Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage as amended.

I know Democrats and Republicans don't agree on much, but there is one thing we can be united in saying. It is that we should not reward criminal behavior.

We cannot let people who are out there making obscene profits by ripping off low-income Americans use that money to buy influence that rolls back consumer protection laws.

That is why I am introducing this amendment that bans bad actors from receiving any benefit from these new provisions. If the House accepts this amendment, companies that break the law will not be rewarded by being handed a weaker set of standards.

These weaker standards do away with a number of protections current law affords to high-cost loans. They include stiffer penalties for bad actor lenders and additional disclosures for investors and consumers who purchase high-cost mortgages, as well as mandatory counseling so borrowers know what they are getting into and even the ability of borrowers to have their loans rescinded if lenders don't follow the law.

We know it is needed because we know there is fraud out there. I have submitted for the Record an investigation by The Seattle Times and the Center for Public Integrity, which, while shocking, is not in the least bit surprising to those of us who have been paying close attention to the predatory practices that often plague low- and middle-income home buyers. The article details a wide array of unfair, deceptive, predatory, and abusive lending practices, such as housing manufacturers steering low-income borrowers into expensive, high-interest financing arrangements with companies that they also own.

If this amendment were to pass today, any company that engaged in this kind of practice or any company that was convicted of mortgage fraud under Federal or State law would be prohibited from taking advantage of these loosened standards.

Some may argue that, like current law, this amendment will hurt the industry. I am not concerned. The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform found that 2014 marked the fifth consecutive year of annual industry production increases. Meanwhile, mobile home manufacturing giant Clayton Homes, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, profited to the tune of $558 million in 2014--more than double its earnings from just 2 years earlier.

This amendment is for veterans like Dorothy Mansfield, who should be honored for her sacrifice to this country. Instead, she was targeted just 18 months after being steered into a predatory market she couldn't afford. Mansfield was facing foreclosure. It is for Active-Duty servicemembers whose homes were illegally foreclosed upon while they were battling overseas, or for their families who were overcharged as they remained at home. It is for low-income borrowers who, like all of us, are at a disadvantage when they negotiate their first home loans with companies that have probably negotiated hundreds just that week.

For many, the American Dream of homeownership has turned into a nightmare as they determine how to put food on the table and gas in the car while dealing with the loans that they have been steered into but cannot afford.

So, if we are going to remove these basic protections for veterans and servicemembers, for low-income borrowers, and for many others, let's at least do everything we can to protect them from the predators and the fraudsters we have learned about. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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