured homes,” the White House release stated.

Part of the plan to protect manufactured housing communities includes access to Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) grants, a fund of $225 million that now is available for the purchase of new homes in a community, as well as for infrastructure improvements, and for resident services.

This is the first time the federal government has made grant funding available specifically for investments in manufactured housing communities.

“Manufactured housing offers a proven solution to America’s affordable housing supply crisis,” HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said. “Today’s actions bring us one step closer to a future where everyone has access to housing that meets their needs.”

The FHA, in its Title I Final Rule published with the National Register, has increased loan limits to 115 percent of value for manufactured homes, tying to industry average, would increase a loan limit for a single-section and multi-section manufactured home from $69,678 to $106,405 and $195,322, respectively.

“HUD’s Title I program has been an important source of financing for manufactured homes, but low loan limits have made the program dormant in recent years,” the White House stated in its release. “The rule will increase loan limits to be in line with current market prices and enable HUD to regularly update the limits in the future. To support this action, Ginnie Mae revised eligibility requirements for Issuers of its Manufactured Housing Mortgage-Backed Securities program. These actions are intended to reduce barriers to entry for Issuers and increase participation in its securitization program for Title I loans.”

An expansion of Title I lending, for purchase and refinancing, has been a top priority for the Manufactured Housing Institute and its work on Capitol Hill in recent years.

Additionally, a clarification grants the use of CBDG Funds in acquisition of manufactured housing units, in the service of manufactured housing units, and for providing resilience to manufactured housing communities.

The White House plan, in non-manufactured housing-specific language, is looking to HUD to ensure the elimination of non-rent fees — for application and screening, for instance — in public housing and subsidized programs. Language in the plan also provides a set of tenant rights for military services members, adds resources to prevent unfair evictions, and provides renters’ rights during tenant screening. ##

MHProNews offers Four Corrective Notes on the above:

• 1) The first highlighted word ought to be “Federal Register” not the “National Register.” Given MHInsider’s bombastic claims, they ought to report such details correctly.
• 2) On this date (3.9.2024), there is only 1 (one) public facing article on the MHI website that comments on FHA Title I. One post.
• 3) On this date, there are zero articles or posts on the public facing side of the MHI website that mentions the 10/10 rule. Zero.
• 4) While this quote may be accurate: “Manufactured housing provides an essential path to increasing overall housing supply and offers significant savings over site-built housing,” unmentioned by MHInsider is the fact that manufactured housing crashed some 21 percent year-over-year in 2023 vs. 2022.
• 5) More on the arguably erroneous, misleading, and potentially deceptive post by MHVillage (which they assert is MHI “endorsed”) owned MHInsider item shown in Part I above. Their post was 477 words from title, to by line, including the full text of their actual post. Yet its apparently marred by multiple factually inaccurate remarks and unsupported by evidence claims.  Even this brief initial fisking (some 213 words) of the MHInsider’s problematic claims helps set the stage for the following from the Washington, D.C. based Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR).

Part II, per MHARR: HUD and FHFA Trumpet “Show” Spending While Avoiding Real Solutions

HUD AND FHFA TRUMPET “SHOW” SPENDING WHILE AVOIDING REAL SOLUTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                            Contact: MHARR

(202) 783-4087

HUD AND FHFA TRUMPET “SHOW”
SPENDING WHILE AVOIDING REAL SOLUTIONS

Washington, D.C., March 8, 2024 – Recent announcements by federal agencies are touting millions of dollars in spending on affordable housing, including some nominally targeted at HUD Code manufactured homes. Yet, as the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) has consistently pointed out – and documented, both in its July 2022 White Paper on the “Exploitation of Federal Housing Finance and Mortgage Funding Assistance Programs and Potential Solutions” and its February 28, 2024 package, “Principal Bottlenecks Suppressing Manufactured Housing” – such spending rarely, if ever, “reaches the ground” for consumers of new affordable, mainstream manufactured housing. This is particularly relevant at a time when the HUD Code manufactured housing market has been mired for more than a year in a double-digit production slump.

