“From the moment Governor John Kasich‘s Administration first proposed to eliminate the Ohio Manufactured Homes Commission, the air has been full of misleading information and derogatory comments directed at almost one million Ohio residents who live in manufactured homes,” said Tim Williams, Executive Director of the Ohio Manufactured Homes Association (OMHA).
While the OMHA was able to rally support in their state house, as was reported at the link here, when the final budget was approved, the OMHC was not included.
Kasich’s “Administration did not tell the truth regarding the independent Manufactured Homes Commission‘s superior record of protecting homeowner safety,” said Williams. “Neither did the Administration accurately report that today’s manufactured homes have the strictest fire code of any form of housing on the market, meeting rigorous federal quality construction standards.”
Ohio has for years been a state that inspected every new manufactured home installation.
“In place for the last ten years, the Ohio Manufactured Homes Commission is an independent agency, with a team of trained professionals, knowledgeable about the homes and the way they are built and installed. The Commission does its job free of political influence,” Williams told MHProNews, “ensuring every home installation is inspected and each one is safe.”
Now, the rigorous inspection process currently in place in Ohio will be absorbed into the Kasich Administration’s 800 employee Department of Commerce bureaucracy. That body new regulatory body, OMHA states where “there exists no manufactured homes expertise or experience.”
The residents rights group, Association of Manufactured Homes Residents in Ohio (AMHRO) fought alongside OMHA in their efforts to keep the independent OMHC alive against the Kasich Administration’s onslaught.
Williams said, “We stand ready to assist the Administration in the transition. Given the Ohio Department of Commerce’s lack of experience and expertise involving the unique nature of manufactured homes, we hope the Administration will call on our Association and AMHRO during the transition. We also encourage the Administration to transfer the small Commission staff with 88 years of combined experience to the Department of Commerce to ensure continuity in the regulatory program.”
The Ohio Manufactured Homes Association is a not for profit organization, comprised of some 500 manufactured home related businesses. ##
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