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The Maine Monitor: Jay may take up rent stabilization for mobile home parks

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JAY — When the Select Board meets this Monday, it may have enough information to move ahead on a request to limit rent increases on mobile home lots.

At its Nov. 24 meeting, the board asked Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere to consult with the town’s attorney on whether state law allows Jay to regulate such rent hikes.

“I’m hoping to have the information back from our attorney in time for the meeting (Monday),” LaFreniere said Wednesday. “It’s complicated because other municipalities that have acted have different forms of government, so we need to find out just what we can do as a town with a Select Board (and town meeting and manager) form...

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Tanya Dwyer, who lives at Hidden Circle, said her rent rose $50, to $325 a month — an increase of more than 18 percent. Her disability income is about $670 a month. She said she works part time, but the pay does not cover the higher rent.

You can’t manage a business by focusing on the one-off situations but instead by the greater good of the majority of residents. If you have $670 a month in income, you clearly need to immediately apply for Section 8 as there is no non-subsidized form of housing on earth you can possibly afford – but that’s not representative of 99.99999% of residents. That’s as nuts as saying that McDonald’s has to stop using meat because it might trigger one individual’s food allergies. Rents keep going up because all prices keep going up (water, sewer, property tax, insurance, etc.) and mobile home parks need to justify capital improvements. Sure, socialist folks hate that reality, but anyone with an IQ higher than a lima bean knows that what Maine is doing is downright stupid and will result in massive park closures for redevelopment.

Latina Republic: “We Belong Here” | Charlotte Residents Fight Displacement

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A mobile home park in North Charlotte is being sold to developers, resulting in the displacement of the large immigrant community that have called the park of 60-plus lots home for as long as 20 years.

Forest Park Mobile Homes is located in a rapidly expanding and sought-after area. The nearby I-485 loop allows easy access to the rest of the city, and the Prosperity Church area offers walkability to small businesses, a Publix, and a movie theater.

Wood Partners, the developer who is purchasing the Forest Park land, filed a rezoning petition with the City of Charlotte to demolish the mobile homes and replace them with multi-family units,...

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Wood Partners, the developer who is purchasing the Forest Park land, filed a rezoning petition with the City of Charlotte to demolish the mobile homes and replace them with multi-family units, townhomes, and a commercial center.

And another park bites the dust.

WTOL11: Former Riverside Mobile Home Park residents say demolition happened before belongings were cleared

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Tenants were forced to leave the park on Nov. 17, months after the city of Toledo first condemned the property in May.

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And another park bites the dust.

NBC NEWS: Senator launches probe of investment groups buying up trailer parks

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The top Senate Democrat on the congressional Joint Economic Committee launched a new probe Monday into investment firms that hold large stakes in mobile home parks.

Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire has asked six firms to produce internal documents and materials showing the impact their business practices have had on mobile home residents and the profits their investments have generated.

About 22 million people in the U.S. live in mobile home communities across the country, and in recent years, investment companies and private equity firms have bought up many of the parks.

The firms that received letters include some of the biggest...

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“Put simply, wealthy investors are squeezing every last cent from some of our most vulnerable and least-resourced communities in the name of profit.”

This concept is not new – Elizabth Warren did the exact same thing in 2019. What the facts will prove out is that private equity groups are the only reason that these properties still exist, as nobody has the capital to make necessary and expensive capital repairs (millions of dollars’ worth at some mobile home parks). Instead of giving private equity groups accolades for saving literally thousands of people from being homeless, leftist Democrats think there’s political capital in playing the “Free Rent Movement” schtick to their constituency from time to time. Since Republicans control Congress, this socialist nonsense won’t go anywhere. Fortunately, the end of healthcare subsidies will take the spotlight off “evil landlords” soon and refocus it on “evil health insurance providers”.

realtor.com: Can Factory-Built Homes Fix the Housing Crisis? Lawmakers Think So—Builders Are Split

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For years, factory-built homes have been treated as housing's last resort: the “trailers” you drove past on the edge of town, not the place you aspired to build wealth.

That stigma is now colliding with a new reality. As home prices and construction costs keep climbing, everyone from federal lawmakers to celebrity designers and community-based nonprofits are suddenly looking to off-site construction—homes built in factories and assembled on-site—as a way to add more housing, faster and at a lower price point.

In Washington, DC, that shift is crystallizing in the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act of 2025, a...

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The bill directs HUD to update the legal definition of “manufactured housing” and to study how modular and other off-site homes are financed and regulated, with the goal of making it easier to build more of them.

