Story link here: http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_25604664/jury-awards-record-111-million-trailer-park-residents
Another story here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/16/il-equity-lifestyle-idUSnBw165755a+100+BSW20140416
(Both links open in new window/tab.)
Ishbel Dickens, Executive Director of the National Manufactured Home Owners Association is extensively quoted in an article by Natalie St. John of The Chinook Observer highlighting egregious business practices and bad living conditions in manufactured housing communities in Spokane, SW Washington and parts of Oregon, where the community owners have racked up huge debt and allowed at least one of the properties to fall into foreclosure.
The latest eBlast Spring Newsletter is in PDF format; NMHOA Across America – Spring 2014.
Past eBlast’s are available on the “Newsletter/eBlasts” menu bar, and are shown in date order.
Stacey Epperson of Next Step and Doug Ryan of CFED wrote a comprehensive article about the value of manufactured housing as part of the solution to the affordable housing crisis in this country. Click here to read the full article.
Congratulations to NMHOA Executive Director, Ishbel Dickens. She was nominated for a Washington State Jefferson Award. Someone in Ishbel’s community has noticed her outstanding work and nominated her for this unique recognition of her efforts.
Some information about these awards are here.
Congratulations!
Ishbel Dickens, Executive Director of the National Manufactured Home Owners Association is extensively quoted in an article by Natalie St. John of The Chinook Observer highlighting egregious business practices and bad living conditions in manufactured housing communities in Spokane, SW Washington and parts of Oregon, where the community owners have racked up huge debt and allowed at least one of the properties to fall into foreclosure.
Here is a link to the full story (part 1 of 3).
Low-income children living in Palo Alto’s Buena Vista Mobile Home Park have lower dropout rates than their peers in less affluent cities and benefit substantially from local top-notch medical facilities, according to a study by Stanford researchers.
The study, released Monday, focuses on the educational and health care experiences of the dozens of children living in the park — one of the few spots with affordable housing in Palo Alto and the city’s only mobile home park — which is threatened with closure.
The report documents basic statistics about the kids, including where they go to school and what special programs they may be in, which the researchers said were so far lacking in the public discussion around the closure.
And while some policy makers question whether low-income minority children tap into available resources of affluent communities, the report’s findings show the substantial benefits for Buena Vista residents of living in a more advantaged area.
“It certainly makes a difference in how you do and how you feel when you are in a community with high quality amenities,” said Amado Padilla, a professor at the Graduate School of Education and co-author of the study. “You’re less stressed and often you’re more engaged. ”
Buena Vista Mobile Home Park is located behind a strip mall and gas station about 2 miles from the Stanford campus. About 400 people live there, most in privately owned trailers. They pay about $850 in rent and utilities, in addition to any outstanding debt on the home. Average rent for an apartment in Palo Alto is around $3,000 a month, according to RealFacts.
The park drew increased attention last year after the owner moved to sell the property to a developer who plans to build luxury apartments. The debate around the proposed closure, which must be approved by city administrators, has highlighted income inequality in Silicon Valley. The park itself also has become a symbol of how the tech boom hasn’t reached everyone.
The researchers, concerned about the outcomes of low-income Hispanic residents in California, where Hispanic children face challenges of school readiness and performance, saw a need to fill gaps in information about the residents of the park.
“It was just glaringly obvious when this debate about the park’s closure began that there were no data,” said study co-author Donald Barr, a professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine and a professor of education, by courtesy, at the GSE. “We sought to remedy that, to find out who was there and what kind of education and health care they were receiving.”
Under city rules, the owner must compensate relocated residents.
Education and health status
The study identified 67 families with 129 children, 90 percent of whom are Hispanic. Stanford students fluent in Spanish and trained in survey research conducted interviews with the adults in each of the families asking questions about how often they brought their children to the doctor or did they ever visit their children’s teachers.
All of the school-aged children in the park were enrolled in school, according to the report. None of the high school–aged children had left school, compared with a dropout rate of 29.3 percent among Hispanic high school students living in Silicon Valley and 26.7 percent among Hispanic students statewide.
“This was a big surprise,” Padilla said. “Now, it doesn’t mean they’re doing really well in school, there are still a lot of challenges, but they are going to school and finishing school, which puts them ahead of their peers elsewhere.”
According to researchers, the parents in the park are deeply involved in their children’s education. Ninety percent had attended teacher conferences and visited classrooms. The parents also said they feel good about their children’s education, and they feel the schools are safe.
“I did not meet a single parent who didn’t know what was going on with their kids,” Padilla said. “If you went to some other school districts, you likely wouldn’t find the same thing.”
