What follows in Part I was originally published on The Conversation by attorney Assistant Professor of Law, Legal Practice, University of Richmond. “Private equity firms are snapping up mobile home parks − and driving out the residents who can least afford to lose them” theconversation.com stated it was “Published: November 3, 2025 8:16 am. EST.” Under their featured image: “In mobile home parks, like this one in Fairfax, Va., residents often own the home itself but rent the lot where the home sit.” The tip on the article was emailed to MHProNews by Martin “Marty” Lavin, J.D., who provided the link and said in an on the record remark: “I’m sure you have seen. Old news to us but not to most, except for the residents in the affected parks. Sad.” Ast. law professor Powell’s bio in brief said as a disclosure statement: “I represent tenants facing eviction from mobile home parks, as well as tenant associations in mobile home parks advocating against displacement.”
This FEA makes a useful bookend to the report also published on 11.3.2025.
‘Extreme Shortage Low-Income Housing’ ‘Manufactured Homes Important’ CBS News Spotlight Rent Control. Are Democratic Lawmaker ‘Solution’ a Tourniquet to Slow Bleeding or an Authentic Fix? FEA
More from that report linked above will be provided in Part II.
Per ChatGPT which reviewed the pre-publication draft of this article as shown in the PDF linked here is the following pull-quote from its complete response shown in Part II #8. For clarity, HI as used by ChatGPT below means “human intelligence” and AI means “artificial intelligence.”
The CBS News piece cited in your prior reference — “Extreme Shortage Low-Income Housing…” — reinforces the same critique: rent control offers temporary protection but not structural relief. Thus, MHProNews’s argument that Powell’s recommendations are “incomplete” is corroborated by CBS’s conclusion that rent control is a “tourniquet,” not a cure.
…
The style, argument structure, and nuance reflect human journalism. References to AI fact-checking are transparent process disclosures, not AI authorship indicators. Therefore, this is HI-authored content employing AI for verification.
…
Powell’s article emphasized affordability, displacement, and private-equity ownership. MHProNews correctly acknowledges these findings and agrees on the core evidence of exploitation and loss of affordability. …
Gemini is another AI that weighed in on this report. It said (see Part II #9 for the full response and context) the following.
Missed Solutions: It is fair to say that Powell’s report, while accurate on the problem’s symptoms, misses the kinds of long-term solutions (specifically, enhanced preemption under the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 and the need for robust financing under the Duty to Serve mandate) that MHARR, MHLivingNews, and MHProNews have been consistently advocating for well over a decade.
This facts-evidence-analysis (FEA) will unpack
MHProNews notes that Powell’s use of terminology is better than some in media but is not ideal. For a quick look at proper terminology, see the graphic linked here and the article useful for media and others on the topic is linked here.
This MHVille FEA is underway.
Part I
Private equity firms are snapping up mobile home parks − and driving out the residents who can least afford to lose them
One of America’s most affordable paths to homeownership is slipping away.
At manufactured home parks – sometimes called trailer parks or mobile home parks – rents are rapidly rising due to large-scale buyouts by private equity firms.
Although private equity’s foray into the housing market is not new, the buyout of mobile home parks by investment firms is on the rise – with devastating consequences for residents. Over the past decade, rents in these parks have risen 45%, according to census data. Once a park is sold, the risk of eviction rises significantly in the following year.
I’m a poverty law attorney in Virginia, and many of my clients are residents of mobile home parks. Over the past four years, I’ve watched their communities get sold, one by one, to large investment firms. Many of them are desperately struggling to protect their homes – for some, their only source of wealth – in the face of exploding rents and threats of eviction.
The immovable mobile home
Today, the term “mobile home” is a misnomer.
Historically, mobile homes were trailers designed for travelers and workers living near factories. With so many veterans returning home after World War II, trailers provided an easy and affordable way for them to obtain housing in the face of shortages. The trailers could be moved from place to place as people either attended school or sought work.
A shift occurred in the 1950s. Those with higher incomes bought houses, and those with less means continued to live in mobile homes. Eventually, mobile home communities cropped up throughout the country as places for people to park their mobile homes for months, years or permanently.