Specifically, in separate statements issued on February 28 and 29, 2024, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the transfer of $301 million from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Trust Fund and the U.S. Treasury Department’s Capital Magnet Fund (copy attached), while HUD announced the creation of a $225 million fund to “preserve and revitalize manufactured housing and manufactured housing communities” (copy attached). According to HUD, the $225 million competitive grant program will support “repairs and rehabilitation of homes, replacement of dilapidated units, infrastructure upgrades … improvements to increase community resilience in the face of extreme weather, planning activities to support manufactured housing communities, and services for homeowners including … counseling, eviction prevention, and activities that support resident-owned management structures.”

While these programs are presumably well-intended and may benefit some consumers already living in HUD Code manufactured homes or pre-HUD Code “mobile homes,” it is highly unlikely that the bulk of these funds will “reach the ground” to benefit those consumers – and particularly those outside of existing land-lease communities – who wish to purchase new manufactured homes. As a result, they are unlikely to revitalize manufactured housing production to any market-significant degree.

The reasons — as MHARR has already extensively detailed in the above-referenced analyses — are quite simple. The reality is that: (1) because of discriminatory and exclusionary zoning edicts in many areas of the country; and (2) because of a lack of a competitive consumer financing, driven by the absence of securitization and secondary market support from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (plus the added factor of looming high-cost federal energy standards), the HUD Code market is – and has been – underperforming for decades. Put differently, instead of producing and selling hundreds of thousands of homes each year in the face of a growing, long-term affordable housing “crisis,” manufactured housing production this century has either been mired below 100,000 homes per year, or has exceeded that benchmark by only a relatively small margin.

Instead of spending millions of taxpayer dollars on programs that will not significantly expand the number of Americans who can place a manufactured home in a town, neighborhood or area of their choice, or who can qualify for competitively-priced manufactured housing personal property loans, both HUD and FHFA should go to the root of the problem affecting the mainstream manufactured housing market, and enforce the good laws – right under their noses – that could (and will) cure both the zoning and consumer financing bottlenecks. Fully and properly implementing the enhanced federal preemption of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 and the Duty to Serve (DTS) mandate, will help to clear away these obstacles, opening new markets – and expanding existing ones – to make affordable, mainstream manufactured housing  available for millions more Americans.

Going forward, the entire industry – and more particularly the post-production segment of the industry and its national representation in Washington, D.C. (the Manufactured Housing Institute) — will need to prioritize these issues and aggressively seek specific concrete actions from HUD and FHFA in order to allow mainstream, affordable manufactured housing to reach its full potential in satisfying the affordable housing needs of millions of American families.

The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform is a Washington, D.C.- based national trade association representing the views and interests of independent producers of federally-regulated manufactured housing.

— 30 —

Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR)
1331 Pennsylvania Ave N.W., Suite 512
Washington D.C. 20004
Phone: 202/783-4087
Fax: 202/783-4075
Email: MHARRDG@AOL.COM
Website: www.manufacturedhousingassociation.org

Attachments

HUD-News Release.

https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/HUD-ManufacturedHousingAssociationForRegulatoryReformmharr.hudfundingnr-MHARRdownload2MHProNews.pdf

FHFA-News Release.

https://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ManufacturedHousingAssocRegulatoryReform-Download1mharr.fhfafundingnr-MHARR-Housing-Trust-fund3.8.2024MHProNews.pdf

Part III – Additional Information with More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary 

1) Including the headline, and all the text to the word “attachments” there are some 724 words in the MHARR news item. One might quibble over modest items like: “Going forward, the entire industry – and more particularly the post-production segment of the industry and its national representation in Washington, D.C. (the Manufactured Housing Institute)” and say that it could have added i.e.: when it said (example: i.e.: the Manufactured Housing Institute). But such items  relatively trivial items aside, compare what MHARR said in terms of accuracy in reporting and analysis to what MHInsider said or what MHI said.

2) What MHI has said on this date is essentially nothing about this development on the public facing side of their own website.  That point that this potentially significant development has gone unmentioned by MHI should speak volumes to clear and objective observers about the arguably misleading if not deceptive claim by MHInsider that: “An expansion of Title I lending, for purchase and refinancing, has been a top priority for the Manufactured Housing Institute and its work on Capitol Hill in recent years.” That statements is arguably part of demonstrably rubbish reporting, be it intentionally misleading or errantly trusting of MHI. Either way, MHInsider demonstrably blew it. See the 5 bullets in Part I that followed their post and what follows. MHI is once more revealed to be about posturing, preening, and projecting in a fashion that benefits their insider brands while arguably harming many if not most others.

