Mobile Home Park News Briefing

There are 56,000 Pennsylvania households in manufactured homes and thousands have been subjected to significant increases to their monthly lot rent in recent years.

In his budget address last month, Governor Shapiro called on the legislature to pass legislation limiting lot rent increases for manufactured homeowners.

Governor Shapiro’s visit to Douglass Village highlighted his budget proposal and his Housing Action Plan to meet Pennsylvania’s housing needs and make housing more affordable.

Douglassville, PA – Today, Governor Josh Shapiro visited a manufactured housing community in Berks County to call for reform to protect Pennsylvanians...

NORTH CHARLESTON — Over the last year, Bruce Ford has spent thousands of dollars on improvements to his mobile home where he has lived for 15 years and planned to stay for the long run.

He used his inheritance from his parents to invest $20,000 into the mobile home he owns, including a new roof and flooring, and a $3,000 porch so he can sit outside and enjoy the weather on nice days. Living at the Ferndale Mobile Home Park, he is only two miles away from North Charleston Elementary School where he works as a custodian.

“I truly believed this would be my home forever,” he said.

On March 25, Ford, along with residents living in the nearly...

WARREN, Mich. – Manufactured housing residents at a Southeast Michigan community are taking the rare move and creating a resident-union. It comes after Local 4 reported on a series of stories about issues plaguing communities across the region.

“Join the resident-union. We will be there for you,” Mike Whitty, the director of the resident-union and Mr. Mike’s Neighborhood, said when reading a sign displayed in his front yard.

When you pull up to Whitty’s home at Lafayette Place in Warren, you’ll hear some old tunes and get that familiar wave.

His mission is simple.

“The service standpoint. Creating programs to be able to bring neighbors...

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Residents at Riverview Mobile Home Park gathered Saturday morning with Rockford city leaders hoping for answers about a proposal that could eventually replace their neighborhood with an RV park.

Emotions surfaced throughout the meeting as residents voiced fears about affordability, housing availability and uncertainty surrounding what happens next if the proposal moves forward.

“I’m 68 years old. I shouldn’t be going through all this,” one resident told city leaders during the discussion.

Rockford City Council Alderpeople Gabrielle Torina, Gina Meeks, Dawn Granath and Aprel Prunty joined the meeting alongside...

BOZEMAN, Mont. — A rent strike at two Bozeman mobile home parks has ended as residents said they wanted to give the new owner a chance to work with them. 

Residents at Mountain Meadows and King Arthur mobile home parks voted to stop the strike over the weekend, according to union leaders. They said they took that step in good faith toward new owner Steve Martini of the California-based Cabrillo Management Corporation. 

Benjamin Moore, Mountain Meadows Tenant Union leader, said residents wanted to show they were open to working with the new ownership. 

“We're willing to give these new guys a chance. So, this is an olive branch...

if you live in a mobile home community in Montana, you could easily come home one day to a piece of mail informing you that the land underneath your home has been sold.

And your new landlord is an out-of-state, private equity company looking to maximize profits for investors.

That's what happened to Brandi Hyatt and 60 of her neighbors in April. The Mobile City manufactured home community where they live near the Clark Fork River in Missoula was bought by a company called Axia Realty Partners, based in Texas. The news came out of nowhere.

"We were very much all caught off guard," she said. "We didn't even know it was for sale."

All...

(VIDEO) Novato seniors continue fight for ownership of mobile home park after decades of payments
Kevin Ko reports.

Elisept Vanegas held her niece in a sidehug as they watched a bulldozer ram into their kitchen and bring down their front door. Their five children played in the grass, and one boy held his hand over his mouth, unblinking at the site.

Vanegas, who has lived at Forest View Mobile Home park for two years, stood at the culmination of a nearly yearlong effort to save the park after Blue Island officials ordered the property owners to evict residents, citing unsafe conditions, incorrect zoning, unpaid water debt and code violations.

As 66 homes are set to be demolished by the end of May, what’s next for the more than 15-acre parcel at 13800...

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Julie Heins only planned to live in San Lazaro mobile home park for a short time. Nearly 40 years later, it is still the place she calls home.

More than 800 people live in the Boulder County mobile home park, and many of them share that same deep connection to the community.

"I've lived here for about eight years," resident Wendy Kinal said. "There's just a really good neighborhood and family feel and I feel safe here."

