“…An Elephant’s Ass,” Exploring the Government Sponsored Enterprises, Duty to Serve, and Manufactured Home Lending

  WASHINGTON, DC - 01/29/2017 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

“This is a great opportunity for consumers of affordable housing to have additional lending options…”

– Cody Pearce, President, Cascade Financial Services.

“Mark my words, it will get dismissed by some as small and insignificant….”

– Paul Bradley, President, ROC USA.

An article by Brian Collins in National Mortgage News entitled Why FHFA Is Seeking More Data on Chattel Loans sparked a range of often passionate responses from manufactured home industry professionals.

“If Congress had meant the “duty to serve” to be optional, it would not have called it a “duty,” said M. Mark Weiss, JD, President, and CEO of the Washington, DC based Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) to MHProNews. 

MHARR’s CEO is displeased by the FHFA’s and the Government Sponsored Enterprises’ (GSEs) slow advancement on fulfilling the congressionally required Duty to Serve (DTS) manufactured housing, and millions of prospective new home buyers.

But others - like ROC USA’s president Paul Bradley - see the baby steps by the GSEs as important ones that need to be defended -- and encouraged.

“I understand the desire from industry insiders to want a chattel program immediately, however, the GSEs were burnt and burnt badly by the Conseco/Greentree debacle of the late 90’s,” said Barry Noffsinger, a regional manager in San Antonio Credit Union’s CU Factory Built Housing manufactured home lending division.  

But some point to far more catastrophic losses on conventional housing during the 2008 housing/mortgage crisis, and ask, why is the progress toward the duty to serve manufactured home buyers crawling?

Not everyone in manufactured housing is excited about the potential DTS “personal property,” “home-only” chattel loan program, its necessity, or prospects, per a new report on the Daily Business News on MHProNews. 

There are industry professionals who believe that the GSEs are just stalling and making excuses.

Others think that the deliberate pace by the FHFA and the GSEs makes good sense, and will result in time as a serious win for new home buyers. In the meantime, there are already several other land/home as well as home-only lending options.

The report cites industry veterans who believe that the DTS mandate is vital to the industry’s growth, and an important step toward manufactured homes becoming ever-more mainstream – and already the nation’s most affordable – housing option.

Packed with insights and often pithy, colorful comments - including the one cited in the headline - is Soheyla Kovach’s article, “An Elephant Ass,” Understanding the GSEs, Duty to Serve, Manufactured Home Lending,” found at this link here.

(Photo Caption – the GSEs and FHFA logos are provided under fair use guidelines; text and image collage credit – MHProNews.com.)

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