manufacturedhomelivingnews.com Manufactured Home Living News
Quality affordable living is — and should be — a bi-partisan issue. There are interest groups that are attempting to use the media to manipulate Congress and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) by diverting attention away from the simple truth that manufactured housing lending is unique and benefits millions of Americans.
To make that case, we open the video with a pithy, powerful statement by Secretary Julian Castro, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (HUD).
That is followed by a C-SPAN video clip of a brief discussion between Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) and CFPB’s Richard Corday. This is followed by three graphics that summarize and illustrate Castro and Cordray’s key points.
This includes a graphic from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) 2014 report on manufactured housing that shows it to be the most affordable form of housing, in terms of both lower total cost and lower monthly payments.
Then there is a statement by UMH Properties CEO Sam Landy, J.D., whose firm made millions of dollars in MH loans, before suspending them due to legal risks created by the unintended consequences of how Dodd-Frank is being implemented. In a couple of minutes, Landy explains how the current application of CFPB regulations harms both consumers and businesses.
You will also see video clips that blow away the old image of yesteryear’s mobile homes with the reality of today’s manufactured homes and their owners.
The hours of distractions caused by interest groups melt away in 10 minutes in light of the fact that manufactured homes are, as Castro and others have said, a vital part of the solution to America’s affordable housing crisis.
There is a point that Corker, Castro and Cordray don’t mention that we will. Manufactured housing isn’t just a housing product; it’s a process of building a greener, safer, smarter, lower-maintenance and money-saving homes enjoyed by frugal millionaires, the upwardly mobile, the middle class, working class and even the poor.
You can have “shade and shelter,” entry level manufactured housing, as well as stunningly appealing residential manufactured homes that can be two levels built with or without a basement or popular add-ons, like a garage.
In an era of economic challenges, manufactured homes offer good jobs for Americans from coast to coast. MH saves money, which is needed by millions of retirees, millennials and people from every socio-economic and demographic group.
They are appealing, energy-efficient homes that Dr. Harold Hunt of the Real Estate Center of Texas A&M aptly describes as “not your grandfather’s trailer house.”
This is the reality of modern MH.
We’ll be updating this with a companion video report featuring clips of manufactured home owners and experts who explain why Congress and the CFPB must change the current regulations, because they are harming millions of people.
A cross-referenced, link-laced 800-word report to The Hill Congressional blog at this link here sheds light on some of the conflict of interest lurking in the background, which is generating smoke that keeps too many in the dark about the obvious solution manufactured homes offer.
This solution isn’t a “someday” solution that will cost taxpayers billions. Rather, it is a free enterprise, private sector solution that is available right now. We simply must get the distractions out of the way, so the market works to the benefit of home owners, buyers and sellers.
When MH is properly understood and allowed to work, everyone in the mix can benefit and win. ##
