CFPB releases report on manufactured housing financing

Federal Issues CFPB HMDA Mortgages Consumer Finance

On May 27, the CFPB released a report providing insights into manufactured housing financing, which is a source of lending for millions of manufactured housing homeowners. The report utilizes new information about manufactured housing that was added in 2018 to the list of HMDA data. The report also examines the differences between mortgage loans for site-built homes, mortgage loans for manufactured homes, and chattel loans for manufactured homes. The report found, among other things: (i) about 42 percent of manufactured home purchase loans are “chattel” loans, which are secured by the home but not the land; (ii) about 70 percent of the time, homeowners seeking a loan on a site-built home are approved, but about 30 percent of manufactured home loan applications are approved; (iii) the top five lenders account for over 40 percent of manufactured housing purchase loans and nearly 75 percent of chattel lending; and (iv) Hispanic, Black and African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, and elderly borrowers “are more likely than other consumers to take out chattel loans, even after controlling for land ownership.” The report also pointed out that “compared to mortgages for site-built homes, manufactured homes mortgages tend to have smaller loan amounts, higher interest rates, fewer refinances, and less of a secondary market, patterns that are even more acute for chattel loans.”