HOUSING ALERT
May 23, 2018
MHI Secures Key Wins for the Industry on Multiple Fronts This Week!
MHI has been working hard in Washington to accomplish the association’s 2018 priorities and elevate the importance of manufactured housing as a source of affordable housing. This year’s priorities include improving the supply of housing financing and ensuring HUD Code regulations encourage innovation and are cost effective. This week, MHI has achieved success in each of these areas.
- Yesterday, Congress sent legislation to the President to ensure manufactured housing retailers and sellers can speak with their customers about financing.
- Today, the Senate has finally confirmed a Federal Housing Commissioner, who is the official at HUD that oversees the HUD Code.
- Also, today Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt testified before the Senate about the importance of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s support for manufactured housing financing.
Read below for additional information about each of these important developments for the manufactured housing industry.
President Trump to Sign Into Law Bill Containing Manufactured Housing Provision on Thursday
According to reports from the White House and Capitol Hill, President Trump is expected to sign S. 2155, the “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act,” into law on Thursday (May 24). S. 2155 ensures that manufactured housing retailers and sellers can assist their customers, just as real estate agents and homebuilders do, without being subjected to compliance requirements clearly designed to apply only to the lending entity making a mortgage loan. S. 2155 passed the House on Tuesday by a strong bipartisan vote of 258-159 and the U.S. Senate in March by a vote of 67 to 31. To see how your Representative voted, click here. To see how your Senator voted, click here.
MHI’s Candidate for Federal Housing Commissioner Confirmed by the Senate
Today, the Senate approved by a bipartisan vote of 74 to 23, the nomination of the Honorable Brian Montgomery to be HUD’s Assistant Secretary for the Department of Housing and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner. Since his nomination in September 2017, MHI has repeatedly urged the Senate to confirm him. Joining with other housing associations and groups, MHI has sent numerous letters of support and worked with the White House and Senate leaders to secure his confirmation.
As FHA Commissioner, Mr. Montgomery will oversee the federal Manufactured Housing Program. Having previously served as the FHA Commissioner under President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2009, Mr. Montgomery has historically demonstrated his understanding of the importance and benefits of manufactured housing. In 2017, he reiterated his commitment to manufactured housing during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. Mr. Montgomery testified: “We need to make sure FHA’s manufactured housing rules undergo a rigorous cost-benefit analysis to ensure we are balancing important product safety considerations with affordability and access. If confirmed, you have my commitment this will be a priority.”
MHI will continue to work with Congress and the Administration’s key housing leaders until a more cooperative regulatory environment is achieved so that regulatory initiatives do not increase costs or limit consumer choice for manufactured housing.
FHFA Director Testifies in Support of Manufactured Housing
Today, Mel Watt, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs at a hearing titled, “Ten Years of Conservatorship: The Status of the Housing Finance System.” During his remarks before the Committee, Director Watt discussed the steps the FHFA is taking to address housing affordability. Acknowledging that the supply of affordable housing is not keeping up with demand, he called for multiple approaches to address the low supply.
In response to Ranking Member Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) remarks about areas where the FHFA has identified gaps or shortages in availability and access to credit, Director Watt argued that Duty to Serve requirements are helping to address problems with availability in rural communities and he recognized manufactured housing as an important part of the solution.
During exchanges with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) regarding the challenges surrounding FHFA’s Duty to Serve requirements, Director Watt again turned the conversation to manufactured housing. Emphasizing the importance of manufactured housing, he said, “Duty to serve is really about serving rural and manufactured housing interests. In rural areas, people use manufactured housing. It is higher quality now, so it can be financed more safely and soundly…it is an important ingredient to the provision of housing in this country.”
Referencing the chattel and other pilot programs that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are working on, Director Watt argued that the pilots can test new approaches to affordability, access and supply on a small scale to ensure that they work to help address these problems and to ensure that they can be replicated and implemented safely and soundly. He said the pilots will help better serve the manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural housing markets.
MHI will continue to advocate to Congress and the Administration for a substantive purchase and securitization of chattel loans by the Enterprises and work with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ensure that they have the data elements and policy parameters they need to establish robust chattel programs.
