Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/84809
ing. As for the HUD manufactured housing program, industry members have never asked for taxpayer funding – they actually fund the federal program. Yet, when they seek an ap- pointed non-career official to oversee this self- funding programand advocate formanufactured housing as provided by law, at a cost of maybe $100,000 a year, the answer is that there is no money and nothing to spare out of a budget of $47.9 billion. Consider some of the federal government housing programs -- and their funding -- ad- ministered by HUD -- Tenant-Based Rental Assistance ($19,223,000,000); the Public Housing Capital Fund ($2,405,000,000); "Choice" Neighborhoods ($250,000,000); Public Housing Operating Funds ($3,962,000,000); "Family Self-Sufficiency Coordinators" ($60,000,000); Section 8 Rental Assistance "Tennant Protection Vouch- ers" ($75,000,000) Community Development Block Grants ($3,804,000,000); the "Rural Innovation Fund" ($25,000,000); the HOME Investment Partnership Rental Program ($1,650,000,000); Homeless Assistance Grants ($2,372,000,000);Housing Opportu- nities for Persons with AIDS ($335,000,000); Project-Based Assistance ($9,429,000,000); Supportive Housing for the Elderly ($757,000,000); Housing Coun- seling Assistance ($88,000,000); andHousing for Persons with Disabilities ($196,000,000) - - just to name a few. But don't bother looking formanufactured housing as a vital part of these programs, it's not there because according to HUD's 2010-2015 Strategic Plan, manufac- tured housing is not so much a non-subsidized affordable housing resource, as an asset in "pro- tect[ing] and educat[ing] consumers when they buy, refinance, or rent a home." Again, the industry is not asking for additional taxpayer dollars, just parity with other types of housing so that its consumers can have the same rights and privileges as consumers of other types of hous- ing when they decide to access these programs. To be fair, manufactured housing and man- ufactured housing consumers do benefit – and are part of -- certain government-insured and supported activities, like the FHA Title I and II home loan insurance programs and the securi- tization of certain manufactured housing obli- gations by the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA). But even there, man- ufactured housing participation is minimal, in- adequate and hampered by discriminatory policies (such as the GNMA "10-10" rule) based on "perceptions" rather than reality be- cause of the short-sighted and biased mentality that governs these programs. To begin the process of putting affordable, non-subsidizedmanufactured back on the radar screen of national housing policy and putting an end to the discriminatory policies and backward thinking that has already been documented with Congress, will require the type of leadership and commitment that begins at the top echelons of government. In MHARR's view, the November election represents yet another window of opportunity to change the dynamics for the industry in Wash- ington, D.C. and elevatemanufactured hous- ing to become a major player in nation's hous- ing policies and programs. TJ Danny D. Ghorbani is President of the Manufac- tured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform. MHARR is a Washington, DC-based national trade association representing the views and interests of independent producers of federally-regulated manufactured housing. Danny can be reached at 202-783-4087. No. 9 on Get It Quick Page OCTOBER 2012 13 THE JOURNAL