House Bill 73 — This will require courts to automatically expunge eviction records for cases that have been dismissed after 30 days.

House Bill 764 — This bill will give domestic violence or sexual abuse victims the right to terminate a lease agreement early should they have a permanent protective order and need to move residences for their safety. 

House Bill 86 — This bill mandates that during eviction cases, landlords notify tenants of any increases to any money that is requested. 

House Bill 477 and Senate Bill 50 – These bills extend Virginia’s eviction diversion pilot program for another year. 

House Bill 368 and Senate Bill 538 — These increase the maximum fine that localities can impose on repeated violations of the Uniform Statewide Building Code. 

House Bill 1203 — This bill increases tax credit amounts available to landlords who rent to Housing Choice Voucher holders. There is also an earmark for use in rural regions of Virginia. 

House Bill 478 and Senate Bill 49 — These allow localities to set up Community Revitalization Funds, which can be used to prevent neighborhood deterioration, such as revamping blighted structures for continued use. 

Senate Bill 489 — This bill establishes a workgroup that can analyze the possibility and options for creating a Virginia Residential Development Infrastructure fund. 

Apparently, the bureaucrats that run Virginia want all the parks torn down. These new rules are a good start.

Nobody with common sense would think for one minute that the reason the city is suddenly demanding that residents raise their homes 10’ off the ground – at a cost of $10,000 each – is because the city is so worried about future flooding issues. They’re obviously just trying to find a way to get the park shut down. But this one quote seemed even more misguided than the rest of the story:

Roth staked a for-sale sign in her front yard, but hasn’t received any serious offers yet. She’s asking $40,000 for her recently repaired home — Roth spent $26,000 of FEMA money after Hurricane Idalia pushed floodwaters inside. She has had few showings since. As soon as Roth discloses the park’s frequent flooding issue, it scares off prospective buyers.“Their eyes get wide and it’s like, ‘Oh, never mind,’” she said. “And they leave.” Roth said she’s worried about braving another hurricane season in her mobile home but doesn’t want to force her daughter and their two dogs into a cramped motel room. “I can’t stay here — can’t do it,” she said. “Because the next time water gets in, I can’t afford to fix it.”

She didn’t even pay to fix it the LAST time – FEMA did. What is she even talking about ??

And on the matter of stupidity, the U.S. government MUST stop coddling and enabling people in Florida to live in flood zones by removing the entire concept of personal accountability. If you live in a flood zone, in the state that has more flooding than any other, you must stop throwing good money after bad. Why did FEMA spend $26,000 fixing this home if it was already tagged as happening again in the future? They should have bought the resident a mobile home for $26,000, moved it inland, and been done with it, right? There’s an old saying that the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting a different outcome.

Ayotte said until now, the state controlled any mediation which could take several months.“Everyone knows what’s going on at the same time and if the parties agree to it, they can elect to expedite the mediation process,” Ayotte said. Park owners can raise rates if they match the Consumer Price Index.

Like any sane individual I am extremely disappointed in Florida, which apparently has decided to make being a landlord impossible. Between this crazy ordinance – which allows tenants to file for a formal mediation every time the rent goes up despite there being no rent control – and the hopeless future of obtaining or retaining affordable insurance in the state, I’m certainly glad we sold our only park in Florida years ago. I’m also more than a little disgusted that Ron DeSantis signed this into law. How embarrassing.

One solution is cooperatives, where mobile home residents pool money together to buy their park and share ownership. This way, they’re not subject to rent increases or displacement when the park land changes hands. However, this is an underused option, as only about 2% of manufactured housing parks were community owned in 2019, according to a Freddie Mac report.

Why do you suppose that in all these decades -- in the “bluest” of all red states -- only 2% of mobile home parks are resident-owned communities? After all, it’s not a new idea. The problem is, of course, that this concept requires an outside donor for the downpayment and then another non-profit to personally guarantee the loan. In none of these deals do the residents ever “pool their own money” to buy it – they have no money. It’s just a game of massive subsidies from outside the park. Apparently, very few groups want to give away free money or co-sign mortgages. With that reality in mind, can we please stop throwing out this stupid notion that, although it’s failed for decades, somehow it now suddenly has a shot of working? After all, 2% in 20+ years is not much of a track record to brag about.

Let me get this straight. A mobile home park is pulverized by a tornado in March. It’s officially closed forever in April since the owner just wants to develop the land into a different use rather than attempt to put it all back together. So he clears the land at 100% his own expense. The tenants did nothing to help nor did they pay a dime. And now they are suing the park owner because he carted away their destroyed homes for free yet did not give them enough time to sift through the debris to look for things like a “measuring cup”? As I see it, the tenants owe the park owner thousands of dollars, not vice versa.

Prices in some of these parks can generally range from $1.5 million to more than $6 million, but that hasn’t put off buyers with that type of cash to spare.

