Manufactured- Housing Consumer Finance in the United States

This white paper provides background on manufactured housing, including the market and regulatory environment, as well as on consumers who purchase or rent manufactured housing. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) initiated research into manufactured housing to provide the Bureau and others with a more comprehensive understanding of manufactured housing and its financing. Manufactured housing accounts for six percent of all occupied housing and a much smaller fraction of home loan originations in the U.S. These fractions notwithstanding, manufactured housing is of interest to the Bureau for at least two reasons. First, it is an important source of affordable housing, in particular for rural and low-income consumers. Second, manufactured housing may raise particular consumer protection concerns due to the nature of the retail and financing markets for manufactured housing. This is particularly true to the extent that buyers of manufactured homes are more likely to belong to groups, such as older or lower-income families, that might be considered financially vulnerable.