Blog Posting # 760, Copyright 22 September 2023. EducateMHC
Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable factory-built housing! And land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two business models! To input this blog or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815, email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.com, to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the sole professional community management text in print today! And SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities, and official record of annual MH production totals since 1955, and my autobiography, From SmittyAlph6 to MHMaven – describes combat adventures in Vietnam, and a 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management.
George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, Emeritus member of Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, and author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business & management wisdom, and prayer.
STORM CLOUDS ARE GATHERING
MHAction’s National Gathering (of land lease community tenants & activists) in Washington, DC., on 5-8 November; PLUS, recent Class Action Complaint – Jury Trial Demanded by homeowners/site lessees as plaintiff, against ten defendants – all well-known firms in the MH industry and real estate asset class; PLUS pending chassis removal legislation that might well change the nature – good and bad, of HUD-Code manufactured housing going forward. Are you paying attention? If not, benchmark this blog posting as your motivation to get involved!
Frankly, I wonder if anyone is paying attention. I’ve heard and read nary a thing about these three gathering storm clouds – beyond an invitation to attend said MHAction event, a copy of the aforementioned lawsuit, and WHITE PAPER on chassis removal published and distributed by the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (‘MHARR’). How ‘bout you?
At the recent SECO Conference in Atlanta, GA. (10-12 September), all these issues – and more, were parsed during private and small group discussions. Read our previous blog posting for details.
Next event? First ever Manufactured Housing Forum, hosted by Information Management Network (‘IMN’), to occur in Nashville, TN., on 28 & 29 September. This appears to be an interpersonal networking conference supplemented with ‘educational content & industry insights’. IMN appears to be a ‘global organizer of institutional, finance, investment, and real estate conferences.’ But what do they know about the dynamics of our industry and realty asset class? I’d say, from the list of presenters and misuse of trade terminology, very little.
Know what? IMN’s forum is NOT really the next meeting of interest – to some, if not many, of us. That would be the annual SHED SHOW in Knoxville, TN., 27 & 28 September. Shed Show? Yep; shed builders from across the U.S. gather annually to learn more about their fabricated product and where their market might be going. I, for one, see sophisticated ‘sheds’ as the next Tiny House, along with ‘capsulehouses’- I haven’t even told you about yet.*1
Next event? Manufactured Housing Institute’s (‘MHI’) annual meeting on 2-4 October in Palm Springs, CA. MHI says this will be ‘an opportunity to exchange information with industry friends, stay current on housing marketplace trends, and attend …meetings.’ Hmm. One can only guess whether one or more of the three aforementioned ‘storm clouds’ will be on any fixed or informal agenda at this meeting of our industry’s primary national advocacy organization. I have been told the pending chassis removal legislation will be openly discussed. Good!
Next event? MHI’s NCC Fall Leadership Forum on 1-3 November (Just two days before MHAction’s national gathering in Washington, DC.), in downtown Chicago, IL. In this case, NCC claims its’ forum is the sole strategic executive level event of the year for national community owners. Great! Just the place to discuss the ‘storm clouds’ gathering against the industry and real estate asset class’! But will that happen? My guess is, ‘No’.
Next event? There is none – until January of 2024, when ‘everyone who’s anyone’ in MH and communities travels to the Louisville MHShow on 17-19 January. At this point we can only hope the ‘powers that be’ will exert authority and plan opportunities for businessmen and women to learn more about what they should be hearing from national advocacy bodies, about the gathering ‘storm clouds’ – but aren’t.
End Note.
- Accessory Dwelling Units (‘ADU’) now include park model RVs, Tiny Houses, sheds equipped as houses, and capsulehouses. For more on this subject read my upcoming article, ‘RVs as Affordable Housing’.
‘WASHINGTON WATCHDOG’ BARKS
The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (‘MHARR’) has long been acknowledged and appreciated as our industry’s ‘Washington (DC) Watchdog’. Since 1985 it has closely followed, and often combated, attempts by regulators to amend and complicate the HUD-Code that’s been in place since 1974/76. Today it appears we have a new regulatory challenge facing us in manufactured housing circles, in the form of two house bills.
