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Congressional Representative Cindy Axne (IA-D) office made the following media release available to MHLivingNews. First-time visitors should note that there are white-hat brands in manufactured housing as well as so-called black-hat or “predatory” brands too. More on that further below. The Rep. Axne press release will be followed by additional information, some MHLivingNews analysis, and a brief related commentary.
Rep. Axne’s Manufactured Housing Affordability Bill Advanced by House Financial Services Committee
July 29, 2021
The Manufactured Housing Community Preservation Act would provide grants to resident co-ops and other entities to purchase properties
Today, the House Financial Services Committee passed Rep. Cindy Axne’s (IA-03) legislation designed to keep manufactured housing communities (MHCs) affordable by providing federal assistance for acquiring and preserving these communities.
The Manufactured Housing Community Preservation Act would create a new grant program to help nonprofits, resident-formed cooperatives, and other local entities purchase and maintain an MHC through awards of up to $2 million.
The legislation, which was re-introduced with Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17) and Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) earlier this year, would require that rents remain affordable and that the community is managed for the benefit of the residents for at least 30 years after the grant is awarded.
“Providing residents of our manufactured housing communities a pathway to acquiring their own community through a co-op or partnering with a nonprofit will help ensure we can keep these communities affordable for this and future generations of tenants,” said Rep. Axne. “I’m proud to see this legislation advancing out of my committee today, and I will be pushing to get this legislation all the way to the President’s desk to provide these grants to folks who want to preserve their communities for themselves and their children.”
Last year, the Manufactured Housing Community Preservation Act was added to the House’s infrastructure package by a unanimous vote of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill has the support of Prosperity Now, Manufactured Housing Institute, MHAction, and ROC USA.
Background:
Rep. Axne is also the author of the Manufactured Housing Tenant’s Bill of Rights, which would establish a set of minimum standards for MHC tenants that receive federal financing through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or the Federal Housing Administration.
In 2019, Rep. Axne toured Midwest Country Estates homes with Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to meet with residents and hear about the financial hardship and requirements imposed in the community by the new ownership.
Rep. Axne also wrote to Havenpark Capital to demand answers on the significant rent spikes at five different Havenpark-owned MHCs, including Midwest Country Estates in Waukee. ##
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MHLivingNews has previously spotlighted concerns raised by Axne and other Democratic lawmakers regarding Havenpark Capital. See an example in the report linked below.
Republicans have increasingly been concerned about allegations of predatory and other potentially illegal and unethical business tactics too.
MHProNews and MHLivingNews have each reported on the troubling nature of the ties between the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and several MHI-member brands, including Havenpark, that have been accused by Axne and others of ‘predatory’ practices.
While MHLivingNews and MHProNews are editorially in favor of resident-owned communities or ROCs, it must be noted that ROCs are not a panacea to the issues that have plagued manufactured home residents. Ultimately, as resident advocate Robert “Bob” Van Cleef and others have noted, there has to be a range of efforts brought online in order to address the issues plaguing manufactured home residents that have reportedly been victimized by brands with ties to MHI.
Resident advocate Fred Neil recently filed federal comments about some of those practices. See that and more in the report linked below.
That raises several questions, including ‘How is it that Axne has brought together Prosperity Now, MHI, and MHAction on this bill?, To learn more, see the linked and related reports.
To learn more about how to discern good companies from problematic ones in manufactured housing, see the report linked below.
MHLivingNews plans to monitor and report on the developments of this bill being advanced by Rep. Axne and other manufactured home living-related issues.
First-time visitor? To learn more about manufactured homes and manufactured housing issues in general, see the linked and related reports. And of course, surf the MHLivingNews and MHProNews sites. ##
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We lay out the facts and insights that others are too lazy, agenda-driven, or are otherwise uninformed to do. That’s what makes our sister site and this location the runaway leaders for authentic information about affordable housing in general, the politics behind the problems, and manufactured homes specifically. 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, 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 MHLivingNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and 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.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Recent and Related Reports:
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