3) MHARR has demonstrably worked for this development with Ginnie Mae and the FHA for years. Again, in fairness, MHI has talked about this for years. But there is an evidence-based case to be made that they have been posturing and paltering, rather than making a sincere effort. See the more detailed report linked below.

4) MHI is not known to have produced anything along the lines of the MHARR White Paper, referenced in Part II above and linked below.  While this or that claim could be made that some federal money might make it to a community operator, producer, or others in the industry, it is nothing compared to what has been lost due to failure to properly implement the good, widely bipartisan existing laws that MHARR has been advocating to get implemented for years.  See the second linked article for details. The evidence-based case can easily be made that billions of dollars in revenue are being lost to manufactured housing annually.

5) No one in manufactured housing, no known platform, has organized a larger virtual library of manufactured housing connected third-party research, and fact checks and expert analysis of reports, articles, and posts of whatever kind that explore the facts and evidence about manufactured housing’s 21st century underperformance than MHLivingNews and MHProNews. Consider the following.

• a) MHI has a multi-million-dollar annual budget and numerous staffers, plus outside contractors.
• b) MHVillage owned MHInsider are per reports, along with their sister-brand Datacomp, owned by Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS). They too have larger budgets and more staff than MHProNews, MHLivingNews, or for that matter, MHARR (a distinct operation to ours, but they are a sponsor). They should have the ability to generate factually accurate reports that are more than glorified derriere kissing to MHI, it’s various leaders, and its consolidators.
• c) MHProNews and MHLivingNews began our critiques of MHI and its corporate benefactors while we were demonstrably MHI members and during a timeframe when MHI and its benefactors had been sponsors of our site. Good trade media arguably should not let ad dollars, or other forms of financial incentives, distract them from doing their job of seeking and telling the truth. Part of the point is that MHInsider is arguably failing in its claims, as are others who make boastful claims that are not supported by the facts and known evidence.
• d) But there may be more to this. Given that ELS is publicly traded firm, and MHVillage owned MHInsider is publishing information that they should know is materially inaccurate, is ELS and/or various members of the MHVillage/MHInsider/Datacomp team engaged in illegal or deceptive trade practices?

6) To probe that, consider the following Q&A with Bing’s AI powered Copilot.

> “Copilot, confirm or clarify as needed the following. MHVillage owns MHInsider. MHVillage and Datacomp were purchased by Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS). MHVillage has said that the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI or the Institute) has “endorsed” them. MHI CEO Lesli Gooch, who has been accused with evidence of conflicts of interest, is a periodic contributor to MHInsider. ELS has Patrick Waite on the MHI executive committee and has a seat on the MHI board of directors. If MHInsider publishes information that is demonstrably and materially incorrect, as a subsidiary of ELS, isn’t there a possible legal argument to be made that incorrect and misleading information could be a breach of several possible federal and/or state laws? For example, the SEC forbids a publicly traded company from providing materially inaccurate information, right? The DOJ and FTC have prohibitions against antitrust, RICO, and deceptive trade practices, correct? Indeed, ELS itself has recently admitted that previously provided information by ELS that was materially inaccurate has resulted in several announced shareholders investigations, correct? And haven’t several fact-checks of MHInsider revealed that they have published information that is demonstrably false or misleading? And haven’t several antitrust lawsuits been launched that name Datacomp and ELS? Again, confirm, clarify, and link the results as needed to this inquiry.”

Let’s note that when Copilot said: “…is the premier source of manufactured housing news...” what it is apparently doing is quoting MHInsider patting itself on the back. Big deal. But as Copilot recently acknowledged, now MHVillage co-president Darren Krolewski previously said that MHProNews is the preeminent source for industry information. Let’s consider that in the light of the next Q&A.

7)

> “Useful. Darren Krolewski is currently MHVillage’s co-president. While he was an executive vice president at Datacomp and MHVillage, in a congratulatory message to Manufactured Home Pro News (MHProNews) he used words to the effect that MHProNews was the preeminent source for industry news and information and that MHProNews did an often thankless job. Is that correct? That being so, and given the numbers of times that MHInsider has not only been fact checked and found wanting, but has failed to correct those factual or logical errors, what implications could industry readers or researchers take away from those facts? Link your results.”