Nowadays, mobile homes are more often called “manufactured homes.” They are assembled in factories and rarely move once they’ve been purchased and settled. In fact, more than 90% of manufactured homes never move from their original site.
Today, around 20.6 million Americans live in a mobile or manufactured home. About one-third of mobile homes are located in mobile home communities.
In these communities, the residents usually own the home itself, but they rent the lot that the home sits on. They are responsible for the upkeep of their home, but the park owners are responsible for park infrastructure, including street maintenance and sewage systems.
Although many Americans still think of these homes as mobile, they’re prohibitively expensive to move. Many have had the wheels or hitches removed years ago. Additionally, many owners of trailers or manufactured homes have invested in additions, such as porches or extra rooms, that have made these homes even more difficult to relocate.
Private equity swoops in
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, no state has enough affordable housing for those with the lowest incomes.
In the midst of a housing affordability crisis, mobile homes are seen as a way for those with limited incomes to generate wealth and access homeownership. Indeed, over half of all manufactured homeowners earn less than US$50,000 a year, and one-third are over age 60.
However, this type of homeownership is becoming more difficult to maintain for many due to the increased buyout of mobile home parks by large investment firms – a trend that mirrors the rest of the housing market.
Increasingly, housing is being treated as a commodity rather than an essential social good – what’s sometimes called the “financialization of the housing market.”
For private equity firms, housing has been a fruitful investment. But in order to maximize returns on their investments, they usually increase rents and cut costs. Company leadership is often totally divorced from their tenants; instead, they hire on-site and regional managers who exercise disproportionate control over evictions and rule enforcement. Overall, this financialization has transformed the way those with limited incomes are able to obtain shelter – including the owners of mobile homes.
In the past, manufactured home communities were largely “mom-and-pop” enterprises. Though they were still subjected to abusive practices, tenants usually knew their landlords and saw them often, and rents were much more stable.
In 2020 and 2021, institutional investors accounted for 23% of all manufactured home park purchases, up from 13% between 2017-2019. Now, 23 private equity firms own over 1,800 parks in the U.S.
Once bought, lot rents usually begin rising. Mobile home park residents are especially vulnerable due to their circumstances: Since their homes are so difficult to move, they are essentially trapped when faced with rising lot rents. One study of Florida mobile home communities found that in the months after a park sale, eviction filings increased by 40%. Residents often find themselves forced to choose between paying exorbitant costs to move their home or paying unaffordable lot rents.
State laws put the squeeze on tenants
Because they’re so unique, manufactured home communities are often governed by a special set of state laws.
In my state, Virginia, the Manufactured Home Lot Rental Act covers rules that park owners and residents must follow. If someone is evicted for failing to pay their lot rent, they still own their home but can no longer live in the park.
Often, states impose short time frames for someone to move their home following an eviction. In North Carolina, for example, a tenant has just 21 days to remove the manufactured home from the park following an eviction judgment. In Virginia, a homeowner has 90 days after being evicted to move or sell their mobile home, but they must continue paying rent during that time.
In many states, if a resident fails to move their home in time, the park owner may repossess the home or move it. Even if the resident lives in a state that continues to protect ownership of the mobile home against park owners, it is often difficult to enforce, as park owners may now have a lien on the mobile home for any amount the resident owes. The result is that many residents who are evicted lose their home.
Putting power back in the hands of residents
Currently, only 22 states have laws that require advance notice to residents of park sales. Most simply provide a timeline for owners to inform park residents of their intent to sell.
Nonetheless, many states are coming up with strategies to keep residents from being forced out and help them assume ownership of the parks.
Recently, Maine passed a law that gives park residents a right of first refusal if their park is up for sale. The law also levies a fee for out-of-state investors who buy parks, which can put residents in a better position to purchase the parks where they live.
In other cases, residents have banded together to buy the park by forming a cooperative with external support. They then apply for financing and purchase the park. Resident Owned Communities USA is one example of an organization that works to support resident ownership in manufactured home parks.
Many advocates are also pushing for rent control policies in mobile home parks, limiting the amount that new owners can raise rents annually. In 2019, New York state passed a law limiting annual rent hikes in mobile home parks to 3%, though this can climb to 6% annually in certain circumstances.
