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Financing is always a hot topic in manufactured housing. A very common Google search is for mobile or manufactured home loans! If you want more MHLending, and want to keep it simple, jump near the end of this article to Want more access to MH loans? For those who want more details, let’s dive in with the following.
Lending has become a sensitive, sometimes political issue, since the passage of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act. This seems odd, since affordable housing is a non-partisan issue! Americans need quality, affordable housing, and manufactured homes makes affordable home ownership possible for more Americans, as HUD Secretary Julian Castro said in a recent video.
There is a clear path to increasing lending options for manufactured homes. The short background below and the links that follow should give you all you need to know…and then some!
As MHLivingNews reported previously, lending on pre-HUD Code mobile homes and earlier models of post-code manufactured homes were restricted by CFPB imposed regulations. Unless you are buying, selling or seeking to refinance a low-cost manufactured home, you may never know it. With legislation to fix the problem moving through Congress, the time to act on this issue is now.
There are experts who say that any form of housing below about $75,000 to $100,000 is being limited – and thus harmed – by the unintended consequences of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) implementation of Dodd-Frank. MHLivingNews notes that homes with a value under $20,000 are the most impacted. The ‘fix’ for all of this is a bill known as HR 650/S 682 – The Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act.
The House passed HR 650 – the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act – last spring with wide margin and bi-partisan support. As MHI’s Dr. Lesli Gooch stated about the companion Senate bill, “The language (of S 682) could catch a ride on the must-pass omnibus Appropriations package as a policy rider because the bill was included in the Senate’s Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill (Section 909 of S. 1910) in July.”
Because the General Government Appropriations bill is likely to be voted on before or or December 11, 2015, the time to act is now.
Against this background, Tom Fath knows the issue from ‘both sides’ of the fence; as an MH homeowner with a home that’s impacted by the regulations, and as a business professional. See what Tom has to say about this in the video interview shown below.
Want more access to MH loans?
Want to help your neighbors who own a low cost manufactured home or pre-HUD Code mobile home get more financing options? Then MHLivingNews encourages you to contact your Congressman and Senators – call or email them – and ask them to support inclusion of HR 650/S 682 in the upcoming General Government Appropriations bill. There is likely to be a vote on or before December 11, 2015. You can find your congressional representative and two U.S. Senators via this link. Please take 5, and do it today. ##
Want more details?
Previous articles and resources on this topic, are linked below.
Renters’ Nation: The Dark Side of Dodd-Frank and Its Impact on Affordable Housing
Sam Landy, UMH CEO, on Dodd-Frank and The Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act – S 682/HR 650
She Black, He’s White, They’re in Different Parties. Why Congressional Representatives Terri Sewell and Andy Barr Support Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing
The Hill – Congress Blog – Manufactured Home Loan Regulations
The Conflict-of-Interest ‘Secret’ behind Why some Oppose the Bill – CFED and CFPB – Confused, Conflicted “Friends” of Manufactured Home Owners and Prospective Buyers?
Doug Ryan, CFED, Manufactured Housing and Financing – What’s Wrong, What’s Right ##
