ALERT. Why Homeowners-Renters-Manufactured Home Residents Must Demand MHARR-Backed Changes to ROAD to Housing Act 2025. If Congress Doesn’t Amend ROAD Act It Should Be Removed from NDAA. FEA

The ROAD to Housing Act’s inclusion in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bypassed normal Congressional scrutiny and public debate. The arguably problematic and seemingly corrupt Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) has publicly pushed this bill without any public calls for amendment, as multiple artificial intelligence (AI) systems have confirmed. As left-leaning MS Bing’s AI powered Copilot said: “MHI’s failure to publicly acknowledge this legislative maneuver—despite its implications for manufactured housing—is a glaring omission.” Copilot also said that the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) has made a clear and well documented call for corrections. “MHARR’s position is clear: without key amendments, the bill risks undermining existing laws like” the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 and the Duty to Serve, both of which could make millions of more affordable homes available without taxpayer subsidies. As MHLivingNews reported weeks ago, “If Not Amended Does ROAD to Housing Act Risk Less Affordable Housing? New MHARR White Paper-Critical Analysis of “Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream” ROAD to Housing Act 2025-MHVilleFEA“

 

Copilot was given specific inputs that included the need for a factually accurate and focused report on this topic.

 

 

Here is what Copilot generated including some human edits.

MHLivingNews Call to Action Article 

Title: Why Homeowners, Renters, and Manufactured Home Residents Must Demand MHARR-Backed Changes to the ROAD to Housing Act

Subtitle: If Congress Doesn’t Amend the ROAD Act, It Should Be Removed from the NDAA

 

 

Introduction

The ROAD to Housing Act of 2025 was quietly attached to the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)—a must-pass bill. While the legislation claims to expand housing access, it fails to include critical safeguards that would protect millions of renters, homeowners, and manufactured housing residents. Unless Congress adopts the amendments proposed by the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR), this bill should be rejected.

 

1. Without Millions of New Homes, Homelessness and Taxes Will Rise

America faces a housing crisis. In California, a recent study revealed that taxpayers are spending over $800,000 per unit to house the homeless (source). That is unsustainable. If affordable housing supply doesn’t increase, homelessness will rise—and so will taxes.

Economist Thomas Sowell warned that big government and special interests distort markets and drive up costs (source). The ROAD Act, without MHARR’s amendments, risks repeating these mistakes.

 

2. Renters Must Think Ahead—Homeownership Is the Goal

Most renters want to become homeowners. But with rent prices soaring—and projections are that renting will rise to $8,500/month by the time younger adults retire —many young Americans are being priced out of retirement and stability (source).

Manufactured homes offer a path to ownership at a fraction of the cost. But unless Congress enforces existing laws and expands development, this path will remain blocked.

 

3. Residents in Predatory Land-Lease Communities Need Safeguards

Many manufactured home residents live in land-lease communities owned by MHI-linked firms that have been accused of predatory practices. Without new development, residents are trapped—unable to move, sell, or afford rising site fees.

UMH Properties’ own earnings call confirmed that new developments outperform stabilized properties (source). More development means more competition—and better outcomes for residents.

Frank Rolfe, an arguably notorious but prominent community owner and MHI member through the MHP Fund, bluntly stated:

‘Don’t tell me we can’t solve affordable housing. The truth is we don’t want to.’
(source)

 

4. When ‘Mom and Pop’ Developers Were Active, Site Fees Were Fair

Before consolidation, independent developers created communities with competitive site fees. Residents had choices. Today, monopolistic practices have reduced options and raised costs (source). That’s what manufactured home resident and volunteer advocate Tim Sheahan said to the FHFA in his testimony.

 

 

 

Reviving competition requires enforcing existing antitrust laws and supporting MHARR’s call for enhanced preemption (source).

 

5. MHARR’s Amendments Are Essential—Without Them, the ROAD Act Is a Risk

MHARR’s proposed changes include:

• Mandatory (Duty to Serve) DTS enforcement for personal property loans
• Strengthened federal preemption to override discriminatory zoning
• Off-chassis building flexibility to reduce costs and expand design options

Only the off-chassis provision made it into the Senate version. The rest were excluded (source).

MHARR’s analysis warns that without these changes, the ROAD Act could undermine existing laws and reduce affordability (source).

MHARR has called on President Trump, Trump Administration officials, Democratic and Republican leaders to fix the housing crisis by enforcing existing laws in a robust fashion. That is the fastest and least expensive way to fix the housing crisis.

Conclusion: The Call to Action

Congress must amend the ROAD to Housing Act before final passage. If MHARR’s changes are not adopted, the House should reject the amendment and pass the NDAA without it.

Homeowners, renters, and manufactured housing residents must speak up. Contact your representatives. Share this article. Demand that Congress:

• Enforce existing laws
• Expand development
• Protect residents from predatory practices
• Ensure manufactured housing fulfills its promise as America’s most affordable homeownership option

The future of housing—and your future—depends on it.

— There are edits in the above by the human editor of MHLivingNews. The draft as provided by Copilot is linked here. —