George Allen / EducateMHC Blog Mobile Home & Land Lease Community Advocate & Expert

July 19, 2022

Potpourri of Important MH-related Topics

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 6:36 am

Blog Posting # 698. Copyright @ 19 July 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing!
EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, education resource, textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America!
To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815, email gfa7156@aol.com and or visit www.educatemhc.com

INTRODUCTION: This time around, a veritable potpourri of important MH-related topics.

First and foremost, of most newsworthy and greatest importance, is the public announcement, on 18 July 2022, in Clayton Built News; that the firm is adjusting their base pricing DOWN mid-month July, so as to “pass these savings on to our customers.” The key question now is, who among the other HUD-Code housing manufacturers will follow suit and reduce their base pricing yet this month? They all know what’s happening at Clayton Home Building Group. So, let’s watch and see what the other two of the Big 3-C firms do, along with everyone else!

Next topic. I’ve waited more than 45 years for this to happen – and now it has! What? Soft-opening of the new, huge manufactured housing (‘MH’) exhibit hall at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. Was in Elkhart last week (12-14 July) as part of a 16 person ‘working committee’ tasked with recommending final adjustments to this long-awaited showcase of our product and its’ 70+ year history! Won’t tell you the details here – you need to travel to Elkhart to see it firsthand. But I’ll tell you this much; the static displays are more impressive than the much vaunted ones in the RV exhibit hall. Seriously. And, the icing on the cake, so to speak, is the emphasis on importance of land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’) on the history of our industry and realty asset class. First official day open to the public? 15 August 2022.

Speaking of 15 August 2022. You should already be well aware this is the date of the induction of the Class of 2022 into the prestigious RV/MH Hall of Fame! Hosts are already expecting in excess of 600 industry pioneers, leaders, executives, and family members. To purchase a ticket, simply phone (574) 293-2344 or visit the website: rvmhhalloffame.org If you’ve never been to the RV/MH Hall of Fame, this year is the ideal time to go. Why? The facility has never looked better. It is HUGE, considering recent addition of the new free-standing RV meeting facility, mega parking lot, and of course the new MH exhibit hall. And if you have hopes of being recommended and selected for induction into the Hall of Fame, go ahead of time, to ‘get the lay of the land’ and meet folk you need to know! Also, while there, visit the upstairs library to see the addition of the George Allen library (largest collection of land lease community texts available anywhere in the world). And buy books in the downstairs bookstore.

Seems to me we have a donnybrook (‘free-for-all, public altercation’) occurring between MHI and MHARR, though most of the diatribe (‘bitter & abusive denunciation’) is coming from the latter industry advocate.*1 This appears to be in regards to “…MHI’s recent proposal and plan of action…opposing the U.S. Department of Energy’s (‘DOE’) final manufactured housing energy rule.”*2 Danny Ghorbani, former president & CEO of MHARR, in a recent question & answer piece, tells us, “The DOE final manufactured housing energy rule…published on 31 May 2022, and enforced on 31 May 2023, is a very complex energy regulation resulting from the manufactured housing energy provisions of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (‘EISA’).” Possible consequence? “That DOE rule… (will) potentially wipe-out nearly 80% (of the) production of our industry’s most affordable models.”*3 In the meantime, MHI has called on its’ members (700+ have responded to date) to contact their House Representatives to cosponsor H.R. 7651, ‘The Manufactured Housing Affordability and Energy Efficiency Act’ (Alluded to earlier). So, what’s the donnybrook? MHARR appears to feel the Act is, ‘too little too late’, hence ineffective. Only time and effort will tell. But in the meantime, it’d help matters if MHARR would stop criticizing what they view as MHI’s past “…mistakes during the rulemaking process….”(*2), and focus on stopping the rule’s proponents and DOE allies from putting “…their collective foot in the door (of) their larger targets (i.e. THE GREATER HOUSING & BUILDIING INDUSTRIES).” (*2) (Emphasis added. GFA). Are they on board with passage of H.R. 7651? Bottom line. Stop the damn bickering and work together, as you did during the late 1990s, to effect passage of The Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000.

End Notes.
1. MHARR & MHI. Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform & Manufactured Housing Institute.
2. Quoted from MHPRONEWS dated 27 June 2022.
3. No statistical evidence or calculations to this end are provided.

George Allen, CPM, MHM
EducateMHC



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