NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - A large real estate

investor wants to shake up the board at manufactured housing and

mobile home park operator UMH Properties ( UMH ), arguing the

lead director is responsible for many of the company's problems

and should be removed.

Erez Asset Management, which owns about 4% of the Freehold,

New Jersey-headquartered real estate investment trust, told

other shareholders it will vote against director Matthew Hirsch

and urged them to do the same.

"Meaningful change is necessary, and it must start with

independent Board leadership that is responsive to

shareholders," Erez's Chairman and Chief Investment Officer

Bruce Schanzer wrote in the letter seen by Reuters. "To that

end, we intend to withhold our support from Matthew I. Hirsch."

A representative for UMH and Hirsch did not immediately

respond to a request for comment.

Investors will vote on May 27. Proxy advisory firm Institutional

Shareholders Services, whose recommendations often guide how

investors vote, said shareholders should re-elect three other

directors but withhold support for Hirsch. The last time Hirsch

stood for election, nearly 40% of votes cast withheld support

for Hirsch.

Erez is not running a full-blown proxy fight and did not

nominate its own directors. But it is running a so-called

Vote-No campaign, a cheaper way to press for changes that has

become more popular with investors, industry lawyers said.

Schanzer wrote that by withholding support from Hirsch,

shareholders could signal they want the status quo to change and

for new board members to be appointed.

UMH Properties ( UMH ), which has a market valuation of $1.3 billion,

has seen its stock price drop nearly 10% in the last 12 months.

Rival Sun Communities' market valuation is $15.2 billion and its

stock price is flat over the last 12 months while rival Equity

Lifestyle Properties , with a market valuation of $12.2 billion,

has seen its stock price drop 3.6% in the last 12 months.

Schanzer blames the underperformance on investors' lack of

trust in the board which he says failed to properly oversee

management and made questionable capital allocation choices that

hurt the company's business.

Hirsch has served on the board since 2013 and is currently

its presiding director.