Need to Effectively Resolve Manufactured Housing Disputes?

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Last month, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced new tools in resolving disputes of Manufactured Housing units involving consumers, manufacturers, retailers, installers, and others.

To help facilitate the dispute resolution process (which could involve very technical construction standards and safety issues), HUD’s Office of Manufactured Housing Programs has created a new website to help interested parties become more aware of the dispute resolution process and to offer instructional materials on the step-by-step process.  In addition, the website will enable users to file on-line disputes.

It is important to note that HUD administers the dispute resolution program in roughly half of all the States (23 to be exact).  The remaining 27 States administer their own dispute resolution process.  HUD’s new website provides a color-coded map that will identify each State’s status and also provides the contact information for the States that administer their own program.

Although the majority of complaints filed under this program involve homeowner-reported defects within one-year after the manufactured home is first installed, other parties such as: retailers, manufacturers and installers can also file complaints regarding unresolved issues related to their roles and responsibilities.  This process should not be used to resolve disagreements over cosmetic repair items or contractual agreements between the parties involved.

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 I would recommend that interested parties access this new website and watch the video presentation and print-out the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

In my opinion, this new resource is long-overdue as buyers of Manufactured Housing units have voiced their frustration in the past about how to effectively resolve their complaints about construction defects and unsafe conditions after moving into their Manufactured Housing unit.  It should be noted that most of these consumers are first-time homebuyers with little reserves to pursue legal remedies on their own.

HUD is encouraging the State Administrative Agencies and various Housing Associations to help promote the dispute resolution process.  Let’s hope that this new process will be successfully implemented.

About the Author

Gerry Glavey

Gerard (Gerry) Glavey is Senior Vice President / Chief Credit Officer for LoanLogics. Gerry has decades of experience working in residential mortgage credit and compliance and brings insights that few in the industry can match. In his role, he develops new services and provides support for all post close quality control and quality assurance, pre-close quality control, due diligence services, and document processing services. He spent 37 years with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, where most recently he was the Director, Processing and Underwriting Division for the Home Ownership Center (HOC) in Philadelphia. In this capacity, Mr. Glavey was responsible for the administration of all HUD/FHA Single Family Loan Origination activities, including underwriting, appraisal and endorsement for the 16 state jurisdiction of this HOC.