Joseph “Joe” Stegmayer is the chairman of the RV MH Hall of Fame. What? Yes, the same Joe Stegmayer who was hit with a legal action by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) along with Cavco’s Industries (CVCO) and others that cost millions in fines, legal expenses, and settlement costs was a prior chair for the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI, “the Institute” or manufacturedhousing.org) is currently the chairman of the RV MH Hall of Fame. Does that help explain how someone like Nathan Smith can become an RV MH Hall of Fame inductee?
Teresa Payne is an attorney. She spent decades working in the federal government, including years at HUD and the manufactured housing program. She should know federal law backwards and forwards as it relates to the HUD Code and manufactured housing. There is no known clear evidence that Payne worked hard at HUD to get enhanced preemption under the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 consistently and robustly enforced. MHI claims from time to time to want federal enhanced preemption enforced. But beyond lip service and posturing, what meaningful step has MHI taken?
- So why exactly have Payne and MHI figures like Lesli Gooch paled around and been so chummy for years?
- Why did MHI hire Payne (pronounced or sounds like “pain”) for a VP of policy position?
- See more on Payne and MHI in the new deep dive in the latest Masthead among the headlines in review.
AI has confirmed the validity of the evidence and argument that MHI’s search committee could not have logically overlooked the controversies she was involved in that apparently cost Lesli Gooch a congressional race. Nor have Gooch, MHI’s attorneys, or board members respond to those or other troubling inquiries about their apparent lack of interest in addressing poor industry performance by historical standards during an affordable housing crisis.
Danny Ghorbani is a former MHI VP. He helped develop over 200,000 home sites for mobile and manufactured homes while he was with MHI and its prior association name (Mobile Home Manufacturers Association or MHMA). It has been said that Ghorbani has forgotten more about the industry than many working in it today know, particularly when it comes to the law, lobbying and machinations at work within MHVille. See the latest Q-A with Ghorbani in the headlines recap below.
Multi-billion-dollar brands or multi-million-dollar ones aspiring to hit the billion-dollar level are not always so easy to dissuade from a course of action. To be fair, even smaller firms can get stuck in a rut.
It is easy to imagine how two or more colleagues can sit at a table in a busy restaurant and discuss how the wink and a nod routine works in MHVille.
- Posture one thing.
- Do something quite inconsistent with those claims for the sake of optics via related theatrics.
- Create an illusion of motion.
- Use the illusory truth effect.
- Collect meeting fees and dues from those who trust that those at MHI are telling them the truth when they are mere marks awaiting their turn for consolidation by one of MHI’s self-proclaimed M&A focused firms.
- Because many do not want to think they have been victimized by a big con operating in plain sight, the ruse can (and apparently has) continued for the better part of twenty plus years.
If that sounds implausible don’t forget all of the other big 21st century cons in the business sector that operated successfully for years. While each is distinct, the illusory truth effect and related tactics are ways that those ‘big cons’ operated successfully for years, despite periodic concerns raised by whistleblowers and others to regulators, public officials, and/or media.
If that still sounds implausible then consider the routine lack of success MHI has yielded on an array of issues since the dawn of what has been called the Berkshire Hathaway era of manufactured housing history. Meanwhile, steady consolidation continues. See the MHInsider report, among others linked below, for specific data that relates to that consolidation.
Champion (SKY) CEO Tim Larson stunningly said during a prior earnings call that they fully support the goals of land lease community operators. To grasp the importance of these remarks, someone must understand that prominent community members involved in the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) have made published investor relations and other remarks that reveal that their business models favor limiting production, presumably to drive up the site fees at their properties.
– Tim Larson
President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Champion Homes (SKY)
Seriously? Look at these exhibits from the investor relations presentations of the firms shown. The problems, from an organic growth or retail sales perspective is not speculative. The agenda of key community operators at MHI is in your face because it is boldly stated in their own investor relations (IR) presentations and have been in several of their IR pitches. Some examples will make the point clear.