If you have any questions, please contact MHI’s Government Affairs Department at (703) 229-6208 or MHIgov@mfghome.org.
HOUSING ALERT
May 23, 2018
MHI Secures Major Victory for Manufactured Housing Retailers and Sellers
Congress Passes Bill Giving Industry Relief from the Dodd-Frank Act
The U.S. House of Representatives (House) has passed legislation clarifying that a manufactured housing retailer or seller is not inappropriately considered a mortgage “loan originator” simply because they provide a customer with some assistance in the mortgage loan process. This provision was included in S. 2155, the “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act,” a package of reforms intended to improve the national financial regulatory framework and promote economic growth. S. 2155 passed the House on Tuesday by a strong bipartisan vote of 228-159. With S. 2155 already passed by the U.S. Senate in March, this legislation is now headed to the President’s desk for signature.
The passage of S. 2155 by the House is a result of MHI’s ongoing efforts to protect manufactured housing retailers and sellers from liability under federal consumer protection mortgage rules for the loan portion of a consumer transaction. MHI has continually argued that if a retailer or seller does not receive compensation or gain related to the loan, they should not be considered a loan originator simply because they help borrowers identify potential lenders or provide minimal assistance during the loan process.
MHI’s government affairs team worked closely with both Congressional leadership on Capitol Hill and champions of manufactured housing to secure passage of this important provision. The grassroots outreach from MHI members and state executive directors – totaling more than 15,000 calls and emails – was instrumental in helping Members of Congress understand the importance of this provision to their constituents.
Upon passage of the bill, U.S. Representative Andy Barr (R-KY), long-time supporter of manufactured housing and author of the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act (H.R. 1699), said, “Dodd-Frank’s one-size-fits-all ‘loan originator’ definition failed to account for the unique nature of the manufactured housing market. The result: hard-working, low and moderate income Americans have lost access to affordable manufactured housing. The Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act, included in S. 2155, fixes this problem and enables more Americans to achieve the American Dream of homeownership.” View Representative Barr’s remarks here.
During House debate, Representative French Hill (R-AR) highlighted the manufactured housing provision contained in S. 2155, arguing that the provision, “will help hundreds of Arkansans – hardworking families who need access to credit for manufactured housing in rural parts of the state.”
The inclusion of the manufactured housing provision in S. 2155 was made possible by MHI’s extensive and successful efforts over the last few years in getting a similar provision included in three previous House-passed bills (H.R. 1699, H.R. 10, and an FY 2018 appropriations bill), as well as a freestanding Senate manufactured housing bill (S. 1751). On March 14th, the Senate passed S. 2155 by a vote of 67 to 31.
If you have any questions, please contact MHI’s Government Affairs Department at (703) 229-6208 or MHIgov@mfghome.org.
IMPORTANT CALL TO ACTION:
Tell Your Representative to Support Manufactured Housing Consumers by Voting “Yes” for S. 2155
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to soon take up a bill that contains MHI’s priority legislation to clarify that a retailer or seller of manufactured housing is not considered a “loan originator” simply because they provide a customer with some assistance in the mortgage loan process.
This important manufactured housing provision is included in S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which is a package of Dodd-Frank Act reforms intended to improve the national financial regulatory framework and promote economic growth.
S. 2155 has already been passed by the U.S. Senate. Passage in the U.S. House of Representatives will send the legislation to the President’s desk for signature. This means that our fight to ensure manufactured housing retailers and sellers are not subject to compliance requirements clearly designed to apply only to the actual entity making a mortgage loan will become law very soon.
We call on you one final time to let your Representative know how important this provision is for consumers of manufactured housing. Like real estate agents, manufactured housing retailers and salespeople need to be able to assist their customers.
Just as a real estate agent’s sales commission does not make them a loan originator under CFPB rules, a similar distinction is needed for those selling manufactured homes. This simple, but important, change will not result in individuals receiving kickbacks or steering because the legislation explicitly bars them from receiving compensation related to the loan, requires disclosures about corporate affiliations, and prohibits retailers from negotiating loan terms with the consumer or the lender.
