The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule  about extending anti-money laundering (AML) and suspicious activity reporting (SAR) requirements to non-bank residential mortgage lenders and originators (RMLOs – Additional information is here about defining a RMLOs, etc. FINcen Final AML Rule for Non-Bank Mortgage Lenders 2-17-2012).  Now by August the RMLOs will be required to implements AML and SAR programs.

MHI working with McGlinchey-Stafford to create templates to assist lenders, community owners and retailers in becoming compliant with this rule.  We are asking MHI members to complete the survey in a PDF (NOLADB-#998207-v1-MHI_Member_Questionnaire_for_AML_and_SAR_Programs) or in a Word document MHI_Member_Questionnaire_for_AML_and_SAR_Programs.

In addition, we are requesting that lenders and also MHI members that could possibly be considered RMLOs such as community owners/operators, manufactured housing retailers, etc. to complete the survey.

Please follow the directions and note the information within the survey is kept strictly confidential.  Please return at your earliest convenience.  You can return your survey to Marc Lifset at mlifset@mcglinchey.com or by fax at 518.432.7290.  Feel free to contact Marc if there are any questions about the survey.  Your assistance will help us all more easily comply with this new regulatory requirement.

Up 23.5% from March 2011, single section homes accounted for the largest portion of the increase.  Multi-section homes also increased from March of last year.

January, February and March 2012 shipments are up 31.8% with 12,780 shipments in comparison to March 2011 shipments of only 9,696.

The *SAAR or the seasonally adjusted annual rate was 57,268 for March of 2012.  From February’s numbers it is down 9.3%.  (February 2012′s SAAR was 63,111 shipments).

The total number of floors that were shipped were 7,132 for March of 2012 which is an increase of 14.4% in comparison to March 2011.  122 plants and 46 manufacturing companies reported production in March which is unchanged from last month.

*SAAR corrects for normal seasonal variations in shipments and projects annual shipments based on the current monthly total.

Modular home construction made up approximately five percent of new home construction in 2010.  Some experts say that modular homes make sense for a sustainable lifestyle.  The prefabricated homes “are inherently more sustainable than their site-built counterparts.  Because modular construction facilities typically use leftover resources for other purposes, the homes cost five percent to twenty percent less then the comparable.”

The Modular home companies therefore use those savings to pass onto energy-saving and water-conserving products for the home.  There are also many additional sustainable features to a modular home (if requested) including bamboo flooring, low-flow faucets and energy-efficient heating and cooling units.  The size of the home (modulars have an overall tendency to be smaller then their “stick-built” comparison homes) which is a fantastic selling feature of any green home.

So Modular = Greener….what do you think?

The seasonally adjusted rates (*SAAR) of shipments was 61,802 in January 2012 which is up from 6.0 percent from December 2011 of 58,299.  Also the total floor shipments for January 2012 were up 38.3 percent from January 2011.

If you would like to access this report please check it out here.

*SAAR corrects for the normal seasonal variations in shipments and projects annual shipments based on the current monthly total.

NMHC or the National Modular Housing Council’s report indicates actual shipments of 3,030 new modular homes that were shipped in the fourth quarter of 2011.  This is an increase of 7.9 percent from (the same quarter) in 2010.

2011′s fourth quarter in comparison to that of 2010 the following information is as follows:

• Increases for 11 states
• Reductions in 11 states
• No significant changes in 7 states

Jennison comes from a background that includes a variety of industry experience.  He has worked as the President and CEO of the Brick Industry Association (BIA), and Chief Operating Officer at the Point-of-Purchase Advertising International (POPAI).

Jennison is happy to become apart of the MHI family and has recently mentioned, “It is a tremendous privilege to join MHI and I am honored to be selected for this great opportunity.  I am excited to work with the MHI leadership, members and staff to represent this important sector of the housing industry in Washington D.C.  Together I believe we can accomplish the mission and goals of MHI to advance the industry, improve the regulatory and finance environment, promote the high quality and great value inherent in our homes and build consensus among industry partners.”

Jennison will be responsible for the management of the association in accordance with the bylaws, budget and policies established by the MHI Board of Directors.  He will also be overseeing the staff in the areas of government codes and standards, communications, marketing, membership development, meetings, education and administration.

Welcome Richard Jennison!

Showcase Homes had a Champion Home from the Claysburg, PA  facility and Fairlane Homes had a New Era modular, complete with attached garage!

Attendance was up 30% from 2011 which is quite exciting for our industry.  The overall quality of potential customers was quite impressive as well.

Hooray for 2012!

