The Reporter 2023
July - August Issue
A Message from THA
“Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they’re making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as punishment. And that’s the difference.” 

-- Lou Holtz --
MHI Vice Chairman to Congress:
'E' Should Not Be at the Expense of 'S'
Bill Boor, MHI Vice Chairman and President and Chief Executive Officer, Cavco Industries, Inc. testified in a Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Hearing entitled, “How Mandates Like ESG Distort Markets and Drive Up Costs for Insurance and Housing.” [ESG: environmental, social, and corporate governance]
 
During the hearing, Boor called on Congress to pass H.R. 3327, the "Manufactured Housing Affordability and Energy Efficiency Act of 2023," and highlighted the Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Conservation Standards for Manufactured Housing as an example of a federal agency implementing an environmental policy without fully understanding the broader consequences. Boor said, "The DOE’s failed attempt at “E” came at the expense of “S” as it is socially unjust to put out of reach the ability to purchase a manufactured home."
 
Boor emphasized that he's proud of the manufactured housing industry’s record. "By virtue of our controlled and efficient processes, we are inherently more environmentally friendly than other forms of housing," Boor said. "We have a long history of consistent and ongoing quality and energy efficiency improvements. And we have a strong and positive working relationship with our regulator, HUD. This is an industry that agrees with the objective of continuing to improve energy efficiency, not one that needs to be dragged to do the right thing."
 
Boor concluded his remarks noting, "Providing affordable homes is an incredibly important social need that manufactured housing is uniquely positioned to serve. Factory-built housing is the least expensive form of unsubsidized home ownership. Enable us to do good work in responsible ways. We can dramatically increase affordable housing while modeling corporate responsibility if singularly focused ESG regulations are worked through established holistic processes."
 
View the full hearing here. Read Boor’s written testimony here.
MEMBER Call to Action - Still in progress!
Ask Your Representative in Congress
to Cosponsor H.R. 3327,
Affirming HUD as the Sole Regulator

Building upon the compliance delay of the Energy Rule, we ultimately need to have the law fixed to ensure the industry is never again faced with the chaos caused by conflicting regulations coming from two different federal agencies. Congress must hear from all sectors of the manufactured housing industry about the urgent need to change federal statute.
 
Congressman David Kustoff (R-TN) and Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL) have introduced H.R. 3327, the Manufactured Housing Affordability and Energy Efficiency Act of 2023. This bipartisan legislation clarifies and reaffirms the longstanding role of HUD as the sole regulator of federal manufactured housing construction standards to prevent future issues with conflicting standards originating from different federal agencies.
 
Join MHI's efforts and tell your Representative to support H.R. 3327. To participate in this Call to Action click here and follow the simple steps on MHI's website. MHI wrote a letter that you can send by simply inserting your home address and clicking submit.
Congratulations to THA Members
on their
RV/MH Hall of Fame Induction
Paula Reeves, CIS Home Loans
THA Finance Director
Don Sharp (Retired, Finance)
A THA Past President
Knute Chauncey, Tie Down
THA Member
The THA Board of Directors would like to extend their congratulations and warmest wishes to three Hall of Fame Inductees who continue to support the members of the Tennessee Association.

Paula Reeves is a current THA Finance Director, and slated for nomination as the 2023 - 2024 THA Treasurer; Don Sharp is a former THA Past President and Executive Committee Member; and Knute Chauncey is a THA member who continues to support the Association in the Service/Supplier Division.

Induction ceremonies will take place on Monday, August 21st, at the RV/MH Hall of Fame & Museum in Elkhart, Indiana. To see a list of all of this year's inductees and to find out more about the RV/MH Hall of Fame Museum, please click here!
Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies
Releases New Report on Manufactured Housing



The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University's new study, "Comparison of the Costs of Manufactured and Site-Built Housing," finds that, "Manufactured housing offers a potential solution to rising construction costs, with a significant cost advantage over site-built homes."
 