Per Sun Communities (SUI).
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“Compelling Supply Demand Fundamentals”
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“Virtually no new supply [of land lease manufactured home communities or MHCs] has been added for years”
Note: depending on your browser or device, many images in this report can be clicked to expand. For example, in some browsers/devices you click the image and select ‘open in a new window.’ After clicking that selection, you click the image in the open window to expand the image to a larger size. To return to this page, use your back key, escape or follow the prompts.
Even more apparent is what Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) has said.
Per ELS. Under “Supply Constrained Asset Class” is the statement that “Growing demand coupled with almost no new supply is a strategic advantage for ELS.”
Like Sun, ELS points out that “There has been limited MH development in the U.S. in the past 20 years.” After bluntly saying that this dynamic is “a strategic advantage for ELS” they explain that the “Reasons for the supply constraint” include NIMBY (Not in my back yard.” “Restricted zoning & regulations.” The final bullet of those three bullets is curious, but ELS said “Federal planning vs. local planning.”
Per Larson’s remarks: “We are growing with our community customers and are committed to supporting their mission and goals.”
But in case any investors, consumers, taxpayers, stakeholders, or others involved in affordable housing or manufactured homes more specifically have any lingering doubts, consider what another prominent MHI member, Flagship Communities, had to say.
“Continued Consolidation,” access to “Public Capital Markets Provides a Competitive Advantage,” and their goal to “Lead Consolidation of a Fragmented Industry.” In spite of problematic Better Business Bureau (BBB) ratings, legal actions by their residents, and other problematic behaviors, Flagship and its predecessor have been ‘uplifted’ by MHI and their state association affiliates with several “awards” over the course of years.
Apparently, Larson’s remarks reveal that he and Champion’s management supports that agenda and behavior?
Larson clearly said that Champion (SKY) Homes does.
That flies in the face of what Champion has been telling their retail and other investors when they talk about the upside of the industry. How so? Because if NIMBYism and zoning barriers are accepted as a “strategic advantage” and are not resolved, the industry is demonstrably heading for a yet another significant downturn.
That looming downturn in production is a mathematical certainty because occupancy levels are reportedly at about 95 percent nationally, with even fewer vacancies in some locations. As both Sun and ELS pointed out to their investors, with only modest developing since 2000, capacity will be achieved in the foreseeable future. So, if the status quo of the current dynamics isn’t changed soon, an industry downturn is all but guaranteed as a sobering looming certainty. While that may be embraced by several community operators, why do producers, retailers, lenders and other providers tolerate that state of affairs?
ELS, Sun, Cavco, Champion, and Flagship are all MHI members, and along with brands that are part of the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) manufactured home empire (Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage Corporation, and Vanderbilt Mortage and Finance (VMF) have held MHI board positions.
Northmarq is this from earlier this year (Jan 9, 2025) is the following.
Consistently strong occupancy conditions in the national manufactured housing market continued to fuel strong rent growth across the country in the third quarter. The national occupancy rate held steady at 94.8 percent, matching the levels from the first two quarters of the year.
With that backdrop, look at what is revealed in the latest expose of ELS owned MHInsider among the headlines in review.
Among the periodically obscured points is, per MHInsider which cited ‘industry partners’ like MHI – that 55 percent of new production is going into communities.
If that is true, and given the low numbers of new community developments, with federal preemption little more than a routinely broken promise by federal officials that Congress explored but did nothing about, how long before every community in the country is at capacity and zoning barriers thwart production to the point that another 2009-2010 level downturn is a virtual given? That’s no exaggeration. Do the math. Cut some 104,000 annual shipments in half and you have 52,000 shipments. In 2009-2010 it hovered around 50,000.
But ELS owned MHInsider has the chutzpah to suggest the industry is doing well?
Again, see that detailed expose of MHInsider’s claims with AI backed fact-checks and human expertise/AI hybrid analysis among our headlines for the week below. As one of several illustrations, part of that report has the item shown below.