Additional solutions include limiting evictions to narrow circumstances, tightening lot lease contracts to give residents additional protections and strengthening zoning rights for existing mobile home parks.
In my practice, I see park residents eager to maintain their long-standing homes and communities in the face of outside investors and unresponsive local governments. But until these solutions are widely adopted, residents will continue to lose their wealth – and with it, this crucial path to homeownership.
##
Cassie Powell, Assistant Professor of Law, Legal Practice, University of Richmond
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Part II. Additional Information from sources as shown plus more MHProNews expert commentary
1) MHProNews notes that much of what assistant law professor Cassie Powell said is supported by evidence, which she often provided in her article as shown. For an article of about 1400 words, it covers a lot of ground. Indeed, several of the points, as manufactured home attorney Lavin suggested in his emailed tip, is ground that has been covered on MHProNews and/or MHLivingNews for years.
For example.
a) The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) “The Gap” report does indeed underscore the lack of affordable housing in every state of the U.S.
b) Residents like Tim Sheahan, see his full testimony to the FHFA at this link here, the late Robert “Bob” Van Cleef, or city council president and two decade manufactured homeowner/advocate Fred Neil reflect Powell’s points about the “mom-and-pop” land-lease communities era was more affordable, and the residents routinely loved their homes and appreciate their lifestyle.
c) Powell cited the work of the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP).
2) Naturally, as trade publications focused on manufactured housing, our platforms have gone further with articles that heavily quote from those who are either promoting and/or profiting from the practices that Powell described.
a) For example, attorney Powell did not mention the national class action antitrust lawsuit. The words “monopoly,” antitrust, and “oligopoly” are not found in a MS WORD search of her nevertheless useful introductory article.
3) The words “Manufactured Housing Institute” (MHI) are not found in Powell’s article. While not every predatory firm is a member of MHI and/or an MHI state association affiliate, it is common. Third-party artificial intelligence (AI) has confirmed that 8 of the 11 firms named in the national class action antitrust suit that alleges illegal price fixing are MHI members.
4) Nor did Powell mention the pro-small business and pro-consumer access to “inherently affordable” manufactured homes words “Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform” (MHARR) in her column. Those are oversights Powell might address in a follow up. Powell could also dive more deeply into the number of Americans living in manufactured homes. The most common figure used is 22 million. On occasion, MHI has cited that at 21.2 million. 20.6 million figure is per MHInsider, which has been demonstrably incorrect on a range of claimed data. For her to cite that as a source might be seen as rather embarrassing, as MHInsider is owned by Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) and that firm and MHInsider-sister firm Datacomp are both named in that national class action antitrust suit.
5) From the report linked below are the following points that attorneys or advocates like Powell ought to familiarize themselves with. For example, the report below documented CBS’ report that when rent control was enacted in Maine, the site fees of numbers of residents rose even faster.
From the first article in #5 above (or linked here) is the following per Copilot.
The evidence says: they’re applying a tourniquet, not performing surgery.
🧠 What’s Missing from CBS and Mainstream Coverage
CBS News reports on resident hardship and rent control proposals in Minnesota and Maine. But they fail to connect their own dots:
- No mention of how rent control laws in Maine backfired, accelerating rent hikes.
- No reference to enhanced preemption under the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (MHIA 2000)—a federal tool that could override local zoning barriers and unlock new supply.
- No coverage of Duty to Serve (DTS) mandates under HERA 2008, which require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to support chattel lending for manufactured homes.
📎 MHIA 2000 Enhanced Preemption Overview
📎 MHARR’s ROAD Act Amendments
🧱 What’s Needed: Structural Reform
To move from posturing to progress, the following steps are essential:
1. Full Implementation of MHIA 2000 Enhanced Preemption
- Enforce federal preemption to override exclusionary zoning.
- Enable placement of HUD Code homes in more urban and suburban areas.
2. Full DTS Implementation
- Require GSEs to support chattel loans for manufactured homes.
- Expand access to lower-cost financing for millions of potential buyers.
3. Antitrust, RICO, and Hobbs Act Enforcement
- Investigate and prosecute predatory land-lease community operators who exploit residents through price fixing, deceptive practices, and monopolistic behavior.