To that end, MHARR recently (September 2023) published and distributed a “Position Paper & Plan of Action on Two Pending Legislative Proposals Regarding Deletion of the PERMANENT CHASSIS Requirement, and Other Matters’.
Relative to what MHARR refers to as the ‘surgical removal’ of ‘the five-word clause “built on a permanent chassis” from the 1974 Act, here’re observations gleaned from this WHITE PAPER:
First off; ‘surgical removal’, as stated, refers simply to the five-word clause (‘built on a permanent chassis’); meaning, it is important, even vital, said removal does not negatively affect the remainder of the statute.
So, what is ‘the worry’? Perhaps, types of housing without a metal/steel chassis might now be classified as manufactured homes! This could include a variety of Accessory Dwelling Units (‘ADUs’) – or, using a new housing term: ‘off-site construction’, e.g., “panelized systems, manufactured homes, tiny houses, recreational vehicles, modular/pods, and shipping containers.”*1 This being the case – presumably, anywhere a HUD-Code manufactured home is welcome now, would necessarily include these, and other, examples of ‘off-site construction’. Dual consequences: Increased competition for traditional manufactured housing fabricators, but also new forms of affordable housing available to the American home-buying public.
And there’s yet another perspective. A HUD-Code manufactured home sans permanent chassis would likely be welcome in subdivisions and on scattered building sites conveyed fee simple. So, more business for our traditional manufactured housing fabricators! However, new HUD-Code homes sans permanent chassis would not likely change land lease community operations all that much – except for being able to install them closer to the ground.
A final observation, for now, on this subject of chassis removal. How might all this shake-out, given the present month-by-month (-28%) slide in new HUD-Code housing production? Yes, it’d be nice to be able to site more manufactured homes in subdivisions and on scattered building sites conveyed fee simple; but what might be the harm, if less expensive types of ‘off-site construction’ began showing up on rental homesites in land lease communities? Think about it.
The Other Matter. The WHITE PAPER also delves into two consumer finance-related issues. MHARR opines repeatedly that these concerns are foci of two major MH industry lenders, via MHI lobbying. Frankly, I have difficulty following the reasoning here, but was hooked by the phrase: “MHI has provided Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac with a ready excuse and rationalization for their failure to include chattel manufactured housing loans within their DTS implementation programs.” *2 This matter bears more study.
If you have personal and corporate observations relative to these two issues, please let me know via gfa7156@aol.com
End Note.
- As first posited at the June 2023 ‘Off-Site Construction Summit’ in Washington, DC.
- DTS = Duty to Serve
DID YOU KNOW?
A Press Release from CIS Home Loans, via Darrell Boyd, VP of business development.
“We are excited to present our exclusive finance program at CIS Financial Services, specifically designed for the resident in your land lease community. Whether you aim to assist them in purchasing a new home, refinancing their existing property, or guiding them through the transition from renting to becoming homeowners, CIS is committed to offering the ideal financial solution.” CIS program welcomes ITIN borrowers, credit scores below 600, covers new and resale homes, single and multisection homes, and much more.” Loan terms were not included in this Press Release, so…
For more information, reach Darrell Boyd via dboyd@cishomeloans.com or (270) 748-7702
A SECO CONFERENCE BONUS
Were you at the SECO Conference in Atlanta, GA., last week? If so, you likely participated in the patriotic and emotion-stirring commemoration of ‘9/11’ – that historic and tragic terrorist attack on U.S. soil back in 2001. Everyone in the audience stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag, then listened to retired USMC major, Scott A. Huesing, relate his harrowing experiences as an infantry company commander in Iraq.
In addition to suggesting every manufactured housing gathering begin in like fashion, most everyone should obtain a copy of Scott’s book, ‘Echo in Ramadi’ – the firsthand story of U.S. Marines in Iraq’s deadliest city. It’s available for purchase at amazon.com I found it to be an engaging ‘read’. For me, the richness was found in comparing his combat experiences (relative to equipment, strategy, technology, & more) with what I experienced as a USMC company commander in Vietnam 54 years ago. For you, the ‘takeaways’ will likely be encouraged at the quality of young men and women in our military today, and gratefulness that we’re finally out of that conflict!
George Allen, CPM, MHM