Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/95278
MHI FOCUS MHI Pursues Advocacy on Key Industry Issues BY Richard "Dick" Jennison It's been a busy 10 months since I joined the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) as President and CEOin February 2012.As I have said and written before, as I have gotten to know the manufactured and modular housing industries I have been struck by the growing confidence and cautious optimism that our in- dustries are well-positioned and moving in the right direction. That optimism and confidence continues to be reinforced by the latest industry statistics: Through September 2012, total industry shipments stand at 41,880 homes, compared with 37,031 homes in 2011, a year-to-date in- crease of 13.1 percent. September marked the first month of a relative decline in shipments after thirteen consecutive months of shipment increases, with 4,382 newmanufactured homes shipped, down 13.0 percent from September 2011. It remains to be seen if future shipment numbers will include emergency housing pur- chases by the Federal Emergency Management Administration in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. At the same time, statistics for the second quarter of 2012 show that modular home ship- ments were up 5.6 percent when compared to the same period in 2011. A Full Year The 2012 MHI Legislative Conference and Winter Meeting in February had as its top pri- ority making sure lawmakers and regulatory of- ficials were fully aware of the harmful impacts of the Dodd-FrankWall Street Reform and Con- sumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) and the Secure and Fair Enforcement of Mortgage Lending Act (SAFE). MHI worked diligently with industry allies in the U.S. House of Rep- resentatives to come forward with legislation di- rected at reducing regulatory barriers emanating from Dodd-Frank and SAFE which impede ac- cess to affordablemanufactured housing financ- DECEMBER 2012 22 THE JOURNAL ing. The bill, titled the Preserving Access to ManufacturedHousing Act (H.R. 3849), was introduced in January 2012 by a bipartisan coalition of Reps. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.), and Gary Miller (R-Calif.). With more than 40 cosponsors on both sides of the aisle, the measures would amend Dodd-Frank so that small-sized manu- factured home loans are not subject to discrim- inatory regulatory standards and that Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) rules ade- quately account for pressures in the price sensi- tive manufactured housing market— without diminishing consumer protections or limiting disclosure requirements. During the summer, Tom Hodges, General Counsel for Clayton Homes, Inc., testified on the industry's behalf before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Financial Serv- ices' Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit on the unforeseen, neg- ative consequences of Dodd-Frank and SAFE Acts on our industry. With a lot of hard work by MHI and MHI Treasurer Nathan Smith, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs' Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protec- tion, then introduced companion legislation (S. 3484) in the Senate addressing the indus- try's ability to provide affordable financing op- tions. Both the House and Senate measures would revise Dodd-Frank and SAFE acts to minimize disincentives to serving the financing needs of low- and moderate-income manufac- tured home buyers. While Congress adjourned in early Fall for the elections without passing the legislation, Congress has now returned for a "lame duck" session. MHI is working with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Baucus (R-Ala.) and House Financial Services Com- mittee Ranking Member Barney Frank (D- Mass.) to pass the bill in the lame duck session. Likewise, we are working with Sen. Brown's office on a potential end game for passage of the measure in the Senate. If the Congress is not able to pass the legisla- tive solution this year, we will press forward with reintroducing the legislation next year when recent election results will give our indus- tries a stronger hand in the next Congress. MHI's Political Action Committee (MHI- PAC) sponsored fundraisers during the past several months for both Sen. Brown, who was reelected, and Rep. Donnelly, who was elected the new Senator fromIndiana. This should give us a stronger, bipartisan presence in the new Senate and help us move forward with passing the legislative solution to Dodd-Frank and SAFE Acts. (By the way, MHI-PAC had a very successful election cycle, with 93% of MHI-PAC recipients winning their elections!) Facing the uncertainty and "gridlock" of the legislative process in Washington this year, MHI has been pursing a "dual approach" to re- solving the negative impacts ofDodd-Frank and SAFEActs.We have been working closely with the staff at the CFPB, actively engaging themto ensure that a wide-range of proposed regula- tions (i.e. qualified mortgages, appraisal guidelines, high-cost mortgages, loan origina- tor standards, etc.) adequately account for the unique economic challenges present in the manufactured housing market. At the same time, MHI has continued to work with HUD, securing incremental regula- tory relief in certain program areas, including design standards, preemption, and FHAmort- gage insurance. Ensuring that MHI has the necessary re- sources to effectively advance our agenda on a range of other important industry issues has