The researchers said living near the schools, rated some of the best in the state, helps parents gain familiarity with the classes and teachers. They also said mingling with other parents and kids in the larger neighborhood after school and on weekends keeps parents more engaged and accountable.
“That crossing of social class and ethnic boundaries, we know from other research, is very important,” Barr said.
Forty-three percent of children in grades K-12 were enrolled in at least one type of special school program, the most common was English language learning. Other programs kids took part in included for reading difficulties, speech therapy, math help and support for educational needs related to autism and ADHD.
On health care, the report found the children at Buena Vista benefited from the high volume of providers within close proximity to the park.
Asked whether the parents have a usual source of medical care for their children, 97 percent said yes. Asked whether their children had a check up in the past 12 months, 74 percent said yes.
“In other communities it’s just not like this,” Barr said. “You may have insurance but finding good care can be difficult, and you likely won’t find the providers who have the special resources these kids need.”
Still, 12 percent of children in the park were not covered by insurance, though that is comparable to the 9 percent of Hispanic children statewide who lack health insurance.
The report identified one major gap in health care in Palo Alto for low-income residents: dental services.
According to the study, one-third of the children at the park have gone longer than 24 months without seeing a dentist, and 20 percent had needed dental care in the previous 12 months but been unable to obtain it because of an inability to pay. The researchers said there is a scarcity of dentists in Palo Alto who accept public insurance.
The researchers plan a second survey of residents in the park’s surrounding neighborhoods to learn more about their knowledge of the park and its residents and their feelings about low-income housing.
Barr and Padilla were expected to present their findings to the Palo Alto City Council. The study was self-funded.
Don’t Be Fooled, This Bill Would Actually Harm Manufactured Home Buyers
Posted by Doug Ryan on March 10, 2014
The “Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act” (H.R. 1779 and S. 1828) has been on CFED’s radar since it was first introduced in the 112th Congress (2011-2012). The current legislation is led by Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN) in the House of Representatives and Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) in the Senate. Although “Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing” sounds great, the bill would actually harm manufactured home buyers.
Before this year, manufactured home lenders were not subject to the Home Ownership Equity Protection Act (HOEPA). Most manufactured homes are financed with chattel loans rather than traditional mortgages, and the chattel market operated largely outside of federal regulators’ supervision. In this unchecked lending environment, default rates are high and borrowers pay credit card-like interest rates on their home loans. The Dodd-Frank Act brought the manufactured home lending industry into the light by applying many of the same laws and regulations that govern mortgage lending, and giving the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) supervisory and regulatory authority within the market.
But years before the new rules took effect, lenders began trying to avoid regulation by calling for new legislation to “fix” how Dodd-Frank treats manufactured homes. In reality, Dodd-Frank already recognizes that the manufactured home finance market has some unique characteristics and provides some exemptions for retailers and chattel lenders. The Preserving Access to Manufactured Homes Act would create even larger exemptions that would weaken consumer protections and enable predatory, high-cost loans. Its main provisions are:
Exempting more employees of manufactured home retailers from being defined as mortgage originators.
Raising the interest rate caps for HOEPA protections. Under the proposed legislation, a personal property loan of less than $75,000 with an interest rate as high as 14 percent would not be designated a higher-cost loan.
It would raise the HOEPA trigger for points and fees on loans under $75,000.
The act is not necessary to ensure that manufactured home buyers continue to have access to credit, as the CFPB has the power to adjust its rules in the case that credit becomes restricted. In the run up to the effective date of the rules, industry asked the CFPB to delay or to modify them. The CFPB did not find the industry data convincing, but agreed to review new data as needed. CFED and other members of the Innovations in Manufactured Housing (I’M HOME) Network have recently taken that message to congress, encouraging legislators to let the CFPB’s rules have a chance to work.
Members of the I’M HOME Network work to increase the role that manufactured housing plays in affordable homeownership. We have a deep interest in advancing policies that provide access to affordable financing for these homes—but not at the expense of consumer protections that help ensure that owners of manufactured homes are able to build and preserve wealth through homeownership. One way that policymakers could advance those goals would be to finalize the Duty to Serve (DTS) rule. DTS is a requirement of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. DTS would create secondary markets for manufactured home loans, including chattel, and attract new lenders to the market. The Federal Housing Finance Agency developed proposed rules in 2010 but has never finalized the regulations. Doing so would be a win-win for the manufactured home industry and manufactured home buyers alike.
February 2014 Eblast
Welcome – NMHOA is very pleased to welcome nine home owners’ associations who have joined NMHOA this month. We welcome seven HOAs from Oregon: Bella Vista Estates Cooperative, Horizon Homeowners’ Cooperative, Green Pastures Senior Cooperative, Saunders Creek Homeowners’ Cooperative, Via-Lea Community Cooperative, and West-Side Pines Cooperative; as well as Rockvale MHC Tenant Union from Wisconsin, and Park Plaza Cooperative from Minnesota.