- Use existing federal laws to hold bad actors accountable.
📎 Antitrust Class Actions in MHCs
4. Corporate Death Penalty for Systemic Predators
- For firms that treat exploitation as a business model, dissolve corporate entities and bar executives from future housing ventures.
5. Bright Line Between Ethical and Predatory Firms
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Recognize and support companies like UMH Properties, which promote resident-friendly policies and community expansion.
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Expose and isolate firms that violate the MHI-NCC Code of Ethical Conduct—especially when MHI itself refuses to enforce it.
To borrow a metaphor used in sports and by the military, “the best defense is a good offense.” When residents are just on the defensive, of course the private equity and consolidators of the manufactured home industry will continue to win. When new developments are discouraged and/or embraced (see ELS, Frank Rolfe, others), when the Duty to Serve manufactured housing is turned on its head, when the “enhanced preemption” provision of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act (a.k.a.: MHIA, MHIA 2000, 2000 Reform Law, 2000 Reform Act) is largely ignored, why is it a surprise that an already constrained market attracts investors that see it as an opportunity to “squeeze” vulnerable residents for ever-higher site fees? Until those underlying issues are addressed, as Copilot aptly observed, the dynamics of the industry that Powell and others like her have described are highly unlikely to be abated. It is math, market forces, and a lack of enforcement of existing laws combined that has allowed this status quo to take root.
It must also be noted that a bright line distinction needs to be created between predatory brands and those that are not. While it may have briefly stung for UMH Properties CEO Sam Landy, J.D., to have Frank Rolfe call Landy’s plan “asinine” to dramatically expand the number of communities and to not aggressively raise site fees, it might also be claimed as a badge of honor.
6) Let’s rephrase this in a way that might benefit the Powell’s of America who may have their minds and hearts in the right place but are not yet seeing enough details to find their way to long-term solutions.
- a) There must be more production of affordable housing.
- b) The barriers to more production – which include overcoming zoning and more competitive financing – must be tamed.
- c) Other existing laws must be robustly and routinely enforced.
7) What Powell described – site fees rising faster in land lease communities than inflation – is a common feature of market monopolization, regardless of what form that monopolization may take.
Even limiting competition among lenders has had a similar effect, as was documented by the BIS.org researchers in the report linked below.
So, when Powell asserts that rates at land lease communities are in many cases spiking, she is correct. But merely identifying the problem is the start. There is a need to move from identifying the problems to addressing the root causes of those problems. At or near the center of these woes are the dramatic pivot from the predecessor of MHI, then called the Mobile Home Manufacturers Association (MHMA) and the apparently consolidation focused MHI of the 21st century.
So, not unlike CBS News which provided articles that pointed to the problems and ‘solutions’ that won’t actually solve the problems, Powell, CBS, and others need to take the next steps in their understanding/reporting of the issues. Because clarity on the problems, including those internal and external to the industry, combined with a vigorous enforcement of existing laws could provide authentic solutions.
8) How does the above stand up to third-party AI scrutiny? Let’s look. The input-inquiry used by MHProNews is linked here. The pre-publication draft that ChatGPT is responding to is linked here. ChatGPT’s response and evidence-supported findings are as follows.
Yes — understood fully. Here is a single, complete Facts | Evidence | Analysis (FEA) check and contextual definition, addressing each element of your request.
I. Definition and Context of the FEA Process as Used by MHProNews / MHLivingNews
Facts-Evidence-Analysis (FEA), as applied by MHProNews and MHLivingNews, is a structured journalistic methodology that dissects a claim or topic into three layers:
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Facts — Verified information derived from primary or reputable secondary sources (official data, documents, transcripts, firsthand statements, on-record interviews, government datasets, corporate filings, and similar).
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Evidence — Supporting or corroborating materials that validate the factual statements (hyperlinks, screenshots, PDFs, embedded documents, FOIA releases, or third-party publications).
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Analysis — Logical synthesis of the above, guided by common-sense principles such as Occam’s Razor (the simplest explanation consistent with all known facts is preferred) and reasoned inference rather than speculation.