Don’t you love the government’s obsession with “studies”? It’s absolutely meaningless, because it never leads to any action.

KQED: Mobile Homes Provide Affordable Housing, But Their Future Is at Risk

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In California, mobile homes make up to 6% of the state’s housing stock. With as many as 300,000 homes in 5,000 mobile home parks in the state, they play a critical role in providing affordable housing. But state laws and efforts by for-profit developers to buy up mobile home communities are putting this kind of housing at risk. We talk to experts about the challenges mobile home owners face.

Guests:

Bruce Stanton, general counsel, Golden State Manufactured Home Owners League

Mary Currie, resident, Marin Valley Mobile Country Club

Randy Keller, advocacy manager, manufactured home parks acquisition, California Center for Cooperative...

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This article has it all wrong. Mobile homes in California are not at risk from higher rents, they are at risk from being removed for redevelopment of mobile home parks into other uses that don’t have rent control. There have been 722 mobile home parks shut down for rebuilding into a different use so far – and the number is accelerating. If those 722 closed parks had an average of 100 lots each, that’s 72,200 households. If California had any common sense they would immediately get rid of rent control in its entirety as it only serves to deprive new construction and capital investment in housing and encourages redevelopment on a massive scale.

MAINEWIRE: Steep Rent Hike at Arundel Mobile Home Park Leaves Seniors and Low-Income Residents Scrambling

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Residents of Shady Oaks Mobile Home Park in Arundel are bracing for a sharp rent increase set to take effect December 1, raising fears that dozens of seniors and low-income homeowners could be forced out after the town declined to intervene.

Roughly 70 households own their mobile homes but rent the lots beneath them, currently paying between $530 and $680 a month. Tenants say they were notified that rents will rise by as much as $130 per month – a jump many say they simply cannot afford.

Longtime resident Jennifer Moreau, who relies on a fixed income, warned that “a whole other group of our population is about to be homeless.”

Residents...

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The situation at Shady Oaks mirrors a broader trend across Maine, where mobile home parks purchased by out-of-state investment firms have issued steep rent increases.

You know when you see any article coming out of Maine that the theme will always be that private equity groups are inherently evil and all parks should be owned by non-profits and tenants – the usual socialist take on America. The only thing I ever wonder is how Maine got so screwed up politically. Apparently consuming too much lobster and maple syrup turns you into a raging idiot.

San Jose Spotlight: San Jose wants to raise rents in mobile home parks

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San Jose mobile home residents say the city blindsided them by proposing changes that will increase rents.

The Housing Department is considering an update to its mobile home rent policy that would include a one-time rent increase up to 10% whenever a mobile home is sold, among other changes. Under the existing policy, property owners are allowed a 3% to 7% rent increase on each parcel every year. Anything more than that will require city approval, and they can’t increase rent to market rate prices except when the property is abandoned, the resident is evicted or when a sale falls through.

Residents said the city conducted no outreach to...

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“Our mobile home park owners throughout the city have a lot of maintenance that’s needed, as well as the continuing rises in utility costs, infrastructure costs and construction costs,” Soliván said at the meeting. “This 10% (increase) allows for… additional revenue to invest in continuing capital costs, while also mitigating some of the continuing rent increases across the site.”

Socialists in California are going to go nuts now that the city of San Jose is turning on their rent-control dream and realizing that it’s not working out as planned. Obviously, if you don’t let rents go up you’re not going to have landlords putting capital back into their properties. Is idiocy at risk of defeat at the hands of common sense in California? We’ll see what happens.

KCTV5: Housing bill could save families on manufactured homes

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver says he wants to eliminate a 51-year-old federal law that drives up housing costs.

Representative Cleaver (D-MO) said the Housing Supply Expansion Act of 2025 would remove a requirement that forces manufactured homes to include a permanent chassis - even after installation.

Cleaver says removing the chassis requirement would:

  • Lower construction costs
  • Increase design flexibility
  • Open more locations for affordable housing
  • Help young and low-income families buy homes
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Representative Cleaver (D-MO) said the “Housing Supply Expansion Act of 2025” would remove a requirement that forces manufactured homes to include a permanent chassis - even after installation.

This is an interesting development as the industry tried to get this done all the way back in the 1970s and was soundly defeated by HUD. Being able to have mobile homes that are not sticking awkwardly up in the air on cinder-black stilts would take a lot of the negative stigma off the mobile home product, but the single-family home lobby will fight this tooth and nail as they did in the 1970’s. Let’s see what happens.

