AUGUST 24, 2026
TO: MHARR MEMBER MANUFACTURERS
FROM: MHARR
RE: HUD TAKES FIRST SMALL STEP TO IMPROVE THE
FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING PROGRAM
Some 12 days after MHARR, in an August 12, 2026 letter and package to HUD Secretary Scott Turner, documented manipulation and potential corruption within the HUD manufactured housing program, and called for the appointment of a new Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for the Office of Manufactured Housing Programs (OMHP) to oversee the program and report directly to the Secretary, HUD, in an August 24, 2026 News Release (copy attached), announced the appointment of Christopher Patterson as Deputy Assistant Secretary of OMHP.
The new DAS previously served at HUD during the first Trump Administration, and was serving as the Regional Administrator for HUD’s Region IX and Region X field offices at the time of his appointment to lead OMHP.
Given the profound deterioration of OMHP that occurred over the course of the Biden Administration – which has continued and, in fact, worsened over the past two years – as is fully documented in MHARR’s August 12, 2026 communication to the Secretary, MHARR asserted that new OMHP leadership was essential and that the pro-small business policies of the Trump Administration must be brought to and imposed on all aspects and functions of OMHP.
In relevant part, MHARR’s communication to Secretary Turner stated:
“[I]t is obvious that the federal manufactured housing program is reverting to its pre-2000 Reform Law practices and prejudices, and that the program must either be corrected or elevated to a position under [the Secretary’s] direct supervision, with an appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary. It is therefore urgent that you take strong measures to reform the HUD OMHP office to one worthy of the Trump Administration, and that you work to eliminate the biases and irregularities that are prejudicing and harming the interests of the smaller businesses that constitute the traditional … core of the manufactured housing industry.”
While it remains to be seen whether this new appointment will be successful in reforming an OMHP that has gone seriously off-track in recent years – and MHARR will, therefore, withhold judgment on this action — new leadership for the program is a small, but essential, first step toward any type of meaningful reform (a fact that MHARR recognized in making its request). Thus, while MHARR recognizes and appreciates the leadership shown by both Secretary Turner and President Trump in taking this step, the jury will be out on this action until specific, concrete, positive results are achieved.
MHARR will continue to aggressively advocate for a reasonable, responsive and legitimate federal manufactured housing program – the full results, benefits and savings of which would be passed to American homebuyers — going forward.
cc: Other Interested HUD Code Manufactured Housing Industry Members
Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR)
1331 Pennsylvania Ave N.W., Suite 512
Washington D.C. 20004
Phone: 202/783-4087
Fax: 202/783-4075
Email: MHARRDG@AOL.COM
Website: www.manufacturedhousingassociation.org