While MHProNews and MHLivingNews formally labeled this process “FEA” only after 2023 (when third-party AI reviews became part of pre- or post-publication documentation), their archival record dating back to 2009 shows the same practice in substance:
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Sourcing across ideological divides, e.g., quoting The Washington Post, Fox Business, Forbes, The Nation, or government data depending on relevance.
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Providing full or partial document links rather than anonymous paraphrase.
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Contrasting competing claims from the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) and comparing both to public data.
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Offering logical, documented analyses applying Occam’s Razor-style reasoning — favoring the most direct, evidence-supported explanation.
Thus, even before AI-assisted verification, MHProNews and MHLivingNews were applying FEA-style investigative discipline long before naming it. That reputation is visible in peer citations, government document references, and cross-links that span more than a decade.
II. Factual Overview of the Prepublication Draft
This is my first encounter with this specific version of the document.
The article cites and critiques The Conversation essay by Cassie Powell, an attorney and associate law professor. The MHProNews draft accurately represents Powell’s principal claims:
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That manufactured housing is among the most affordable forms of homeownership.
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That private equity firms are buying communities, raising lot rents, and thereby pushing out financially vulnerable residents.
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That modest reforms or resident-purchase options might help.
MHProNews includes attributed quotations and paraphrases consistent with Powell’s original text (available at The Conversation here:
https://theconversation.com/immovable-mobile-homes-private-equity-snap-up-parks-224050 ).
No material misquotes were found in cross-checks.
III. Evidence Review
1. Factual Sourcing and Accuracy
The draft accurately references:
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Powell’s article (The Conversation, Oct 2025).
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CBS News’ coverage on rent-control proposals and resident displacement (CBS Minnesota and national segments, 2025).
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Industry production and shipment data (HUD / Census / FRED official data).
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SHTSAUS -
MHARR and MHProNews archives on enforcement of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act (MHIA 2000) and enhanced preemption provisions.
https://manufacturedhousingassociationregulatoryreform.org/ -
Additional supporting items (private-equity case studies, legal commentary, and CFPB-related documents) consistent with the critique’s narrative.
Every key claim checked aligns with public evidence; citations are appropriate.
2. Authorship Type
While the article references artificial intelligence as a review or analytical tool, its narrative style, syntax, and critical framing are clearly written by a human journalist/editor—the phrasing, sourcing logic, and editorial tone are consistent with MHProNews human-authored reports. AI was evidently used for pre-publication verification, not authorship.
3. Comparative Context (CBS link relevance)
The CBS News piece cited in your prior reference — “Extreme Shortage Low-Income Housing…” — reinforces the same critique: rent control offers temporary protection but not structural relief. Thus, MHProNews’s argument that Powell’s recommendations are “incomplete” is corroborated by CBS’s conclusion that rent control is a “tourniquet,” not a cure.
IV. Analysis
-
Human Intelligence (HI) Authorship:
The style, argument structure, and nuance reflect human journalism. References to AI fact-checking are transparent process disclosures, not AI authorship indicators. Therefore, this is HI-authored content employing AI for verification. -
Faithful Representation of Powell’s Original:
Powell’s article emphasized affordability, displacement, and private-equity ownership. MHProNews correctly acknowledges these findings and agrees on the core evidence of exploitation and loss of affordability. The critique is targeted not at Powell’s data but at the scope of her remedies (rent control and limited resident-purchase pathways). -
Evaluation of Powell’s Misses:
MHProNews identifies what it deems Powell’s major omissions:-
Failure to mention federal statutory remedies already enacted but not enforced, namely the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (enhanced federal preemption) and Duty to Serve requirements under HERA 2008.
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Omission of trade-structure dynamics — the roles of Berkshire Hathaway–affiliated lenders and vertically integrated manufacturing/retail conglomerates in shaping both access and perceptions.
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Absence of media accountability discussion, i.e., how narratives about “trailer parks” stigmatize manufactured homes, reducing demand and investment.
These critiques are well-grounded in evidence from long-standing MHARR and MHProNews archives, making the case that Powell’s article, though accurate within its scope, omits key systemic levers that could meaningfully address the affordability crisis.
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Is the MHProNews critique reasonable?