The inclusion of the manufactured housing provision in S. 2155 is the result of MHI’s persistent efforts to ensure the needed changes contained in the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act are passed into law as soon as possible. The provision has already been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives more than once during the 115th Congress. In December 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1699, the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act, and in June 2017 the language was also passed as a part of a Dodd-Frank Act financial reform package (H.R. 10). The upcoming vote in the U.S. House of Representatives is the final step to send this provision to the President’s desk for signature.
Please contact your Representative and ask them to vote in favor of S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. Tell them you are in favor of the manufactured housing provision because it is important that retailers and salespersons can provide assistance to their customers just as real estate agents do.
With MHI’s advocacy page, contacting your Representative is easy.
To call your Representative, click here and follow the steps on the screen. Once you submit your personal information, the name and phone number of your Representative will appear along with some very basic talking points about why this change is needed. Once you have made the call, please use the space at the bottom of the form to let us know.
To email your Representative, click here and follow the steps on the screen. The email to your Representative has already been composed – all you have do is insert your home address and click submit.
The vote will take place in the U.S. House of Representatives very soon. Please give this your immediate attention and send it along to others in your organization urging them to do the same.
Click here to call your Representative
Click here to email your Representative
If you have any questions, please contact MHI’s Government Affairs Department at (703) 229-6208 or MHIgov@mfghome.org.
PA Licensee’s Required to Report Disciplinary Actions and Criminal Activity
Effective April 6, 2018, in accordance with Act 6 of 2018, any person holding a license, registration, certificate or permit issued by a licensing board or commission under the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs shall notify the appropriate licensing board/commission within 30 days of the occurrence of any of the following:
- A disciplinary action taken by a licensing agency of another jurisdiction.
- A finding or verdict of built, and admission of guilt, a plea of nolo contendere, probation without verdict, disposition in lieu of trial or an accelerated rehabilitative disposition (ARD) of any felony or misdemeanor offense.
To report a disciplinary action or criminal matter as set forth above, log into the Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS) at www.pals.pa.gov, and select “Mandatory Reporting by Licensees” under the heading “Licensing Services.”
About the Economic Census
The U.S. Census Bureau measures the nation’s population once every 10 years. It also measures U.S. businesses every 5 years with the Economic Census. The next Economic Census will be in 2018. Data collection starts in May, with a response deadline of June 12, 2018.
The census is conducted online, and response is required by law. Companies report their 2017 year-end numbers for each business location, including sales or revenue, employment, payroll, and industry specific information. By law, all responses are kept confidential and company data are used for statistical purposes only.
Results from the Economic Census are free and available online to guide business decisions and policy-making. By completing the census, companies are contributing to a wealth of valuable data—and sometimes surprising insights—that can help grow their business.
Participate in the upcoming Economic Census Webinar May 18, 2018 to learn more!
Go to: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/events/webinars.html
Please see following Press Release for additional information!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TUESDAY, MAY 01, 2018
Census Bureau Begins Conducting Economic Census
MAY 1, 2018 — The 2017 Economic Census is officially underway today as the U.S. Census Bureau began notifying businesses nationwide by mail with instructions on how to complete the survey online. Conducted once every five years, this is the first time the Census Bureau will conduct the survey almost entirely online. Only small businesses in U.S. territories will receive a paper form.
The economic census collects data for approximately 3.7 million business locations. U.S. businesses nationwide, including those in U.S. territories, are asked to report their 2017 year-end numbers for each business location, including sales or revenue, employment, payroll, and industry-specific information. Classification initial mailings went out Feb. 1 to selected single-location businesses requesting industry classification information.
The economic census serves as the most comprehensive source of data related to business activity and serves as the foundation for the measurement of U.S. businesses and their economic impact.
The deadline for response is June 12 with the first set of data to be released in September 2019. All data will be released by December 2021. See this graphic for reference.
For more information, visit the economic census page or the Census Bureau’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.
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