LoudounNow: Loudoun Housing Board Says Tiny Homes Could Help Address Affordability

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Loudoun’s Affordable Dwelling Unit Advisory Board says the challenge of finding affordable living spaces could potentially be addressed in part by tiny homes, after the Board of Supervisors this year commissioned a study of the issue. 

As housing prices increase, supervisors are hoping there might be a way to use tiny homes to address the concern. According to the county staff, in 2025 the average price for one-bedroom unit in the county is $348,650, while a two-bedroom unit is $464,335. 

The county government already offers various attainable housing programs including the Affordable Dwelling Unit Purchase Program, but that has a...

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Lennar has developed tiny home community with prices averaged at $140,000 for 661 square feet. 

No, tiny homes are not the solution at that price. The solution would be allowing regular mobile homes, 3-bedroom in size, at a price point of $80,000 or so. Tiny homes are simply too small for 99% of Americans, and to pretend that a family can be satisfied using the washer and dryer as dining chairs and a bathroom the size of a gun safe is ample is simply ridiculous. Has the Loudoun Housing Board ever even been in a tiny home? But at least the respect for the economic advantage of alternative housing is refreshing.

LVB: New manufactured home community offers more affordable housing options

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Housing affordability has become a major issue in the Lehigh Valley, but a new land-leased housing development in Lehigh Township could offer a solution for some homeowners.

The Sam Del Rosario Group at SERHANT is marketing the new development being built by Valley Community Management.

Northwoods Homes will ultimately be a 200-home residential community on more than 60 acres in Lehigh Township, Northampton County.

Jared Surnamer, president of Valley Community Management, said as a second-generation manager of land-leased properties, he believes Northwoods will bring affordable living for many families.

Most of the homes, which are built...

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Most of the homes, which are built on leased land that is not part of the purchase, are selling from the mid to upper $200,000s.

Come on, folks, $200,000 is NOT affordable. Can somebody please define what “affordable” means anymore? Is $100 an affordable lunch? This disconnect from the American public is the source of much of the problem when it comes to housing.

The Berkshire Eagle: Berkshire Village repairs are on track. But residents of the mobile home park say they're not enough

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CHESHIRE — Improvements at the Berkshire Village manufactured home park are mostly done, according to its owners, but residents say the fixes are the bare minimum and more must be done. 

Last week, Crown Communities' Justin Damore, who is the lead engineer on the repair project, explained the renovations to the Cheshire Select Board, which acts as the park's rent control board. The fixes, which are mostly concentrated around the park's septic system and were flagged by the state Department of Environmental Protection, must be complete before Crown can raise rents on the park's tenants, many of whom were in attendance. 

Damore, who...

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This reminds me of the Trump administration being criticized for not lowering egg prices within the first week of the new administration. When you take over a mobile home park that has been neglected for over a decade, you’re not going to get it fully turned around overnight. The new owners have spent over $2 million in upgrades so far, so I think they should be getting accolades and not criticism. If they gave every resident a million dollars, cured cancer and ended the War in Ukraine, there would always be park residents who complain it's “not enough”, right?

12NEWS: Arizona court issues ruling on short-term rentals in Sedona

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SEDONA, Ariz. — Arizona's laws regulating short-term rentals don't allow cities to prohibit mobile home units from being rented out for this purpose, an appellate court has ruled.

On Wednesday, the Arizona Court of Appeals issued an opinion in a Yavapai County civil case brought against the City of Sedona involving how the municipality classifies short-term rentals.

The debate of how Arizona cities can regulate vacation rentals has been ongoing for years as these types of properties have become more prolific in the Grand Canyon State. Back in 2022, the City of Sedona even offered to pay homeowners stipends if they leased their rental...

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“Oak Creek has succeeded in showing that the City’s interpretation of the Short-Term Rental Statute violates the statute’s plain language," the court's ruling states.

I can’t fathom anyone wanting to stay at an Air BNB in a mobile home park, but it’s always good news when a mobile home park beats a city in court.

Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin’s forgotten homes: Takeaways from investigating manufactured housing

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Last winter, I got an intriguing story tip: Many Wisconsin manufactured home communities were operating with expired licenses. 

I didn’t initially know much about these communities, often called mobile home parks, where residents own their homes but rent the land they sit on. I quickly learned they provide a critical source of affordable housing in Wisconsin and beyond — the country’s largest portion of unsubsidized low-income housing. 

Housing experts and advocates told me private equity’s growing interest in the model threatens to change that. My reporting found that Wisconsin’s government is failing to enforce basic protections for...

