Lawmakers Consider Keeping Ohio Manufactured Housing Commission
HUD, MHI, and the president of the Association of Manufactured Home Residents in Ohio debunk the Kasich administration’s assertion that all Ohioans who live in mobile homes “face risks to their lives and health.”
The debate over abolishing the Ohio state commission charged with licensing and installation inspections of manufactured homes has moved into the Ohio Senate with trade and residential associations lobbying to keep the agency, even with a drastically reduced budget. Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s original proposed budget folded the Ohio Manufactured Homes Commission into the Ohio Department of Commerce. The Ohio House of Representatives restored the commission in its budget but slashed its appropriation in half to about $450,000. That proposal was discussed recently before a Senate subcommittee, according to the Dayton Daily News.
Ohio Manufactured Housing Commission Dispels Misconceptions
As previously reported here at MFH News, the genesis of the Gov. Kasich’s proposal to disband the Ohio Manufactured Housing Commission was based upon a letter to lawmakers from the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies and the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association with arguments to disband the Association.
Those officials claim the industry controlled state board does little to prevent deadly home fires, failing to acknowledge that The Ohio Manufactured Housing Commission is charged with mobile installations, not fire safety. The commission licenses inspectors who oversee the installation of about 3,000 homes a year.
The Ohio Fire Chiefs Association claim the death rate in mobile home fires is four times that of all neighboring states, without credited source for those statistics. The association’s officials claim the 8% of Ohioans who live in mobile homes “face risks to their lives and health” that residents of conventionally constructed homes do not face. This attempt to disband the Ohio Manufactured Housing Commission has generated opposition, not only in the state of Ohio but also throughout the national manufactured housing sector.
“Careless and factually incorrect statements are scaring our residents” ~ Frank Pojman
The president of the Association of Manufactured Home Residents in Ohio, said statements painting Ohio’s manufactured homes as dangerous and unhealthy are “demeaning and disrespectful to the 900,000 Ohioans living in mobile homes.” According to Pojman, “This implies our homes are unsafe and our residents live in an unclean manner.” Pojman noted, “my phone is ringing non-stop as these careless and factually incorrect statements are scaring our residents.”
The mobile home residents association has been joined by Ohio Manufactured Housing Association as well as the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) in Washington, D.C.and most recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in debunking the irresponsible claims that all manufactured homes are unsafe.
Pamela Danner, an administrator with HUD’s manufactured homes program provided testimony on behalf of the commission, saying it “has been an excellent partner in protecting your citizens and ensuring safe affordable manufactured homes.”
“There have been no mobile homes built in the US for over 40 years!” ~ Tim Williams
Per the executive director of the Ohio Manufactured Homes Association, these claims about fire safety don’t differentiate between homes built before or after federal standards mandated by Congress in 1976, or the establishment of the commission. “Manufactured homes today have a stricter fire code, which is a federal code, than traditional homes,” noted Williams. “(This) has to do with power and control, they (the Kasich administration) are trying to take control of the commission,” Williams said. “They want to dictate to the commission who they hire, what they do and how they operate.”
Manufactured Homes Commission Executive Director Janet Williams said she can cut her staff down to four people and will still meet her agency’s mandate with the reduced budget. “Ohio is one, if not the only manufactured home regulatory entity nationally that is not buried is some state bureaucracy, has a lean staff while conducting 100 percent of all new and used home installation inspections,” her written testimony said.
For more information about this subject click our previous report Ohio Manufactured Homes Commission Takes on Governor Kasich’s Plan to Disband Group.