NMHOA also welcomes 18 new or renewing individual members from California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, and Nevada who have subscribed to NMHOA since the beginning of the year.
Your continued support allows NMHOA to continue its important work providing resources and services to manufactured home owners throughout the United States.
Thank You for Supporting NMHOA – NMHOA is only as strong as its membership. Thank you for all you do to keep NMHOA growing from strength to strength. If you want your state or HOA to be highlighted in a future Eblast be sure to contact Ishbel Dickens (ishbel@nmhoa.org) and let her know of the great work that is happening in your state. She cannot share your successes if she does not know about them! Your success stories inspire others so please share.
Policy initiatives – During this month’s Legislative Committee call we learned of several bills that, if passed, would make a significant difference in the lives of manufactured home owners. In Oregon, an opportunity to purchase bill has passed the House and is now on the Senate floor for further consideration. When enacted this would allow home owners in Oregon an opportunity to make an offer when their community is up for sale. A bill circulating in New Jersey’s Assembly would limit the amount rent could be raised for seniors on fixed/limited incomes. This bill would protect seniors in all rental situations, not just those in manufactured housing communities. If you would like to know more about these bills or would like to participate in NMHOA’s Legislative Committee, please contact Leg. Comm. Chair Tim Sheahan (tpsheahan@cox.net) for more information.
Last words for February – Congratulations to Frank Pojman on being elected President of AMHRO the statewide home owners’ association in Ohio.
Look elsewhere on this site for contact information for all NMHOA state association members.
Congratulations are also in order for two NMHOA Board members – at its February meeting the NMHOA Board voted to have Jesse Martinez fill the President position for the remainder of that term, and voted for Tim Sheahan to become First Vice President.
Many to Share Concerns About Damaging Policy Positions DeSantis Has Taken Regarding Social Security
Port Orange – On Saturday January 18th, seniors who reside in manufactured home communities will be meeting with Representative Ron DeSantis to discuss retirement security and housing issues. Manufactured homeowners will also address growing concerns that have been raised by a number of Congressman DeSantis’ constituents, especially seniors, around his recent support of a Congressional sign-on letter circulated by Representative Reid Ribble (WI) that calls for raising of the retirement age, cuts to the cost of living adjustment formula and restores the cap on wages subject to FICA to Reagan era levels.
WHAT: Town Hall Meeting with Congressman Ron DeSantis
WHERE: Atlantic High School Auditorium, 1250 Reed Canal Drive.
WHEN: Saturday, January 18th at 10am
“Now is the time that we should be discussing improvements, not cutbacks to our nations’ vital retirement security programs,” stated Dale Muzzy, president of the Carriage Cove HOA. “There are many ways we can improve the program to ensure that the retirement security of all seniors and future retirees is protected. That includes scrapping the cap on FICA taxes so that the wealthiest in our country pay their fair share and developing a cost of living formula, such as the CPI-E, that reflects the true cost of living senior’s face.”
Many that will be present at the meeting reside in manufactured home communities that are owned and operated by Equity Life Style Properties, Inc. ELS is the nation’s largest corporate owner of manufactured home communities. Sam Zell is the board chair of ELS, which owns 380 manufactured home communities (defined as land-lease communities) in 32 states. ELS markets to retirees and many homeowners in its developments are seniors living on fixed incomes. Zell is also undercutting the economic security of seniors and people with disabilities by funding politicians and political action committees that are bent on dismantling the cornerstones of our nation’s retirement security programs: specifically, Social Security and Medicare.
“It is incomprehensible that someone who makes millions off of monthly rents paid to his company by seniors who are living on Social Security to turn around and call for cutbacks to this vital program,” added Dale Muzzy. “We are calling upon Representative DeSantis to also join us to call up Sam Zell to stop making damaging statements around Social Security and sit down and negotiate with homeowners around fair and reasonable rent increases and clear capital improvement systems.”
Manufactured homeowners across the country are banding together and calling upon ELS to re-evaluate its business model and management practices. Homeowners believe that a sensible alternative model for ELS is to put in place long-term lease agreements with fair and balanced rent increases and capital improvement processes. Additionally, ELS would be able to engender a higher level of customer loyalty by pushing for policies that protect and strengthen our nation’s Social Security and Medicare systems.
For more information go to http://mhaction.org or contact Dale Muzzy 386-898-2801 at to set up interviews with manufactured homeowners who are leading the campaign.