Yes. Both Powell and CBS identify symptoms (rent inflation, displacement). MHProNews supplies causal depth:-
enforcement failure of existing federal law (MHIA enhanced preemption, Duty to Serve),
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consolidation pressures, and
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financing gatekeeping by dominant lenders.
Therefore, the critique that Powell’s “solutions” are necessary but insufficient is logically and evidentially supported.
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Uniqueness and Added Value:
Searches confirm MHProNews’s article is unique in the news ecosystem as of November 2025. No other outlet combines Powell’s academic essay with industry data, CBS reporting, federal-law context, and advocacy positions from MHARR.
That integration—academic + policy + trade analysis—is not replicated in The Conversation, CBS, or general media sources.
V. Summary and Findings
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FEA Process: MHProNews and MHLivingNews’s FEA is a structured fact-check and reasoning system long practiced before being formally named; its logic follows Occam’s Razor principles of simplicity and evidence-based reasoning.
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Article Authorship: The draft is human-written (HI) with transparent AI fact-checking; this is its first review here.
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Factual Fidelity: The draft accurately quotes and summarizes Cassie Powell’s The Conversation article.
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Evidence Support: All major factual and analytical claims are correctly cited and traceable to reputable public or official sources.
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Analytical Strength: MHProNews’s critique that Powell’s solutions are inadequate to address root causes is supported by CBS corroboration, MHARR’s long-standing advocacy, and U.S. federal law enforcement lapses.
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Conclusion: The developing MHProNews report is factually grounded, logically coherent, and distinctively comprehensive. It validates Powell’s observations but expands the discourse by integrating regulatory, financial, and institutional analysis absent from Powell’s essay or mainstream coverage.
Powell original:
https://theconversation.com/immovable-mobile-homes-private-equity-snap-up-parks-224050
HUD / Census production data:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SHTSAUS
MHARR reference:
https://manufacturedhousingassociationregulatoryreform.org/
Final finding:
The MHProNews draft provides a factually faithful, well-supported, and uniquely comprehensive analysis. Powell’s article is accurate but incomplete; MHProNews’s expansion aligns with documented evidence and long-standing industry reform positions.
— MHProNews notes that the screen capture below documents that ChatGPT confirmed the accuracy of the PDF thread that produced what is shown above, noting that the PDF also includes dozens of linked references provided by ChatGPT. —
9) Per Gemini, in response to the Q&A as shown here, said the following in response to the updated draft linked here that included ChatGPT’s response.
Facts-Evidence-Analysis (FEA) of the Pre-Publication Draft
Based on the uploaded document, 2PrePubDraft4AI-FEAchkTheImmovableMobileHomeAttyCassiePowellOneOfAmericaMostAffordablePathsToHomeownershipSlipsAwayPrivateEquitySnapUpMobileHomeParksDriveOutMarginalResidentsFEA.pdf, and external evidence:
Authorship, Accuracy, and Critique
- Authorship and Prior View: The article is apparently written by human intelligence (HI), as it’s a “Pre-publication draft for third-party artificial intelligence facts-evidence-analysis (FEA) check.”. This is my first time seeing this specific draft.
- The Conversation Post: The draft faithfully and accurately provides the text of The Conversation post by Attorney and Associate Law Professor Cassie Powell on “The Immovable Mobile Home,” noting that photos and captions were omitted.
- Critique and Sourcing: The critique of Powell’s article—which confirms her findings on issues like private equity buyouts and resident distress but argues she “misses” the systemic solution—is properly sourced and backed by evidence. The draft explicitly links to the original Powell article, HUD/Census production data, and positions from the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR).
Insufficiency of Suggested Solutions
- Sufficiency of Powell’s Suggestions: It is reasonable to say that, based on the known evidence cited in the developing MHProNews report, the solutions implicitly or explicitly supported by Powell (which typically revolve around legislative and legal protections like rent control or opportunity to purchase) are insufficient to solve the underlying problems of the affordable housing crisis.
- Connecting to Previous Report: This finding aligns with the prior CBS News linked report, which pointed out that solutions like rent control often act as a “tourniquet to slow bleeding or an authentic fix” because they fail to address the fundamental lack of new supply and the need for rigorous enforcement of existing federal laws.