7a) Note that MHProNews editorially concurs with the point by Copilot: “Industry professionals, researchers, and readers should exercise caution when relying on information from any source.” As MHProNews has acknowledged, there are times that we have erred, but we also later admitted those errors publicly and more than once. One of several such examples is linked below.

7b) By contrast, this doesn’t seem to be the practice of MHInsider. Nor, for that matter, of some other publications or bloggers that focus on manufactured housing. Nor does it seem to be the practice of MHI itself. When MHI errors, they may (after considerable time has passed) simply change their information in a new document without admitting the errors previously stated. Copilot recently pointed that out in a Q&A on what the economic contribution is of manufactured housing to the industry. But there are several such items, not just one. Indeed, there is an evidence-based argument to be made that MHI is knowingly publishing misinformation. A similar argument can be made about MHInsider et al.

7c) Ironically, ELS’ late vice chairman Howard Walker provided an even more robust plug for MHProNews and MHLivingNews.

“The emergence of [L.A.] Tony Kovach’s group of publications has brought a new standard of professional to the industry. The thorough and unbiased reporting fills the vacuum that has existed for too long. It’s been refreshing to have these communications serving the manufactured housing industry, and here’s to their continued success.” – Howard Walker, J.D. Walker served for years as an MHI board member and as a member of the MHI executive committee.

8) Those remarks by Walker and Krolewski are useful and perhaps critically important in sorting out where the truth is on competing claims. But these items help industry newcomers, researchers, and veterans alike sort out what is true and what is self-serving BS in MHVille.

9) Absolutely absent in both the public side of MHI’s website, with MHInsider, but also often with other MH Industry publishers and bloggers are the type of hard data and reliable insights found from MHARR, MHProNews, and MHLivingNews (again, noting that MHARR and our publications are separate and independent entities). MHProNews carried MHARR news for years, for instance, before they became a sponsor. MHProNews often pointed to MHARR’s stance on an issue, even while we were MHI members and were being paid by MHI to promote some event or whatever.  Editorially, we let the facts and industry expertise drive our commentary. That is what made – and arguably keeps us – as the top source for manufactured housing “Industry News, Tips, and Views Pros Can Use.” ^©

> “Useful. The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) publishes a monthly update on new manufactured home production, correct? That report is publicly available. MHARR gives permission to third-parties to reproduce that report with proper credit and link-backs, correct? So, MHInsider, ManufacturedHomes.com, MHReview (which has at times republished some MHARR items), could – if they wanted to do so, provide that information monthly, is that logically accurate? That said, MHProNews has for years provided that same information from MHARR, but has added its own additional facts, and analysis, is that accurate? And finally the Manufactured Housing Institute has for years apparently failed to provide similar information to the public, even though MHARR, the National Association of Home Builders, the RVIA, and the National Association of Realtors routinely published public information similar to what MAHRR does. Comment and clarify on those points and their implications. Link the results.”

Note that Bing’s Copilot said “the absence of similar transparency from MHI may impact industry stakeholders’ ability to make informed decisions.”

10)

> “As a disclosure, this inquiry is from someone who has been not been registered with either major party for over a decade. A “political independent.” I’m personally keen on manufactured housing as a proven solution to the U.S. affordable housing crisis. That noted, the following. It seems that the Biden-Harris White House’s most recent remarks, and recent HUD statement on manufactured housing ‘support’ – the later of which was critiqued by the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform and found on their website – are potentially misleading. While it may seem useful to supply the manufactured housing industry with up to $225 million dollars in taxpayer funded support, a recent op-ed on the Ledger that was amplified by news aggregators MSN and Yahoo indicated how potentially important and useful the enforcement of enhanced preemption could be toward solving the affordable housing crisis, isn’t that accurate? Furthermore, HUD researchers Pamela Blumenthal and Regina Gray said that politicians in both major parties have been talking about solutions to the affordable housing crisis for 50 years, but the fundamental problems remain the same. It seems that many (perhaps not all) politicians often make campaign season promises that they know won’t make much if any different to the root causes of the affordable housing crisis. Recent analysis of facts on MHLivingNews and MHProNews indicate that the affordable housing crisis could be resolved in a reasonable time frame if HUD were consistently implementing the “enhanced preemption” provision of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000. While the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) claims to support that provision, the stance of several of their members are the development of very few new communities in the 21st century is useful to their business models. Right or wrong, that is the stated position by several publicly traded firms that are often MHI members, right? Unpack those concerns and link results.”