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I didn’t initially know much about these communities, often called mobile home parks, where residents own their homes but rent the land they sit on. I quickly learned they provide a critical source of affordable housing in Wisconsin and beyond — the country’s largest portion of unsubsidized low-income housing. Housing experts and advocates told me private equity’s growing interest in the model threatens to change that.

There were multiple articles on this same topic – the same B.S. over and over and over. I fully understand why socialists would regard private equity groups as pure capitalism and, therefore, the antichrist, but the argument is complete nonsense and anyone who believes it is dumb as dirt. Private equity groups have done more to save failing mobile home parks than any other group, having poured hundreds of millions of dollars into fixing broken infrastructure and management. They should receive accolades not abuse. But there’s no way a socialist could give a medal to a private equity group, no matter what the facts are. “Trump derangement syndrome” is only exceeded by “private equity derangement syndrome”. Pathetic.

New Times: SLO County supervisors reject rent increase for Harmony-managed mobile home parks

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The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors unanimously shot down controversial mobile home park management company Harmony Communities’ attempt to increase rent at two local mobile home parks through a hardship request.

“When revenue fails to keep pace with inflation while expenses grow dramatically faster, the long-term viability of the community is at serious risk,” Harmony spokesperson Nick Ubaldi said. “The proposed rent adjustment is not about generating excess profit; it is the minimum necessary to allow the park to keep up with inflation and remain sustainable.”

To close the gap, rent increases were on the horizon for tenants...

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“When revenue fails to keep pace with inflation while expenses grow dramatically faster, the long-term viability of the community is at serious risk,” Harmony spokesperson Nick Ubaldi said. “The proposed rent adjustment is not about generating excess profit; it is the minimum necessary to allow the park to keep up with inflation and remain sustainable.”

The only sensible quote from this article. If lot rents can’t go up, then Harmony has no other option but to bring in the wrecking ball and put multi-story apartments on this land. Just watch what happens next.

Moneywise: 'Whoops, somebody goofed': California’s housing fix backfires on Bay Area mobile home park residents. How states are tackling affordability

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A California law meant to boost affordable housing has set off panic in Bay Area mobile home parks — some of the last truly affordable housing in a region where single-family homes sell for $2 million (1) and the median rent is $3,179 a month (2).

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Under Senate Bill 79, she noted, the park could theoretically be redeveloped into a nine-story building — even though hundreds of families already live there in homes they own outright.

Ronald Reagan’s best all-time quote was “the nine most dangerous words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”. All of these park residents are screwed and only have their city fathers to thank for it.

SPECTRUM NEWS: With neighbors ‘barely skimping by’ Jay mobile home park residents ask for pause on lot rent hikes

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AY — When JoAn Gray moved to a mobile home park on Lambert Street 12 years ago, she figured it would be the last time she would have to move.

Now 82, Gray is worried that a recent $50 a month lot rent increase could be just the beginning of higher costs. Her park recently sold, and she’s worried out of state owners won’t keep up with needed improvements.

“I know there are people in that park that are barely skimping by right now,” Gray said. “This to me is really scary.”

Gray is one of several mobile home park residents who hope their local select board will implement a moratorium to slow down lot rent increases. Waterville and Sanford...

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Another way to help combat rising lot rents is for residents to form a cooperative and purchase the park. That’s been successful in other parts of Maine, including Thomaston, Augusta, Bangor and Veazie.

No, that’s a complete lie. The truth is that absolutely zero percent of the time does the non-profit buying the park lead to lower lot rents. Not one example of that has ever happened. Instead, the residents pay MORE from non-profit ownership. The debt service of the giant loan requires massive rent hikes and the inability of the residents to collect rent from their friends, and manage the park effectively, results in much higher rents than a professional owner would ever require. And that does not even count the eventual collapse of the non-profit’s loan, which has already occurred in Colorado and other markets. This is one of the narratives the socialists love to beat to death, but it’s a complete lie.

It's interesting to note that socialist journalists had no less than nine nearly identical articles on this same story this week, in an apparent attempt at brainwashing the American public that capitalist landlords are evil. Were you convinced?

Loudoun Now: Mobile Home Park Residents Seek Affordable Housing Options

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Dozens of residents gathered at the Mobile Hope complex Saturday night to join solidarity vigil for the 85 families who are being displaced by the closure of the of Leesburg Mobile Home Park.

