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” …

“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 …

Words may sound good but are at times proven to be devoid of meaningfully matching action. A new HUD PD&R report effectively confirmed and amplified several findings in an August 2021 research report and analysis on MHLivingNews entitled “Why So Few Affordable U.S. Homes? Federal & Other Research – Monopolies, Moats, Manufactured Housing – Impacts Renters, Current Manufactured Homeowners, Conventional …

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 …

While much, but not all, of the mainstream media is busy telling one side of the story on COVID19 and the effectiveness or risks with vaccinations, there is an entirely different set of facts and scientific evidence to consider. There are not quacks with tin hats. These are often frontline doctors, health care professionals, and scientists from nations around the …

Manufactured homes are the most proven form of affordable housing in America today, period. Nothing else comes close. That is not an empty or boastful claim. Rather, that statement is based on decades of well-documented facts and evidence. There are numerous research studies, mostly from third parties to manufactured home interests, that document that some 22 million Americans live in …

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 …

Congressional Representative Cindy Axne (IA-D) office made the following media release available to MHLivingNews. First-time visitors should note that  there are white-hat brands in manufactured housing as well as so-called black-hat or “predatory” brands too. More on that further below. The Rep. Axne press release will be followed by additional information, some MHLivingNews analysis, and a brief related commentary.   …

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 …

Ben and his family have lived in manufactured housing for some years. He recently bought a new manufactured home.  In his view, he has been lied to repeatedly by the sales person as far as delivery dates and other issues were involved. That said, Womack said he and his wife love the floorplan and home that they bought, if it …

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 …

Some 245 years ago, American independence from England was formally declared. That makes this July 4, 2021 America’s 246 birthday. With that in mind,  CrownLyric and the official Toby Keith YouTube video below was posted on July 1, 2021. They provided these lyrics to “Happy Birthday America” with an apparent subtitle, “It’s the 4th of July.” It will be followed …

The infographic below is the most comprehensive snapshot about modern manufactured homes and its evolution from trailer houses, into mobile homes, into manufactured homes found online today. The infographic image provides fact- and evidence-based snapshot with sources cited of manufactured housing on 6.23.2021. That image can be viewed in a larger size in many browsers, see the instructions below the …