Denver7's Claire Lavezzorio spoke to residents about their concerns in the video player below:

Fellow resident Susana Rodriguez echoed that sentiment.

"I'm very proud to live here," Rodriguez...

REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – More than a dozen people living at Long’s Mobile Home Court in Redford Township are facing eviction after the township served them notices to vacate the Plymouth Road property.

Many residents say they are on fixed incomes and have no idea where they will go.

The boarded-up office at the mobile home court is a visible sign of what residents describe as long-absent management.

For those still living there, the situation is dire.

“I have nowhere to go. The street. That’s basically what it is. I have no family members that can take me in,” said resident Laurie Gauthier.

Township cites unsafe conditions, takes...

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KOAA) — Colorado lawmakers passed a new bill (HB26-1224) to give mobile home park residents greater transparency and stronger financial protections. The measure is now waiting for the governor’s signature to become law.

The bill focuses on improving communication between landlords and residents, especially regarding rent increases, property sales, and fees.

For Monument resident Herb McKarn, who has lived in his mobile home park for decades, affordability and stability matter.

“I think we bought it back in 1980,... maybe 1989,” McKarn said.

McKarn said his family has generally had positive communication with park...

Jenn Moreau has been living in Shady Oaks Mobile Home Park in Arundel for a decade.

"This was a very safe place to land," Moreau said.

She owns her home, but not the land beneath it. Moreau says her monthly rent went from $530 to $660 in less than a year.

"We don't want to cause trouble. We don't want to go after anybody, but we want to stay in our homes," Moreau said.

Now, Moreau and other Arundel voters have a choice come this June, whether or not to implement a rent stabilization ordinance on mobile home parks.

Kevin Fletcher is a certified commercial investment member and broker and owns several mobile home parks in central Maine,...

This week, KGNU’s Rossana Longo Better and Juliana Krigsman spoke with residents at San Lazaro Mobile Home Park in Boulder Colorado, as they raised their concerns about the sale of the park.

Residents are facing uncertainty as their park switches landlords. They have the option to purchase the park themselves, for $40 million. If they are not able to purchase it themselves, residents worry that their lot prices will drastically increase, and potentially leave people displaced.

38-year resident Julie Heins told Krigsman that her biggest concerns are displacement, cost, and families with children having to leave the school...

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — Residents at the Ferndale Mobile Home Park in North Charleston say they are scrambling to figure out their next steps after receiving notice they must vacate the property by May 31—just 12 days away.

Families say the notice came after the land was sold to a new owner, identified by residents as New Tides LLC. Many say they own their mobile homes but rent the land underneath them, making relocation both complicated and costly.

“The letter told us that we have until the 31st of this month to move our mobile home,” resident Bruce Ford said.

Residents say they were initially told there would be meetings and...

By his best guess, 68-year-old JR Colledge has lived at Shady Acres mobile home park for about 20 years. It’s some of the cheapest housing in the city. But Shady Acres is threatened by the looming major makeover of the nearby Provo Towne Centre mall.

The gray-haired jokester lives with his “psycho” orange cat, Simba, and his brother-in-law, who shares the rent. Colledge is worried about finding a new place for all of them to live that’s within their budget and in a good area.

“I don't see this project going anywhere but messing up a bunch of lives,” he said.

Neighbors Dave and Kay Larsen have lived here a decade longer than Colledge....

Controversial mobile home park management company Harmony Communities’ second attempt to raise the rent at a Nipomo mobile home park was knocked down by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors at its May 5 meeting.

Following rent increase requests for Buena Vista Mobile Home Park and Cambria’s Oak Terrace mobile home park in 2024, which were rejected by the Mobilehome Rent Review Board and the Board of Supervisors in 2025, Harmony again asked the rent review board to approve a rent hike in October 2025.

“Staff’s interpretation forces the owner’s real-dollar profit to shrink by 40 percent of the inflation rate every year,...

Manufactured housing communities—where residents often own their homes but lease the land beneath them—have traditionally been viewed as an affordable housing option.

However, private equity firms and large investment companies are increasingly acquiring mobile home communities and raising rents.

That's what recently happened at Smoky Palms North in Clinton, TN, where rents more than doubled under new corporate ownership.