1 hud.gov 2 manufacturedhousingassociationregulatoryreform.org 3 files.hudexchange.info 4 whitehouse.gov 5 bisnow.com 6 whitehouse.gov 7 kenaninstitute.unc.edu 8  cbpp.org 9weforum.org 10brookings.edu 11 housingmatters.urban.org 12 huduser.gov 13 manufacturedhomelivingnews.com14 hud.gov 15 manufacturedhomepronews.com 16 manufacturedhousingassociationregulatoryreform.org 17 huduser.gov 18theledger.com…”

11)

> “Useful. Copilot, during his recent State of the Union (SOTU), Joe Biden said: “For millions of renters, we’re cracking down on big landlords who break antitrust laws by price-fixing and driving up rents.” The White House has also published a new fact sheet that says something similar. While neither mentions manufactured housing specifically, it seems to fit the facts of the antitrust cases filed against Datacomp, Equity LifeStyle Properties, and several other members of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and/or MHI linked state association, isn’t that correct? Do you think that it is possible that Biden and the White House remarks may signal a possible move by the federal government to act to reign in the purportedly predatory and possibly antitrust violating acts of several key MHI members? Who in manufactured housing is reporting on those developments?”

Indeed, the recent remarks by President Joe Biden during the State of the Union (SOTU) and the White House’s fact sheet signal a commitment to addressing antitrust violations and price-fixing in the housing market. While they do not explicitly mention manufactured housing, the implications extend to various sectors, including the manufactured home industry.

Antitrust Cases and Manufactured Housing:

• The antitrust cases filed against Datacomp, Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS), and other members of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) raise concerns about price-fixing and anti-competitive practices.
• These cases allege that these entities conspired to fix, raise, maintain, and stabilize manufactured home lot rental prices, impacting residents and affordability¹²³.

Possible Federal Action:

• While the remarks do not specifically target MHI members, they underscore the federal government’s commitment to addressing antitrust violations.
• It is possible that the federal government may take action to rein in predatory practices and enforce antitrust laws within the manufactured housing industry.

Reporting on Developments:

• MHProNews and MHLivingNews are reliable sources that report on developments within the manufactured housing industry, including legal actions, antitrust cases, and policy changes.
• These platforms provide insights and analysis to keep industry professionals informed about significant events.

In summary, while the remarks do not directly mention manufactured housing, they signal a broader commitment to addressing antitrust violations, which could have implications for key MHI members. MHProNews and MHLivingNews are actively reporting on these developments.

Learn more

1 courthousenews.com 2 manufacturedhomes.com 3 manufacturedhomelivingnews.com 4 bing.com 5 manufacturedhomepronews.com 6 hud.gov 7 files.hudexchange.info 8 whitehouse.gov 9 hud.gov 10 manufacturedhousingassociationregulatoryreform.org 11 manufacturedhousingassociationregulatoryreform.org 12 theledger.com 13 kenaninstitute.unc.edu 14 cbpp.org 15 weforum.org 16  brookings.edu 17 housingmatters.urban.org 18 bisnow.com 19  whitehouse.gov…”

 

12) Much more could be asked, probed, and inspected with respect to the above. But there is plenty of proverbial meat on the bones already. So, let’s sum up.

a) There is political BS (bull stuff…) and professional or MH Industry specific BS.

b) MHInsider, ManufacturedHomes.com, Frank Rolfe, George Allen, or any other trade media or bloggers that want to be a credible source for objective information, should look critically and analytically at all the relevant and known facts, not just cherry-picked ones that favor the MHI-narrative. To MHReview’s credit, they occasionally have carried this or that MHARR items, but they have done so inconsistently.  Additionally, as an emailed quarterly, they have a limited reach in MHVille, per various sources.

c) It should be apparent that numbers of companies involved at MHI have millions, to hundreds of millions, to billions of dollars at their command. See some recent reports further below in Part IV that verifies that point. Thus, it is naive at best, potentially risky or foolish at worst, to think that those brands that have made no secret about the fact that they want to consolidate the manufactured housing industry wish to do so at the best possible terms for themselves.

d) It is Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (parent to Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance (VMF), and other brands in manufactured housing like Shaw) that has spoken at times quite openly about the aims of people in his “class” to win the battle of “class warfare.” Bad economic conditions, Buffett has noted, can result in bargains.