In July, park residents began receiving letters requiring them to vacate the property by the end of the year. The property owner, David Gregory, offered cash incentives of up to $6,000 to encourage early movers and $10,000 in relocation assistance. The residents were in a similar position in 2022, when the previous owner had plans to sell the 7.2-acre parcel to developers. Gregory stepped in to make the purchase, intending to provide the residents...

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And another park bites the dust.

Business Insider: I left my six-figure law job and bought a mobile-home park. Despite the drawbacks, I'm happier and still live comfortably.

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From my 30s to my early 50s, I was a tax lawyer in Big Law, Big Four Accounting firms, and banks.

I've given talks at tax-policy panels, sat on a trading floor, made $400,000 a year, and had an expense account.

During baseball season, I took clients to the VIP section of Yankee Stadium and sat behind home plate. My parents grinned when people asked them, "What does your son do?"

Big Law paid well, and it solved the cocktail-party question, but I always felt something was missing.

The hours were brutal. I was always on, 24/7. I couldn't touch, feel, or smell the product of my work. I struggled with the politics and zero-sum outcomes.

In...

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Pretty fair and balanced – I’m impressed.

AZ Luminaria: Watch now: New documentary reveals hidden struggles in Tucson’s mobile home parks

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A new documentary collaboration between Arizona Luminaria and Arizona Public Media reveals the quiet crises unfolding inside Tucson’s mobile home parks and how neighbors are standing together to face them.

Watch the complete YouTube version to hear from local residents, advocates and experts. You’ll see what’s often hidden: families improvising to stay cool, neighbors organizing and elders fighting to keep the homes they’ve poured their lives into.

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How many people are really watching this incredibly boring multi-part series? I’m betting the total audience is lower than you can fit in a Tesla.

WTVG: Former Toledo mobile home park collecting trash and furniture

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Jon Torres, a Toledo resident and founder of Restore The Block, a neighborhood clean-up initiative, described what he saw inside the trailers.

“Deplorable, filthy and, uh, disgusting,” Torres said.

13 Action News spoke to a neighboring business that said they’re worried about a fire risk on the property because of the high weeds and dry conditions.

The City of Toledo and Lucas County Auditor website show the owner is Kingsmen Investments LLC.

An attorney for the company sent us this statement:

“KMI acquired the property in 2020 and it was operational until we closed it last year. At that time we removed 3 buildings and multiple trailers,...

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And another park bites the dust.

WTVG: Riverside Mobile Home Park set to be demolished

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TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - Starting next week, the city of Toledo will begin preparations to demolish the Riverside Mobile Home Park.

The mobile home park was deemed unfit for habitation and residents have until Monday to be out.

For the residents still living inside the Riverside Mobile Home Park, they say that while they have been offered a temporary solution, they are still living with a lot of uncertainty. They wish this situation from the start would have been handled differently by the city, so they would not have to say goodbye to their homes.

“If they are worried about housing in the city, you know, fix it up themselves. I own two...

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And another park bites the dust.

Sanford Herald: Sanford wants to demolish mobile home park

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Sanford has plans to demolish seven mobile homes on Carr Creek Drive on the city’s eastern edge.

During a city council workshop on Wednesday, Nov. 12, code enforcement officer Joey Cox said that “they’re all deteriorated beyond habitation.”

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And another park bites the dust.

Business Journal: Rush to buy North Carolina mobile home parks continues in Clayton

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Mobile home communities have consistently remained one of North Carolina's hottest real estate investments throughout 2025 — and that trend is holding steady through the waning months of the year.

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Mobile home communities have consistently remained one of North Carolina's hottest real estate investments throughout 2025 — and that trend is holding steady through the waning months of the year.

North Caroliina is a good state for park ownership, as is South Carolina, Alabama, and a number of southern states. As the U.S. population flees the cold weather and crazy politics of the north, everything south is going up in value – it’s simply the law of supply and demand.

Prism Reports: Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park residents evicted after yearlong legal battle

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When sheriff’s deputies arrived at Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park in Sweetwater, Florida, on Oct. 21, Ligia Siles sat on the steps of the home she’d built over 35 years, feeling powerless as she watched deputies change the lock on her door. 

“I made a video showing that I wasn’t abandoning my home, that they were kicking me out of my home,” Siles said. “They [said], ‘You can’t come in anymore. If you come in, you’ll be arrested.’”

Within hours, she and her husband were living apart because they could not find a place to accommodate them both. She stayed with a friend and he with their daughter, while former neighbors slept in cars or...

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Shame on the judge for letting this drag out for so long. Pathetic.

And, as always, another park bites the dust.