Read the full report here.
THA Annual Meeting!
August 21 - 23, 2023
Time is running out to register!
Gaylord Opryland and Resort & Convention Center
2800 Opryland Drive
Nashville, TN 37214
Here are your Annual Meeting Host Sponsors!
Platinum Honors Hosts
Gold Host Sponsor
Silver Host Sponsors
Bronze Host Sponsors
Associate Host Sponsors
Here are your Annual Meeting Event Sponsors!
Here are your Swag Bag Contributors!
Annual Meeting Event Partners
News from Washington
Biden Administration Proposes New Energy Efficiency Rules
for Home Water Heaters

On last Friday, the Biden Administration released a draft rule that would require most home electric water heaters to use heat pump technology and gas-powered heaters to use condensing technology. The Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that this new requirement would “cut 501 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions over 30 years” while also saving consumers “$198 billion over the 30-year period.” Of note, the DOE’s proposed rule for home water heaters would take effect in 2030, while the Department’s proposed rule for manufactured housing energy efficiency standards originally only gave the industry one year to comply with the new standards. Read more about the proposed water heater rule here.
MHI Represents You at FHFA Duty to Serve Public Listening Sessions

Last week, FHFA held a series of Duty to Serve public listening sessions. These listening sessions allowed stakeholders to share their views and recommendations about FHFA’s next Duty to Serve Underserved Markets Plans as they begin preparing for plan cycle 2025-2027. The listening sessions were held over three days and addressed the following topics: Future Activities in the Rural Housing Market; Future Activities in the Manufactured Housing Market; and Future Activities in the Affordable Housing Preservation Market. MHI’s CEO, Lesli Gooch, spoke at these sessions noting the importance of manufactured housing to FHFA’s Duty to Serve. Read her remarks as delivered from the sessions about Rural Housing, Manufactured Housing Market and Affordable Housing Preservation.  


MHI Joins Housing Coalition Urging Congress to End the CARES Act 30-day Notice-to-Vacate

Earlier this month, MHI joined with a broad coalition of housing associations in a letter to Congress urging an end to the CARES Act’s 30-day Notice-to-Vacate by supporting H.R. 802, the Respect State Housing Laws Act. This provision of the CARES Act was intended to be temporary, yet it is still in effect long after the moratorium and the federal COVID-19 public health emergency has ended. H.R. 802 would end the 30-day Notice-to-Vacate requirement, remove unnecessary complexity and confusion from the eviction process and return eviction policies back to the state and local level. 
Fed Raises Rates Quarter Point

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it had raised its key interest rate by 0.25% to as much as 5.5%, the highest level in 22 years, as it continues to fight persistent inflation in the U.S. economy. Though consumer prices have declined for 12 straight months, in June, consumer prices increased 3% year on year.
MHI Submits Comments to HUD on
Energy Efficiency Standards for HUD- and USDA-Financed Housing

MHI has submitted comments to HUD about the Adoption of Energy Efficiency Standards for New Construction of HUD- and USDA-Financed Housing. In this letter, MHI stressed that HUD should be the sole source of authority over energy efficiency standards for manufactured housing and to request support from HUD and USDA to ensure this outcome.
Overview of Regulatory Actions
on “Junk Fees”

Earlier this month, the Biden Administration announced actions to increase transparency of fees charged to renters, sometimes referred to as “junk fees.” While the term “junk fees” is applied to a variety of different fees, it can include items such as payment processing fees, application fees for renters, or separate fees for paying with a credit card. Nevertheless, often these fees are in place to cover necessary business expenses or are applied to cover the costs of additional services provided to consumers.
 
Major rental housing platforms, such as Zillow and Apartments.com, will display all fees associated with renting a home.
McHenry, Barr, Huizenga, Scott Lead Bicameral Amicus Brief
Challenging CFPB’s Funding Structure


Chairman Patrick McHenry (N.C.-10) of the House Financial Services Committee; Representative Andy Barr (KY-06), the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy; Representative Bill Huizenga (MI-04), the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations; and Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-S.C.) of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs led a bicameral group of 132 members of Congress in filing an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, et al., v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited, et al. The brief urges the Court to uphold the Fifth Circuit’s decision that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) funding structure is unconstitutional and to make the Bureau’s funding subject to congressional appropriations.
 
