MHARR Comments on HUD Rule making Expand Into Regulatory Relief Issues
Washington, D.C., April 6, 2020 – The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR), in comments filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on March 30, 2020 (copy attached), has called on HUD to fully comply with Executive Orders issued by President Trump that are designed to offer broad regulatory relief for parties subject to federal regulation.
In its comments addressing a January 31, 2020 HUD Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) regarding the so-called “Third Set” of Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards (FMHCSS) recommended by the statutory Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC), MHARR calls on HUD, among other things, to expressly retract all remaining outstanding sub-regulatory guidance regarding “attached garages” which would henceforth be regulated under specific FMHCSS standards. Beyond this, however, MHARR also calls on HUD to retract and withdraw all other sub-regulatory “guidance” mandates that HUD has issued without notice and comment rulemaking as required by section 604(b)(6) of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 and Trump Administration Executive Orders 13891 and 13892. Those Orders specifically provide that “guidance” documents issued without notice and comment and other required procedures (in this case, prior MHCC review and recommendation) are not binding on regulated parties. These retractions, as MHARR’s comments point out, should be accomplished as part of HUD’s broader “top-to-bottom” review of its manufactured housing standards and regulations pursuant to Trump Administration Executive Orders 13771 and 13777, which itself should be completed – and implemented — as soon as possible.
In addition, MHARR’s comments seek clarification of HUD’s apparent prioritization of standards for multi-story and “zero-lot-line” manufactured homes that would appear to favor the industry’s largest corporate conglomerates at the expense of smaller manufacturers, particularly with regard to the “Duty to Serve Underserved Markets” (DTS) and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s preference for a larger and much less affordable “new” type of manufactured home. As the comments stress, there is no apparent justification for HUD’s prioritization of these proposed standards (some 14 years after they were considered by the MHCC) when broader and more economically-significant multi-unit/multi-family manufactured housing standards which could benefit the entire industry, as well as mainstream affordable housing consumers, remain in apparent limbo. Indeed, in the absence of any additional information, it appears that the prioritization of the multi-story and zero-lot-line standards, in and of themselves, is designed to assist Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their transparent efforts to favor the industry’s largest conglomerates – a position that is totally inconsistent with President Trump’s policies and should be rejected by the White House. In order to address this imbalance, MHARR’s comments call on HUD to include multi-unit-multi-family manufactured housing standards – as recommended by the MHCC – in any final rule in this matter.
MHARR will continue to closely monitor further developments in this rule making docket.
The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform is a Washington, D.C.-based national trade association representing the views and interests of independent producers of federally regulated manufactured housing.
Washington, D.C., April 6, 2020 – The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR), in comments filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on March 30, 2020 (copy attached), has called on HUD to fully comply with Executive Orders issued by President Trump that are designed to offer broad regulatory relief for parties subject to federal regulation.
In its comments addressing a January 31, 2020 HUD Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) regarding the so-called “Third Set” of Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards (FMHCSS) recommended by the statutory Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC), MHARR calls on HUD, among other things, to expressly retract all remaining outstanding sub-regulatory guidance regarding “attached garages” which would henceforth be regulated under specific FMHCSS standards. Beyond this, however, MHARR also calls on HUD to retract and withdraw all other sub-regulatory “guidance” mandates that HUD has issued without notice and comment rulemaking as required by section 604(b)(6) of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 and Trump Administration Executive Orders 13891 and 13892. Those Orders specifically provide that “guidance” documents issued without notice and comment and other required procedures (in this case, prior MHCC review and recommendation) are not binding on regulated parties. These retractions, as MHARR’s comments point out, should be accomplished as part of HUD’s broader “top-to-bottom” review of its manufactured housing standards and regulations pursuant to Trump Administration Executive Orders 13771 and 13777, which itself should be completed – and implemented — as soon as possible.
In addition, MHARR’s comments seek clarification of HUD’s apparent prioritization of standards for multi-story and “zero-lot-line” manufactured homes that would appear to favor the industry’s largest corporate conglomerates at the expense of smaller manufacturers, particularly with regard to the “Duty to Serve Underserved Markets” (DTS) and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s preference for a larger and much less affordable “new” type of manufactured home. As the comments stress, there is no apparent justification for HUD’s prioritization of these proposed standards (some 14 years after they were considered by the MHCC) when broader and more economically-significant multi-unit/multi-family manufactured housing standards which could benefit the entire industry, as well as mainstream affordable housing consumers, remain in apparent limbo. Indeed, in the absence of any additional information, it appears that the prioritization of the multi-story and zero-lot-line standards, in and of themselves, is designed to assist Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their transparent efforts to favor the industry’s largest conglomerates – a position that is totally inconsistent with President Trump’s policies and should be rejected by the White House. In order to address this imbalance, MHARR’s comments call on HUD to include multi-unit-multi-family manufactured housing standards – as recommended by the MHCC – in any final rule in this matter.
MHARR will continue to closely monitor further developments in this rule making docket.
The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform is a Washington, D.C.-based national trade association representing the views and interests of independent producers of federally regulated manufactured housing.