There seems to be a competition in America today to see who can waste the most money – that’s become the new symbol of success. Whether it’s spending millions to see the Titanic or Jeff Bezos’ five-minute trip to outer space, society needs to know that you have so much money that you can blow it on meaningless crap. I guess that spending $5 million on a $5,000 mobile home is a modern status symbol, but to those of us who have not lost our minds it seems stupid beyond belief.

“Living here at first was actually peaceful,” Navaro said. “We didn’t have issues.” She says that changed when a different management company took over the properties, and new rules were put in place without residents being told. Navaro said her neighbors are tired of what they call predatory towing and constant fines. “The fines became very, very consistent,” Navaro said about the major complaints protestors have with management. “started putting boots on cars, towing cars all at once.”

Obviously, what happened here is that the new owner has started enforcing the park rules and those that hate rules (which is the same rowdy crowd that can’t even march down a street without getting into a fight) don’t like it one bit. Up to bat next are higher rents, nicer property condition, and pride of ownership. They better get ready to march against those, too.

With every other form of real estate, once you build it you’re stuck. If you build an office building you have so much money invested in the construction that – no matter what the city later declares – you have no choice but to accept it because there’s no other way out. But mobile home parks are basically just parking lots and it costs virtually nothing to tear them down and redevelop. As a result, while California may allow crime in retail centers without worrying about closure – because nobody can afford to tear their malls down – mobile home park owners have freedom of choice and no economic barriers to preclude them from building something back on the land that’s more profitable.

As a result, the city’s attempt to control the park owners is simply going to displace the tenants and not really harm the park owners that much. But perhaps that was the plan to begin with, since most cities want all the mobile home parks removed, right?

But some residents and District 2 Caddo Commissioner Greg Young say they would like to see more ownership in the area.

No, that’s not the real reason. It’s the politically correct reason, but not the truth. The reason that people don’t want to have a mobile home park built next to them is that it substantially reduces their property values. Just go to Zillow and look at a house next to a mobile home park and one three blocks away. The one by the park is about 30% less in value. Until you can fix that simple reality there won’t be any new mobile home parks built.

I hate to rain on another fantasy parade, but the homes in those photos are from the 1970s and 1980s. They are clearly in extremely poor condition. They will never survive the move from that property. On top of that, none of these residents will ever be able to afford private land or the $10,000 needed to put in a well and septic. This is just a bunch of hopeless nonsense. The residents had a great run at the world’s cheapest housing under an all too lenient mom and pop owner, but the new investor appears poised to take this property to the next level – benefitting the remaining residents who have pride of ownership – and these homes need to be demolished, not moved. This is not a story of an evil park owner but of residents who did not maintain their homes, to the detriment of their neighbors, and their actions finally caught up with them. It’s called personal accountability.

I’m confused by who the target customer is for these things. 400 sq. ft. is way too small for a family with kids. So it must be focused on young single people or seniors. But these developments are located out in the middle of nowhere so there’s no jobs and, therefore, I don’t know how the young person can pay the rent (unless they work remotely, which is a very small market). That only leaves senior households, and those 400 sq. ft. homes are too small – and with awkward floor plans – that render them difficult to be truly functional.

Until you can solve this riddle, tiny homes have no future. But they do make for entertaining TV shows on the HGTV channel.

Mobile home park duplexes are the bastion of “man camps” and parks that are filled with temporary, transient workers who are there to do a job and go home. To pretend that anybody else would live in these dreadfully small, depressing things is completely asinine.

Littleton City Manager Jim Becklenberg said at a city council study session this week that the city does not currently have housing purchase subsidies funding to grant the residents’ original $2.6 million request to help them buy the land. Instead, the council directed staff to contribute $225,000 — some of which will be refunded — to go toward earnest money and pre-purchase expenses.

Clearly, this deal is not going to happen. It was a nice gesture by the city to save face, but to pull this off the residents will need a gift of around $1 million and a non-profit to personally guarantee the mortgage.

Of course, it’s probably better this deal dies quickly as many of these “blindfolded half-court shots” rack up monstrous diligence costs before finding out that they can’t come up with the money.

Read these new rules from the Massachusetts Attorney General regarding mobile home parks:

• Clarifies that community owners may not deny tenancy applications based on a single factor, such as credit score or income level, when there is other reasonable evidence of a prospective tenant’s ability to pay rent
• Informs community owners that they must charge new residents entering their community the same rent as residents already living in the community so long as the new residents have similar lot sizes and receive the same services as those already living in the community
• Clarifies the process that community owners must follow to discontinue the use of a manufactured housing community

So now tell me who would want to own a mobile home park in that state?

Ironic that the city that brought you the Boston Tea Party – the origins of the “freedom” movement – would be the place in which woke bureaucrats heap on new regulations that make property ownership completely unappealing.

This is not going to work. Just more subsidies for the taxpayers and donors to pay. Can’t anyone come up with an idea that is not reliant on hand-outs?