Ghorbani wants to get MHI to do their self-proclaimed job. That is a worthy effort. But will it work? Will MHI pivot? MHARR has successfully used jujitsu maneuvers on MHI ‘leaders’ before. Time will tell. See Ghorbani’s take in his own words plus related in the headlines in review.
Then there are also public officials.
We have concluded 4 years of the Biden-Harris (D) administration. HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge directly refused to enforce federal enhanced preemption, as a CSPAN video documents. Then Senator Joe Biden (D) was part of the widely bipartisan coalition that enacted the 2000 Reform Law and the Duty to Serve (DTS) manufactured housing. Will the new Trump Administration 2.0 root out the apparent corruption at HUD, FHFA, DOE, and beyond? Stay tuned and dig into those issues in the headlines that follow too.
Don’t miss today’s postscript.
With no further adieu, here are the MHVille headlines for the week in review from 5.4 to 5.11.2025.
What’s New on MHLivingNews
Note as of the last check, HUD has still not yet returned the above to their own website.
A source at HUD provided the original used in the article above.
A source at HUD provided the original used in the article above.
What’s New from Washington, D.C. based MHARR
What’s New on the Masthead
What’s the latest from Tim Connor, CSP, and his Words of Wisdom
What’s New on our Eclectic Topics Including, But Not Limited to Housing and Manufactured Housing, on the Mainstream Patch
What’s New on the Daily Business News on MHProNews
Saturday 5.10.2025
Friday 5.9.2025
Thursday 5.8.2025
Wednesday 5.7.2025
Tuesday 5.6.2025
Monday 5.5.2025
Sunday 5.4.2025
Postscript
History is supposed to be a study of what has occurred so that people understand how current circumstances evolved. By properly understanding history, solutions to practical problems can be found. You don’t have to agree with the politics of Rep. James Clyburn (SC-D) in order to benefit from the wisdom of these insightful quotes.
Consider the following:
A Multi-Pronged Strategy for Robust Growth for Each and Every Independent Producer of HUD Code manufactured homes.
There may be subtle perceived reasons for a producer to think that they ought to be a member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI). While MHProNews would respectfully suggest that those reasons to be in MHI if you aren’t one of the Big 3 Cs are likely (on one or more levels) flawed (a common-sense rule of thumb is do not feed a dog or alligator who bites you), there are an array of reasons to take the following steps.
1) Join MHARR. Unlike MHI, multiple AI checks have confirmed the steadfast reliability of MHARR as opposed to MHI. If MHARR attained a certain scale, MHARR (in MHProNews’ editorial view) could launch much needed legal actions and/or could potentially push a ‘law and order’ Trump 2.O Administration into enforcement of long stagnant federal laws meant to help the industry. Note, this our editorial view and this post was not suggested by MHARR.
2) For vertically integrated producers (which has for years increasingly become a norm), they should team up and create a post-production operation that supplants MHI. Among those that could be included in such a trade group is UMH Properties. Let’s note that this writer is an investor in UMH, which does not mean that they necessarily listen to our common-sense and evidence-based thinking. That said, UMH has achieved all that they can at MHI. MHI is more of an anchor for honest members and will likely increasingly become an anchor for ethically-minded businesses.
There is nothing, or nearly nothing, that MHI arguably offers an honest member that they can’t do better apart from MHI by forming a new national post-production trade group. A new trade group should include an image and education campaign. It should make as part of that campaign a bright line distinction between predatory brands and those that truly care about happy customers. Those ideas and more are covered in other articles on MHProNews and MHLivingNews.
3) The odds are potentially quite good for a new post-production trade group plus a stronger MHARR to convince one or more state AGs and/or federal officials just how much the scam MHI’s insiders have cost Americans, taxpayers, and governments at all levels. Such an effort could be done with just the two groups (MHARR plus what Bob Crawford suggested as the “MH-IDEA”). Or there may well be consumer interest groups that could be added to form an even larger coalition.