“They’re raising my rent from $275 to $650,” Lillian Goins told WATE. “Yes. I’m retired. I work two days part-time to make ends meet. I think this is absolutely ridiculous. I can understand when somebody bought it, you...

Deann Sweeper’s favorite thing about her home in Lakewood Vista isn’t her view of the pond fountain at the center, or the geese nesting on its shore. It's the sense of community she’s built over eight years with her neighbors.

She said now, Lakewood Vista is for sale for the second time since she’s lived here.

"We want to keep that community,” she said. “We’re old. What are we going to do if we can’t live here anymore?”

Sweeper is chair of the board chosen by more than 200 residents to lead efforts to try and buy the mobile home park and turn it into a resident owned community. Their efforts were first reported by the Eugene...

NOVATO, Calif. - Residents of a major affordable mobile home park in Novato say they are continuing a decades-long fight to keep their community in their own hands. The 400 residents who live in the 311 homes that comprise the Marin Valley Mobile Country Club fear losing their community and are now receiving assistance from You Are the Power, a nationwide tax-exempt organization that uses social media to help citizens navigate local government disputes.

The backstory:

Three decades ago, the city of Novato floated bonds to support low-income, affordable housing. The agreement dictated that residents would pay for all...

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - A proposal to convert Riverview Mobile Home Park to an RV park was laid over Monday night.

Some community members who live at the mobile home park spoke at city council Monday night opposing the proposal.

Alderwoman Gabrielle Torina (D-5th Ward) made the motion to lay over the vote as she felt more time was needed to meet with the people who would be kicked out of their homes.

Rockford City Council’s Code and Regulation Committee did not vote on proposed development for an RV park where a single-family residential area currently stands, 2530, 2710 and 2720 S. Main Street.

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Tenants at two Bozeman mobile home parks are still refusing to pay rent after they said another increase took effect just before the properties changed hands.

Rent was due May 1, and the strike reached day 12 as residents at Mountain Meadows Mobile Home Park and King Arthur Park pushed back against the latest increase.

Between Mountain Meadows and King Arthur Mobile Home Parks, more than half the residents are taking part in the strike.

Residents on strike said mobile home lot rent went up 11% last month without an explanation and just before the sale of the properties to a new owner.

“The largest rent hike that we've...

The Hayden Municipal Housing Authority has secured a $2.5 million philanthropic loan from the Yampa Valley Community Foundation to help finance the purchase of the Pinyon Pines Mobile Home Community, a move aimed at preserving one of the town’s most critical affordable housing developments, after residents spent more than a year fighting to keep it, according to a recent statement from the YVCF.

The funding, provided by the foundation through its Housing Accelerator Fund, is part of a broader package assembled to maintain affordability at the 63-home park, which represents roughly 7% of Hayden’s population.

The purchase marks a...

When residents of San Lazaro mobile home park learned the property was up for sale, many shared the same fear as resident Lety Garcia: displacement. 

“We are afraid that new owners will raise rent or close the park, and many families will be displaced from their homes,” she said.

Residents say San Lazaro, located in unincorporated Boulder County near Boulder, is more than just housing for its 800-plus residents. It is a diverse, close-knit community where people know and rely on their neighbors. Many have called the park home for decades, some for more than 40 years. Unwilling to risk that community on an unknown buyer, residents are...

MESA, AZ — Residents in a mobile home park in Mesa were still packing up to leave the day after they were told to vacate. Some told ABC15 that they had a few more days due to extenuating circumstances.

Dozens of residents in the La Casita Mobile Home Park near McKellips Road and Mesa Drive were told they were given an eviction letter in October with a deadline date of April 30 to vacate.

In a letter given to residents, it read that the land the park was on had been sold and would be converted into commercial development.

For resident Ed Littell, leaving is a hard pill to swallow. Littell said he’s lived there for almost 30 years. It was...

Angered by years of rising costs and scaled-back services, mobile home park residents in Killingworth plan a massive turnout at their town’s Fair Rent Committee this weekend to push for a cap on rent increases.

Many residents of the nearly 300 homes at Beechwood have become increasingly dissatisfied since Michigan-based Sun Communities bought the property in 2019, and say they fear eventually being priced out altogether.

“They have been increasing the annual rent for the land our homes occupy at an alarming rate, which will exceed $10,000 annually within nine years,” resident Barbra Shapiro said. “I live on Social Security. Sun’s...