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(Arlington, VA – February 1, 2012) – “During a hearing of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity evaluating the effectiveness to which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has implemented key provisions of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000, Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) formally unveiled legislation (H.R. 3849) to reduce regulatory burdens impeding access to affordable manufactured housing financing”.

“In detailing challenges facing the manufactured housing industry, Congressman Miller cited a number of difficulties the industry has suffered over the past decade, including: a decline in new manufactured home construction of roughly 80 percent; the closure of more than 160 plants; and the loss of over 200,000 jobs.  He specified that “Congress must address the problems with regulatory overreach that impedes the ability of consumers to obtain mortgage financing for manufactured homes.”

The bill (titled the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act) was developed on a bipartisan basis by Reps. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Stephen Fincher (R-TN) and Gary Miller, in consultation with the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), to address two significant issues impacting the manufactured housing industry:

• Reducing the threshold by which small balance manufactured home personal property loans are considered High-Cost Mortgage Loans under provisions within the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203) and thereby subject to punitive and onerous liabilities.

• Clarifying that those selling manufactured homes—who are not fundamentally engaged in the business of mortgage origination —are not to be considered mortgage originators under the federal SAFE Act and thereby better able to provide adequate technical assistance to consumers throughout the manufactured home buying process—similar to the SAFE Act treatment of real estate brokers.

Upon introduction of the legislation, MHI Chairman and Cavco Industries Chairman and CEO Joe Stegmayer stated “we are truly grateful for the dedicated leadership and work of Representatives Joe Donnelly, Stephen Fincher and Gary Miller on this very important issue.  Serving the financing needs of the manufactured housing market has always been a unique challenge.   It has grown more challenging by the establishment of new federal guidelines that do not adequately account for the complexities and realities facing the industry and consumers alike. The legislation is an essential step in preserving the affordability advantage of manufactured housing and protecting the equity that 19 million existing manufactured home residents have built in their homes.”

During the hearing, several members of the subcommittee reaffirmed the important role manufactured housing plays as an affordable, high quality housing source and the need for improved access to financing, including Rep. Robert Hurt (R-VA) who stated that the manufactured housing industry has been “hindered by a lack of financing availability.”  Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) highlighted the valuable role manufactured housing plays as an “important source of affordable housing” that is “threatened by a lack of financing options.”

In his testimony, Cavco Industries Director of Engineering Manuel Santana, P.E. – testifying on behalf of MHI – reinforced these points and stated that “the single most important issue impacting the manufactured housing market remains the availability of accessible and affordable financing for those seeking to purchase manufactured housing.”  Mr. Santana added that “lack of a viable secondary market for manufactured home loans coupled with growing regulatory burdens threaten to further constrict the limited financing options that currently exist within the manufactured housing market.”

MHI will continue to work on a bipartisan basis to educate Members of Congress and develop solutions to the financing crisis within the manufactured housing market.  For a copy of the legislation, click here.  A description of the bill’s impact on SAFE Act and the Dodd-Frank Act is available here.

MHI is the preeminent national trade association for the manufactured and modular housing industries, representing all segments of the industry before Congress and the Federal government. From its Washington, D.C. area headquarters, MHI actively works to promote fair laws and regulation that will help provide quality, affordable housing for homebuyers. For more information on MHI, visit www.manufacturedhousing.org.

Single sections accounted for a lot of this increase in November.  Those shipments were up 114.6% from the previous November.  FEMA did play a large roll in this increase as well because they purchased 1,735 homes in the last quarter of 2011.

The industry shipments YTD were 47,768 homes compared to last year’s shipments of 47,265 which is an overall net increase of 1.1%. ” The seasonally adjusted annual rate or *SAAR was 68, 389 for November which is up 18.9% from the rate of 57,523 in October 2011″ (MHI news, 2011).  The total floors in November 2011 that were shipped were 7,485 which is up 35.7% from November of 2010.

To obtain the entire November 2011 report please click here.

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*SAAR corrects for normal seasonal variations in shipments and projects annual shipments based on the current monthly total.

By attending MHI’s February 2012 Legislative Conference you presence and voice will be heard.  This meeting will be critical in reaching out to the members of the 112th Congress on issues of that are of great importance to our industry which include the following:

• Dodd-Frank Financial Reform
• EISA Standards
• SAFE Act
• The future role of government’s support of affordable housing programs
• Vital industry tax credits
• Increased oversight of the federal manufactured housing program

Get your voice heard and make sure the correct people are listening to you about how important our industry is in this economy.  Sponsorship opportunities are available here.  Check out the following registration deadlines which expires on Jan. 26th, 2012:

• Discounted room rate @ Sheraton Crystal City Express (reserve it here)
• Early-bird registration fee (reserve it here)