Dodd–Frank Called “Mistake,” as New York’s Modular Trend Leads The Way, plus more…
As Texas Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling calls Dodd–Frank “a grave mistake,” and Full Stack Modular LLC prepares to construct a 32 story apartment building utilizing prefabricated construction techniques in the Big Apple, city officials in Stuttgart, Arkansas offer an ordinance aimed at amending definitions for both manufactured and modular homes.
It’s Monday, November 28, 2016, and those are just some of the manufactured housing headlines from last week.
TX REP. HENSARLING: “DODD-FRANK A GRAVE MISTAKE” –
Photo courtesy of HousingWire.com
Here at MFH News we have detailed the adverse effects of the Dodd/Frank Finance Reform Act signed into law in July 2010, following the housing crises in 2008. The legislation spans 2300 pages and directs federal regulators to burden job creators and the economy with more than 400 new rules and mandates. The legislation included many unintended consequences, including overly burdensome requirements limiting the financing and sales related activities of manufactured homes. At the forefront of the battle to mitigate the unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank, Texas Republican and Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep Jeb Hensarling, earlier this year announced a push for the replacement of Dodd-Frank with the Republican-crafted Financial Choice Act. Fast-forward to last week and Hensarling was still on point when he addressed attendees at a session of the Housing America’s Families Forum in Dallas, TX, at the George W.Bush Presidential Library, according to a report by Housing Wire.
While the event was hosted by the Ronald Terwilliger Foundation, a bipartisan group, everyone did share one common goal, affordable housing, regardless of what political party they fell into. Attendees eagerly anticipated the speaker of the day, Jeb Hensarling. And, thankfully, he did not disappoint!
“I’m here to talk about housing, but there cannot be a sound housing market in this country without robust economic growth,” he said. “The best program for affordable housing is a growing and healthy economy, built from Main Street up, not Washington down. I believe getting growth up to speed will be the highest priority for Congress and the new President in January.” The timing for Hensarling’s speech was all too perfect given that the Trump administration is currently rumored to be considering him as Secretary of the Treasury. To no one’s surprise, Hensarling chose not to comment on the matter. What he did focus on was the need to end Dodd-Frank, an idea that didn’t stray too far from one of Trump’s predictions that one of the actions as President will be to take a hammer to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, a battle that Hensarling has been fighting for almost five years. “Dodd-Frank was a grave mistake foisted upon America 6 years ago. It was based upon faulty principals, faulty premises, and faulty policy. Dodd-Frank failed to establish financial stability, or make us more free … or create a sense of financial security, and so it failed to generate growth, jobs, and prosperity,” said Hensarling on Friday. Hensarling concluded that although he cannot tell people every word and clause of the pending Choice Act that will be enacted, he can tell people this: Dodd-Frank will soon take its place on the ash heap of history, with so many other defunct social schemes. Looking forward, he finished saying, “President-elect Trump and the new Republican Congress can hardly wait to hit the ground running. Next January, the dawn of a new day will begin in America.”
On June 7th, 2016, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, (R-Texas), sat down and spoke about his meeting with then GOP candidate Donald Trump about Dodd-Frank and the U.S. economy.
NEW YORK MODULAR CONSTRUCTION GOES BIG–
New York’s Modular Trend Leads The Way
Readers may recall our recent report of the massive building surge in the United Kingdom utilizing an American creation, modular construction. In the U.S. manufactured housing and modular construction is also finding favor with builders looking for alternatives to high cost on site construction. What is believed to be the world’s tallest modular building made its debut Tuesday in Brooklyn, N.Y., a 32 story rental tower constructed with prefabricated units stacked like Legos, according to a report by a U.S. Modular,Inc.blog from an article in the Wall Street Journal. Forest Green Ratner Cos. is now renting the building, known as 461 Dean. It has 363 studios and one and two-bedroom apartments. The tower, which consists of half market rate apartments and half for affordable housing tenants, is part of the 22 acre Pacific Park development which will have 6,430 apartments. Modular construction translates into less time and fewer workers on a construction site because 80% to 90% of the building can be finished in the factory, said Roger Krulak, chief executive of Full Stack Modular LLC, which bought the core assets of Forest City’s modular manufacturing company. “If you turn your lens away from New York and look around the world, modular building is happening everywhere,” Mr.Krulak said.
ARKANSAS CITY ORDINANCE, MANUFACTURED vs MODULAR?–
Manufactured vs Modular
City and housing officials nationwide are confused differentiating between a manufactured home and a modular home. The Stuttgart, Arkansas planning commission on Tuesday voted to approve the recommendation of an ordinance to amend the Unified Development Code definitions for manufactured and modular homes, according to the Stuttgart Leader. The definition for a manufactured home would read as follows,”A detached dwelling unit factory built in the United States to the HUD Title 6 construction standards, which took effect June 15,1976; bearing a red HUD certification label, or its successor label on the outside of the dwelling.” The definition of a modular home would read as follows, upon passage of the ordinance. “A factory assembled or prefabricated detached dwelling unit built and conforming to local and state codes for the city of Stuttgart, other than the manufactured home standards as set forth in the manufactured home definitions herein, consisting of two or more modules designed for permanent attachment to make one dwelling. Other identifying factors of a modular home include a removable chassis frame.” This comes after several discussions and some confusion on the previous Unified Development Code definitions. In April, a manufactured home was placed in a residential (R-2) zone where manufactured and mobile homes are prohibited. If the ordinance passes, manufactured homes would no longer be allowed in R-2 zones. If the city passes the new ordinance, a building permit would be required, heretofore no permit process has been in place for a manufactured home.
(Main Photo Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal)