“After I pay for water, electricity, cable, groceries, and my medication I am left with nine dollars at the end of the month,” one resident on fixed income, who requested to remain anonymous, told the Lynnwood Times.

I know that Washington state is blue as can be. I know that it’s the homeland of the woke “free rent movement”. But if you add up the items in the quote above, it means that the resident has a total income of around $1,000 per month. Exactly how would this person be able to live anywhere in the U.S. on that amount? They clearly need to get into the U.S. Section 8 program. But, of course, they can’t because there is a 10-year wait list or something like that. This is not the story of evil park rents but instead the story of a government subsidy system that is broken.

99.9% of park residents like higher lot rents because they bring with them better property condition and professional management. But instead, Washington is seriously contemplating policies that revolve around an incredibly small minority of tenants but will literally destroy the Washington housing market, as rent control has in all other states dumb enough to institute them.

“The nuisance abatement law provides a solution for problem locations that disproportionately demand law enforcement resources and reduce the quality of life for citizens of North Carolina,” said Scottie Shoaf, the Special Agent in Charge of the Nuisance Abatement Team. “It was a privilege to work with this community and restore peace to the residents living in this community.”

And another one bites the dust… This city had an original idea to get the “trailer park” out of town and that was to use a “nuisance abatement law”. I’ve never heard of that one before. The Park owner was probably OK with that decision as it clears the land for him to redevelop without much fanfare, and he can blame it all on the city.

The answer is “no”. Looking at modular homes is like looking at car styles from the 80s – certainly no longer cutting edge. Personally, I would bet that 3-D printed homes are the future of affordable housing when you’re talking about putting attractive small homes on small lots at lower price points in stick-built neighborhoods. Modular homes look lousy and cost way too much for what you get, which is a glorified mobile home. That’s why – even though modular homes have been around for a long time – nobody buys them. Time to move on.

And another one bites the dust … This time you have a city that is tearing down the “trailer park” to build a “recreational park”. Well, at least it’s still in the “park” family.

I always love the fact that when a private company tries to tear down a park the media goes crazy and demands that the city fathers stop them but when a city does the exact same thing the media thinks it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. Perhaps they can bottle up America’s sheer hypocrisy and use that as an alternative energy solution. It’s the most plentiful product America produces at the moment.

"Kelly cited extensive repairs needed to the park's decades-old infrastructure, specifically the water system, as the reason for the evictions…"

And here we have yet another park being torn down – and it’s the same old story. The lot rents were too low to pay for needed infrastructure repair and the land was now worth more than the park.

Have I mentioned that LOW LOT RENTS = REDEVELOPMENT enough yet?

So let me get this straight. A private company buys an old mobile home park with the intention of tearing it down to build something new. The city fights them tooth over nail and ultimately forces them into bankruptcy so that they can now buy it and do effectively the same thing that the original developer intended. But, of course, it’s OK for the city to do this because they inject the word “affordable” into their announcement every other word or so.

Did anyone notice how odd it is that the city is buying out all the mobile homes themselves as part of the transaction? Clearly, that’s so they can get rid of them later on. Until then, in phase one, they are going to let some nutty start-up build out around 30 units of stick-built housing on the currently unused part of the tract. Of course, they don’t tell anyone that phase two will probably be to tear down the 38 mobile homes the city just mysteriously bought and put stick-builds on those, too.

Another case of the residents playing the patsy for the city’s intended closure of the mobile home park.

I know absolutely nothing about these parks – and I wouldn’t own one in California if you gave it to me – but more than likely the park has rents that are way too low and it finally caught up with the owner. When you stop paying your utilities, it’s normally the last straw. However, before all the residents jump up and down on their dream of trashing the owner, they better remember that the owner will more than likely be selling the park off as raw land for development as their next step, since the park clearly is not cash-flowing.

As always, LOW LOT RENTS = REDEVELOPMENT.

The city is partnering with Kirksville R-III School District and is planning to use the property to build four tiny homes.

So the city is tearing down a massive mobile home park in order to build only 4 tiny homes? I love the fact that – since a city owns the park and they are demolishing it – there is zero push back from the media on all the families being evicted. This makes me think we need to add to my earlier equation:

LOW LOT RENTS = REDEVELOPMENT = HAPPY CITY GOVERNMENT

Is that REALLY what rent control is all about? Wouldn’t shock me.

If Congress removed the permanent chassis requirement, manufactured homes would be safer, and they would be much more acceptable in traditional neighborhoods.

Few people are aware that the reason that mobile homes sit on a “boat trailer” foundation is because Congress mandates it to be that way – dating from when they did a hostile takeover of mobile home manufacturing in the 1970s. Clearly this was a decision made at the request of the single-family home building special interest groups who did not want their prices to be undercut and thought that affixing a boat trailer to the underside of a mobile home would render it a lesser competitive form of housing. Scandalous, huh?

Look at the photos then look at the prices. What idiot would pay that much? In Missouri we’d call that “bad shopping”.