4) Contingency attorneys. Beyond public officials investigating and prosecuting cases (hopefully criminal ones) against MHI insiders as Samuel Strommen suggested while he was at Knudson Law, a class action against the dominant brands at MHI should be launched. The class action could be by independents (past and present) harmed by what Grok called “a heist.” Or it could include the millions of people who are stuck renting that could and should have been building equity in manufactured homes of their own.
5) There is more, much more that could or should be done. But that is sufficient to make this point. Scams like the Madoff, Enron, Theranos, WorldCom and others that relied on the illusory truth effect and bold (in hindsight) farcical behavior routinely implode at some point.
- Why wait?
- Why not give the corrupted system holding manufactured housing back in the 21st century a good hard set of entirely legal shoves?
- Why not set your firm apart and be part of the Golden Age Trump 2.0 is proclaiming?
- Why be part of a corrupt and rigged system?
Whistleblowers with documents are routinely wanted. PDFs can be emailed to us and/or contact public agencies directly. You can always talk to an attorney first if you want to play it safe.
There are good reasons to believe that T2 means business. Time will tell if he has the right people at HUD, FHFA, DOE, etc. But there are reasons to be hopeful. What is certain is that for four years, Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris could have made housing more affordable and could have boosted manufactured housing dramatically. They did neither of those things.
MHARR’s Mark Weiss observed a couple of months ago that second chances don’t automatically occur. Manufactured housing is getting a second chance, said Weiss, with a second Trump Administration. What will industry pros do with that opportunity?
What’s behind the curtain of 21st century manufactured housing industry underperformance? A range of researchers have attempted to answer that question. Common answers are ‘zoning barriers,’ financing that isn’t as competitive as conventional housing, and image/education issues. All of that is supported. But all of that has been known for over 25 years. Are we to think that the industry’s leaders don’t realize those factors? Of course they know them, just as researchers know them.
It only stands to reason that since third-party researchers – often which have ties to MHI members or upstream corporate sponsors/donors – know these things, then they ought to be able to resolve the problem…
…if they wanted to solve the problem at this time.
But the evidence is clear. Publicly traded firms have said that they like the status quo, it is part of their business model to consolidate the industry.
That’s not speculative, Copilot said. Those are documented facts. xAI’s Grok and Gemini have said similarly in their own words (see further below).
Successful and intelligent people in the MHI orbit have magically failed to keep the manufactured home industry from recovering to its pre-2000 era performance.
That is so despite ample financial resources to do whatever they wanted to cause manufactured housing to return to its late 20th century performance levels or greater (again, see AI powered Gemini research further below). As xAI’s Grok put it, this isn’t a theory, it’s a heist.
Copilot said similarly, in its own words cited above.
In the face of evidence, MHI’s corporate and senior staff leaders and attorneys are silent, as those AI platforms also observed. Gemini noted that MHI’s silence may be because their attorneys have advised them that even trying to refute the evidence may only bring more attention to growing case against them.
Any of the big three individually have the financial clout to achieve the lobbying and/or litigation necessary to get manufactured housing back on track. So, why haven’t they done so?
To see the graphic immediately above in a larger size click here and follow the prompts.
Clayton. Stegmayer. Larson. Gooch. Payne. They are just some of the cast of characters that have apparently preferred the status quo to authentic action that could cause robust industry growth.
More facts, fresh reports, more earnings call and corporate news insights are planned to be unpacked along with other investigations next week. Stay tuned to the industry’s runaway #1 source for more “News through the lens of factory-built homes and manufactured housing” © “Industry News, Tips, and Views Pros Can Use”© where “We Provide, You Decide.” © This is the source for “Intelligence for your MHLife.” © Thanks to all involved for making and keeping us #1.
Joe Stegmayer, Cavco Industries, MHI Chairman, Insights from Innovative Housing Showcase
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By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.
For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
