Discrimination in the Manufactured Housing Industry: An Inside Look at Abusive Lending and Collection Practices by the Nation’s Largest Mobile Home Company

A recent article by the Seattle Times and Buzzfeed News has exposed discriminatory practices by the nation’s largest manufactured housing company, Clayton Homes and its lending subsidiaries Vanderbilt Mortgage and 21st Mortgage. The article alleges that borrowers of color were steered into higher-rate loans, rushed at loan closing, charged substantially higher rates, on average, than white borrowers, and subject to abusive collection practices when the loans defaulted. Customers lost their homes, thousands of dollars in down payments, and ancestral homeland put up as collateral to back the loans.

Speakers: Congressman Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s 5th District, and the authors of the report, Daniel Wagner of BuzzFeed News and Mike Baker of the Seattle Times for a discussion.  “Minorities Exploited by Warren Buffet’s Mobile Home Empire”.