 

e) Let us be editorially clear. Darren Krolewski is an intelligent fellow. Several of his colleagues are too. Lesli Gooch and several involved in MHI are too. We don’t think they are bleeping idiots. But it seems apparent that they are willing to look the other way any time exposing any aspect of the increasingly apparent scheme to consolidate the industry is obvious. They appear to be, to various degrees, ‘in on it.’ By failing to report, they are at a minimum arguably giving cover to such purportedly improper and/or possibly illegal tactics. Who said? How about antitrust and consumer advocate/legal researcher Samuel Strommen?

 

f) According to the Quote Investigator are the following quotable quotes and keen observations.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!” – when Upton Sinclair ran for Governor of California in the 1930s, and he “published installments from his forthcoming book about the ill-fated campaign titled “I, Candidate for Governor, and How I Got Licked”.”

In 1893 a newspaper in Lincoln, Nebraska printed a thematically related statement written by populist politician William Jennings Bryan:^[2]

It is useless to argue with a man whose opinion is based upon a personal or pecuniary interest; the only way to deal with him is to outvote him.

In 1922 English author and later BBC personality C. E. M. Joad published a germane passage about two professions:^[3]

Hear, hear! It’s all a question of trusts and monopolies. Doctors have a monopoly of medicine just as parsons have of God. You can’t get a parson to admit the arguments of an agnostic, because his salary depends on his not letting the agnostic refute him; and you can’t get an ordinary doctor to look kindly on psychoanalysis or autosuggestion because their success would make him superfluous. All this is not a question of the Life Force at all; it is a question of bread and butter.

14) Are MHI members aware of this? Perhaps some are, but numbers of others – perhaps not. But while self-serving players pick over the bones of their ‘fellow’ MHI and MHI/state association affiliates, who in MHVille besides MHProNews/MHLivingNews or MHARR are consistently or persistently sounding the klaxon?

A special report is ahead. There is evidence that a reckoning could be ahead. Even if Biden-Harris aren’t in the White House next year, just mentioning this in their remarks could make it an issue for whoever sits in the Oval Office in 2025. Stay tuned.

 

Persistent Manufactured Housing Association Efforts Pay Dividends on Reforming Destructive Ginnie Mae 10/10 Rule – Better and More Manufactured Home Chattel Lending Ahead?!? Plus MHMarkets

 

Part IV – is our Daily Business News on MHProNews stock market recap which features our business-daily at-a-glance update of over 2 dozen manufactured housing industry stocks.

This segment of the Daily Business News on MHProNews is the recap of yesterday evening’s market report, so that investors can see at glance the type of topics may have influenced other investors. Thus, our format includes our signature left (CNN Business) and right (Newsmax) ‘market moving’ headlines.

The macro market move graphics below provide context and comparisons for those invested in or tracking manufactured housing connected equities. Meaning, you can see ‘at a glance’ how manufactured housing connected firms do compared to other segments of the broader equities market.

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 from left-of-center CNN Business –

Note this headline news function failed yesterday, MHProNews regrets the error. 

 

Note: to expand this image below to a larger or full size, see the instructions

below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.

Headlines from right-of-center Newsmax  –

Note this headline news function failed yesterday, MHProNews regrets the error. 

 

Note: to expand this image below to a larger or full size, see the instructions
below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.

Notice: MHProNews invites the firms named in these reports to respond to any concerns about possibly inaccurate information via email that identifies the concern and offers evidence that sheds a different light on the topic discussed. That said, neither MHI nor MHI publicly traded ‘insider brands’ have done so. They’ve been repeatedly invited to do so, including but not limited to an outreach on Dec 7, 2o23 and Feb 25, 2024.

APO = Apolo Global Management – bought Inspire Communities

BAM = Brookfield Asset Management – owns and invests in manufactured home communities (MHCs).

BLK = BlackRock – conglomerate has investments in firms and operations involved in manufactured housing.

BRK-A = Berkshire Hathaway – includes outright ownership of Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage Corp, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, other manufactured home industry linked firms (MHC brokerage, suppliers, etc.).

BX = Blackstone – Blackstone Group LP has made its first big bet on manufactured housing by buying a portfolio of communities sold by Tricon Capital Group Inc.

CDPYF = Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust – also has manufactured home communities (MHCs).

