November 17, 2005 by Michael Weisbrot
Manufactured homes are about to make a comeback in a big way. Due to the current housing market many young people can not afford to buy a site-built house. The recent hurricanes will also give the industry a good boost in sales, as people are looking for affordable housing that can be moved into as soon as possible.
Surety bonds are helping to keep the manufactured housing market regulated. The state of South Carolina raised their bond requirement from $15,000 to $30,000. Currently, one in five homes in South Carolina are manufactured housing. David Bennett, an administrator of the Manufactured Housing Board stated, “You just can’t get into this business on a shoestring”, “A little more regulation is good for the customer.”. Trey Ledbetter, a co-owner of Ledbetter Housing Center, a manufactured home dealer said, “Only your real professionals are left,”. The number of dealers in the state has dropped from roughly 800 in the late 1990s to about 125 today.
Without government regulation and a surety bond requirement, fly by night companies would no longer be a rarity, leaving countless families with tremendous financial losses. If a manufactured home company is negligent, the bond claim will help to ensure some compensation to the home buyer. A little regulation goes along way with the current boom in manufactured housing. A booming market is ripe for unqualified entrepreneurs attempting to succeed in industries they know little to nothing about. It is a good thing instruments like surety bonds exist to clean up house on industries in need.
