On paper, much of what Clayton Homes General Counsel, Thomas “Tom” Hodges, J.D., has said or written over the years may seem fine from the viewpoints of certain quarters involved in the battle for more affordable housing in general, and more manufactured homes in particular. But according to the information, evidence, and reasoning in a complaint with the Tennessee Bar …

Inflation. Afghanistan. Supply chains problems. Southern border. COVID19 vax mandates. Soaring housing costs. A series of apparent blunders and oversteps of authority are behind Joe Biden’s plunging approval. Which makes it odd at best that the National Housing Conference (NHC) President and CEO’s David M. Dworkin, who has spoken favorably about support for manufactured homes, recently said to fellow “housers” …

Let’s start with the lyrics to two different versions of the song, “Ain’t We Got Fun.” The earlier version is from Peggy Lee, later it was performed by Doris Day. How this relates to more affordable home ownership will be made clear on the far side of these two versions of the lyrics and related videos.  It is noteworthy that …

“It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you‘ve been playing all your life.” – Mickey Mantle per BrainyQuote and opening quote in hit Moneyball.   “I didn’t even want to meet Warren [Buffett] because I thought, ‘Hey this guy buys and sells things, and so he found imperfections in terms of markets, that’s not value added to society, that’s a zero-sum game that …

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is the primary regulatory of U.S. stock markets, announced a legal enforcement action against Cavco Industries over conduct involving former Cavco Chairman and CEO, Joseph Stegmayer, Daniel Urness, and the company. Cavco issued the following press release on 9.3.2021 which states their response to the complaint. The SEC Complaint – i.e. legal pleadings …

Properly understood, existing federal laws are routinely and broadly speaking on the side of residents and white hat independents who believe they are being victimized by “predatory” firms operating in the manufactured housing industry.  With that statement in mind, Berkshire Hathaway backed Apple’s recently announced settlement of $100 million dollars in a class action antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple by …

Samuel “Sam” Strommen from Knudson Law forged an evidence-based and systematic case that points the finger of monopolization at Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage Corporation, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, and several specific members of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI). Minneapolis Federal Reserve professional researchers James A. Schmitz Jr and David Fettig have made their own evidence-based argument that “Monopolies Inflict Great Harm on Low- and …

When someone wants to understand the lack of affordable housing in the U.S., by reading published studies from a range of sources, a few common facts emerge. The underlying causes of the affordable housing crisis observed by experts and partisans are often similar regardless of which of the two major political parties they may favor. For example, Zoning is a …

Mobile and Manufactured Home Living News (MHLivingNews) believes strongly in the virtue of giving credit to where it is due. We routinely source information from sources across the left-right divide. Among the resources that we spot-check is Zero Hedge, a generally – but not always – ‘right’ or conservative leaning source. In a report dated July 22, they quoted Mark …

Sometimes the quality of remarks are more important than the mere quantity of statements to public officials. Earlier this week, there were no apparent statements to the FHFA on the Duty to Serve (DTS) manufactured housing mandated for mortgage giants Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s proposed plans for 2022-2024 by anyone actually living in a manufactured home. There were also …

Why is there so little competition in the manufactured home lending market? While there are several interlocking factors, one of the simplest points to make is that the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not doing the robust lending in the manufactured home market as they are doing for conventional housing. What follows is a step-by-step explanation based …

Anything that has happened before can happen again. So said historian turned politician, Democratic House Majority Whip James Clyburn. Whatever someone’s political beliefs, or lack of them, may be – Clyburn is demonstrably correct on that point. History does not precisely repeat. But once something has occurred in human history, something similar is obviously capable of re-occurring.  Biblically, history was …

A documentary entitled “Walmart – The High Cost of Low Prices” presaged several of those observations by Kenton in the video posted below. But what does that have to do with affordable housing and manufactured homes? Follow along and, step-by-step, you may see how the dots connect. The stories in the video are gut-wrenching and tug at the heartstrings. Sometimes …

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) are among the nonprofits, media, and public officials who have called RHP Properties and other “consolidators” of land-lease manufactured home communities “predatory.” While such comments were once more commonly reserved to Democratic lawmakers, Republican officials have, in recent years, also become concerned that what is occurring in what for decades was “affordable housing” is …

As a disclosure for new readers and as detail-minded and longtime readers here know, Manufactured Home Living News takes a dim view of predatory, illegal, and unethical business practices. Then what explains this evidence-based viewpoint on making arguably notorious Frank Rolfe and Dave Reynolds the new leaders for the Arlington, VA based Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI)? Simple. Because birds of …