CIGI = Colliers International Group Inc. – The Manufactured Housing and RV Group “We Assist Owners and Investors with Disposition, Acquisition, and Financing for Manufactured Housing Communities and RV Parks.”

CG = The Carlyle Group – has manufactured home communities investments.

CSGP = CoStar Group – is commercial real estate’s leading provider of information, analytics and online marketplaces. They acquired listing service Homes.com.

CVCO = Cavco Industries – manufactured home and other factory-built housing production, retail, finance, insurance.

ECNCF = ECN Capital Group – includes manufactured home lender Triad Financial Services.

ELS = Equity LifeStyle Properties – includes land lease manufactured home communities (MHCs), but also RV and marine slips holdings. Also has captive manufactured home retail operations, and parent to Datacomp/MHVillage.

FGF = FG Financial Group – FG Communities “Owns and Operates Growing Portfolio of Manufactured Housing Communities.” KEY = KeyCorp – manufactured home community financing and manufactured home single-family mortgage financing.

KMMPF = Killam Apartment REITs- (includes manufactured home communities (MHCs).

LCII = LCI Industries – components for the manufactured home industry and others (RVs, housing, etc.).

LEGH = Legacy Housing – produces manufactured homes, tiny houses, retail, and captive finance operations.

LPX = Louisiana Pacific Corporation – components for the manufactured home industry and others (housing, etc.).

MHC-UN.TO = Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).

MHPC = Manufactured Housing Properties – land lease manufactured home communities (MHCs).

MMI = Marcus and Millichap – commercial real estate brokerage services that include land lease manufactured home communities (MHCs).

NOBH = Nobility Homes – produces and offers captive retail, financing, and insurance services for HUD Code manufactured homes and modular homes.

PATK = Patrick Industries – components for the manufactured home industry and others (RVs, housing, etc.).

SKY = Skyline Champion – produces and offers captive retail, financing, and insurance for HUD Code manufactured homes and modular homes.

SUI = Sun Communities – includes land lease manufactured home communities (MHCs), but also RV and marine slips holdings. Also has captive manufactured home retail operations.

UMH = UMH Properties – includes land lease manufactured home communities and captive manufactured home retail, leasing, and financing operations.

UFPI = UFP Industries – components for the manufactured home industry and others (housing, etc.).

• • • 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.
    • Note 5: Gifts of Sight and Insights, What’s in Store for 2024? Including 2023 Year End Reflections, manufactured homes, manufactured housing, mobile homes, MHVille, USA Snapshots, Manufactured housing industry year in review 2023.

 

2023 …Berkshire Hathaway is the parent company to Clayton Homes, 21^st 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.

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• Note 1: MHVille means manufactured housing industry, MHVille also means artificially smaller manufactured housing (MH) industry,
• Note 2: Manufactured housing, building, 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.
• Note 3:
  

  APO, Apollo Global Management, BAM, Brookfield Asset Management, BLK, BlackRock, BRK-A, Berkshire Hathaway, BX, Blackstone, CDPYF, Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, CIGI, Colliers International Group Inc, CG, The Carlyle Group, CSGP, CoStar Group, CVCO, Cavco Industries, ECNCF, ECN Capital Group, ELS, Equity LifeStyle Properties, FGF, FG Financial Group, FG Communities,  KEY, KeyCorp, KMMPF, Killam Apartment REITs, LCII, LCI Industries, LEGH, Legacy Housing, LPX, Louisiana Pacific Corporation, MHC-UN.TO, Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), MHPC, Manufactured Housing Properties, MMI, Marcus and Millichap, NOBH, Nobility Homes, PATK, Patrick Industries, SKY, Skyline Champion, SUI, Sun Communities, UMH, UMH Properties, UFPI, UFP Industries.

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 linked herein. 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 recognitions 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 MHLivingNews.com and MHProNews. MHProNews is ranked as the runaway most read trade media in modern manufactured housing history. Manufactured Home Pro News (MHProNews) is the documented #1 largest and most read source for manufactured housing industry News Tips and Views Pros Can Use, per Webalizer 2.23 and known data. MHProNews gets millions of visits a year and has significantly more pageviews per visit than CNN or Fox per SimilarWeb’s stats for those two sites (but those sites get more much more total traffic). Statistics Data Infographics Research Facts Evidence and manufactured housing industry expert analysis make us the runaway most read in MHVille trade media. 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.