‘Congress Has Time to Improve 21st Century ROAD to Housing. Strengthen Federal preemption. Ensure Duty to Serve Chattel Lending. Protect Buyers from High Regulatory Costs.’ Weiss HW Op-Ed-FEA

CongressHasTimeToImprove21stCenturyROADtoHousingStrengthenFederalPreemptionEnsureDutyToServeChattelLendingProtectBuyersFromHighRegulatoryCostsMarkWeissHWopEd-FEA

“America’s housing affordability crisis has reached a breaking point.” “Manufactured housing should be one of the nation’s most effective answers to this crisis.” “Manufactured housing should not become another niche housing product. Its greatest strength has always been delivering homeownership at a price point that conventional site-built housing simply cannot match,” wrote Mark Weiss, J.D, President and CEO of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) in an op-ed published by HousingWire on 7.7.2026 at this link here. According to Google Alerts and GAIO, it has been picked up or amplified by others as well. Per GAIO.

“Mark Weiss’s op-ed on manufactured housing has been circulated by multiple media and financial platforms, including HousingWire, real estate networks like The Builder’s Daily, and social media sites such as Threads. It has also been amplified by real estate market monitors like HomeArea.com.”

MHARR issued a press release linked here about that HousingWire op-ed which is shown below.

Part I

JULY 7, 2026

TO: HUD CODE MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY MEMBERS

FROM: MHARR

RE: MHARR HOUSING WIRE OP-ED – “CONGRESS HAS A CHANCE TO EXPAND AFFORDABLE HOMEOWNERSHIP – IT SHOULDN’T WASTE IT”

Attached for your review and information is a copy of an MHARR Op-Ed article published in the July 7, 2026 edition of HousingWire. The Op-Ed is also available at:

https://www.housingwire.com/articles/manufactured-housing-affordable-homeownership/

Based on continuing input to MHARR, it appears that the industry is just beginning to comprehend the dangers, failures, omissions and shortcomings of currently-pending “housing” legislation. The Op-Ed, therefore, addresses the failure of the currently-pending “21^st Century ROAD to Housing Act” to effectively address — and remedy — the three principal bottlenecks that have suppressed manufactured housing production during the 21^st century and continue to undermine the utilization of inherently affordable, mainstream manufactured housing, i.e.:

(i) exclusionary and discriminatory zoning;

(ii) the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to implement the statutory Duty to Serve (DTS) mandate within the market-dominant manufactured home consumer chattel lending sector; and

(iii) the continuing threat to manufactured home affordability posed by excessive, high -cost, Biden-era “energy” mandates.

While the pending bill does eliminate the baseless and technologically outdated “permanent chassis” mandate incorporated in the original Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 – a change that MHARR supports and has supported since its inception – and could potentially benefit certain high-end manufactured housing models, it nevertheless fails to address, in any definitive manner, the major national bottlenecks that continue to needlessly restrict and limit the production and utilization of mainstream HUD Code manufactured housing. Instead, it leaves the mainstream industry (approximately 80% of the entire HUD Code market) on its own, to continue grappling with serious, market-significant obstacles that could ultimately threaten its very existence.

With the housing bill seemingly destined to become law, MHARR will continue to keep its focus on these major failures and their ultimate resolution for the benefit of the entire industry, as well as American consumers of affordable housing.

cc: Other Interested Affordable Housing Proponents

Attachment

Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR)
Mark Weiss
President & CEO
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

MHARR’s press releases are available for re-publication in full (i.e.: without alteration or substantive modification) without further permission and with proper attribution and/or linkback to MHARR.

MHARR notes that the featured image was generated by artificial intelligence (AI) powered ChatGPT. This MHARR report was written using industry-expert human intelligence.

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MHProNews encourages industry and other readers to see the MHARR’s Weiss op-ed here.