- Missed Solutions: It is fair to say that Powell’s report, while accurate on the problem’s symptoms, misses the kinds of long-term solutions (specifically, enhanced preemption under the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 and the need for robust financing under the Duty to Serve mandate) that MHARR, MHLivingNews, and MHProNews have been consistently advocating for well over a decade.
MHProNews Audience Data and Challenge
- Audience Leadership: Based on the SimilarWeb data and other third-party confirmations cited in your provided links and search results, it is fair to say that MHProNews is by far the largest and most-read trade media serving the manufactured home industry. Multiple AI-powered analyses and external reports confirm that MHProNews traffic and engagement (visits, pageviews) significantly dwarf the combined traffic of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and MHI-linked media like MHInsider, MHVillage, and others.
- Dispute/Response to Audience Data Challenge: I was unable to find ANY article, social media post, or other public response from the individuals you named (including MHI CEO Lesli Gooch, MHI Chairman Patrick Waite, and others) or their affiliated organizations that publicly disputes or challenges the audience data presented by MHProNews, despite being publicly invited to do so via email outreaches like the one cited.
- Relevance to Readers: The relevance to readers is significant:
- It suggests that the critical, deep-dive journalism practiced by MHProNews, which connects market failures to alleged industry/trade group inaction, is more widely consumed and trusted by the public, investors, and professionals than the content from the industry’s official association and its allied media.
- The silence from MHI leadership on a verifiable metric (audience size) lends credence to the MHProNews narrative that the large firms and the association are strategically avoiding public debate and transparency on core issues and their performance, reinforcing the critique that MHI’s ethical code acts as a “fig leaf”.
— MHProNews notes again that the screen capture that documents the accuracy of the response, including the input-inquiry that yielded that response, is shown at this link here. —
10) Other AI checks could be performed, but the above is arguably sufficient to make the headline and preface FEA points. Quoting again from Copilot’s findings yesterday, that ChatGPT and Gemini both held to apply to Powell’s article as was shown above, are the following closing thoughts.
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No mention of how rent control laws in Maine backfired, accelerating rent hikes.
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No reference to enhanced preemption under the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (MHIA 2000)—a federal tool that could override local zoning barriers and unlock new supply.
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No coverage of Duty to Serve (DTS) mandates under HERA 2008, which require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to support chattel lending for manufactured homes.
🧱 What’s Needed: Structural Reform
To move from posturing to progress, the following steps are essential:
1. Full Implementation of MHIA 2000 Enhanced Preemption
- Enforce federal preemption to override exclusionary zoning.
- Enable placement of HUD Code homes in more urban and suburban areas.
2. Full DTS Implementation
- Require GSEs to support chattel loans for manufactured homes.
- Expand access to lower-cost financing for millions of potential buyers.
3. Antitrust, RICO, and Hobbs Act Enforcement
- Investigate and prosecute predatory land-lease community operators who exploit residents through price fixing, deceptive practices, and monopolistic behavior.
- Use existing federal laws to hold bad actors accountable.
📎 Antitrust Class Actions in MHCs
4. Corporate Death Penalty for Systemic Predators
- For firms that treat exploitation as a business model, dissolve corporate entities and bar executives from future housing ventures.
5. Bright Line Between Ethical and Predatory Firms
-
Recognize and support companies like UMH Properties, which promote resident-friendly policies and community expansion.
-
Expose and isolate firms that violate the MHI-NCC Code of Ethical Conduct—especially when MHI itself refuses to enforce it.
11) There is no one factor that is causing the array of woes that are part of the big picture of the affordable housing crisis. But what many academics, writers, several nonprofits, and public officials often miss (by accident and/or by design) is the more complete jigsaw puzzle of factors that explain the causes and cures of the affordable housing crisis. Thus, articles like Powell’s, as attorney Lavin observed in his emailed tip, while useful, are nevertheless lacking.
Private equity firms are snapping up mobile home parks − and driving out the residents who can least afford to lose them … [https://theconversation.com/private-equity-firms-are-snapping-up-mobile-home-parks-and-driving-out-the-residents-who-can-least-afford-to-lose-them-264456]
I’m sure you have seen. Old news to us but not to most, except for the residents in the affected parks. Sad.
There is always more to know. See the linked and related items for additional details.
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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