The brief states, “The Court need not determine which particular aspect of the CFPB’s funding scheme is the most problematic. This is the easy case. The CFPB ‘is in an entirely different league’ from other entities when it comes to its insulation from Congress… to the point that the CFPB currently operates as ‘a sort of junior-varsity Congress’ setting its own funding levels in perpetuity… Such insulation means that Congress itself is not determining the CFPB’s funding. The Court should affirm the judgment below, which will return the matter of the CFPB’s funding to the normal political and legislative channels, as Article I and the Appropriations Clause require.”
Pretty Home? Let Us Film It!
The production team at ManufacturedHomes.com is currently looking for installed manufactured and modular homes that will represent the industry in our state. If any of our THA members have recently set a home and the landscaping is now complete, drop a picture of the exterior to Rick@manufacturedhomes.com

Community Owners and Managers Education
Accredited Community Manager (ACM) - Designation -

The ACM curriculum is a two-part course for owners and managers of manufactured home communities. Topics include management and resident policies, community maintenance, leasing and sales techniques, marketing communities, taxes, insurance, financial management, business planning, physical asset management, and federal and fair housing laws.

Don't Forget the 2023 TN Sales Tax Holidays
Sales tax holiday on clothing, school supplies, and computers,
begins at 12:01 am on Friday, July 28, 2023, and ends at 11:59 pm on Sunday, July 30, 2023.

Sales Tax holiday on food and food ingredients begins...
at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October 31, 2023.  
School Supplies
Exempt:
  • School and art supplies with a purchase price of $100 or less per item, such as binders, backpacks, crayons, paper, pens, pencils, and rulers, and art supplies such as glazes, clay, paints, drawing pads, and artist paintbrushes

Not exempt:
  • School and art supplies individually priced at more than $100
  • Items that are normally sold together cannot be split up to stay beneath the $100 maximum
Clothing
Exempt: 
  • General apparel that costs $100 or less per item, such as shirts, pants, socks, shoes, dresses, etc.

Not exempt:
  • Apparel items priced at more than $100
  • Items sold together, such as shoes, cannot be split up to stay beneath the $100 maximum
  • Items such as jewelry, handbags, or sports and recreational equipment

Computers
Exempt:
  • Computers for personal use with a purchase price of $1,500 or less
  • Laptop computers, if priced at $1,500 or less, also qualify as well as tablet computers

Not exempt: 
  • Storage media, like flash drives and compact discs
  • Individually purchased software
  • Printer supplies
  • Household appliances
Food and Food Ingredients
Food and food ingredients are defined as liquid, concentrated, solid, frozen, dried, or dehydrated substances that are sold to be ingested or chewed by humans and are consumed for their taste or nutritional value. Food and food ingredients do not include alcoholic beverages, tobacco, candy, or dietary supplements.
-- Business Resources --
Retailer Education
Professional Housing Consultant (PHC)
- Designation -

The PHC curriculum is a comprehensive study of manufactured housing for retail salespeople. Topics include retailer responsibilities, land-home and personal property financing, fair housing, and selling skills.
house_secure_holding.jpg
News articles from around the country!

2023 THA-PAC Campaign
2023 THA PAC Campaign
Annually, we encourage our members to support Tennessee's legislative efforts, by contributing to the Political Action Committee campaign. Click on the Donate Button above, to download a contribution form. You may also review the PAC webpage, for more information!
Did you see the THA Member Tool email on July 11th?
Advantages of Owning a Home!
Download the graphic and video from this newsletter or from your member email (July 11th, 2023).
As a member, you may use these tools in your social media posts or on your website.
is making a difference! Leads are coming in!

As a THA member, you have a free site listing allowing consumers to directly access your business. What a fantastic member benefit! However, to provide the best consumer experience, retailer listing profiles should display the makes and models of new homes offered, and communities should have full descriptions with amenities. In order for you to best utilize this new site, it is imperative that you verify your listing and provide all necessary changes. The site's architect will directly receive your requests for changes or additions (see buttons below).
In all events, ensure any leads generated are going to an email address that is checked daily. Please take a minute to click the appropriate button below and provide/update your free member listing. If your business is not listed, you have not completed your required listing information. Non-member companies will not be allowed to list on this website for consumer searches.

  • Disclaimer! As with any new venture there will be a learning process! Launching this new site comes with tweaks and corrections! Be our eyes and ears! Check your listings and utilize the direct vendor access buttons below, for changes/additions/updates.
 
  • Remember! This is THA’s consumer-facing website. Our existing association website remains active as your continued resource for industry news, legislative announcements, educational offerings, and general business information.
Use these links to make changes or additions to your listing.
Tennessee MH Education Available Everyday!
Pick your course. Pay online. Access Online.
Print your certificate of completion right from your dashboard!
Discounts are available for THA member companies!
(Email Office@tnmha.org for your member discount coupon, prior to purchase!)
State Resources
Follow us on social media!