Mobile Home Park News Briefing

It feels sometimes like we are living in plan-a-paloozaville. As tidal waves of change descend on the North Valley, it is certainly better to be prepared than not, but the number of words coming out of CB planning documents that started with Crested Butte’s Community Compass a couple years ago is setting tsunami records.
The Crested Butte town council packets put together for their meetings held every two weeks are not light and airy reading. Jam-packed with words, graphics and information, I am not sure anyone (okay, besides the mayor) can read and absorb every piece of info in those packets. I used to, but it’s getting harder and...

Three weeks after authorizing a historic rent strike, the residents of King Arthur Park and Mountain Meadows Estate voted to call it off in hopes of building a better rapport with the mobile home parks’ new owners.

Residents of a Hancock mobile home park say their property’s out-of-state, multinational corporate owners are steadily pricing them out of a once-affordable community.

The publicly traded corporation Sun Communities, which markets itself as one of the world’s largest real estate investment trusts, acquired Hancock Heights Mobile Home Park — a 113-site property about 10 minutes east of Ellsworth on Route 1 — about five years ago.

Since then, residents say the corporation has raised rents excessively and neglected the park’s maintenance, creating water and sewage problems that compound the financial strain on residents,...

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Residents of a North Charleston mobile home park say they are being forced out after the property was sold, leaving many scrambling to relocate with little time or financial support.

Tenants at the Ferndale mobile home community said they received notices in March informing them they must vacate the property by May 31. Several residents said the sudden timeline caught them off guard.

“They could have told us, ‘Hey, this is coming.’ We didn’t get that,” said resident Bruce Ford. “If they had contacted us early and offered more money, offered more time, everything would have worked out smoothly. Most of the...

The residents of yet another mobile home park near Missoula have formed a tenants union after their landlord, an out-of-state private equity firm, raised rents twice in the last year and a half.

Lori Fournier calls her three-bedroom home at Meadows of Hopkinton her utopia.

In the six years since she moved in, she has remodeled the manufactured home to be everything she ever wanted, even installing an ADA-compliant walk-in shower to accommodate her disability.

But after Sado Parks, a Michigan-based investment firm, purchased the housing park in December, Fournier, 57, finds herself in a position she never anticipated — planning to sell.

“I love living here, I’d live here until I die,” she said, as her voice cracked under the emotion of it all. “But I think it’s going to be a contentious relationship with this owner, and that’s my...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) reintroduced the Frank Adelmann Manufactured Housing Community Sustainability Act, which would incentivize manufactured home park owners to sell the park to community residents or nonprofits, rather than another developer or landlord. Rep. Omar is joined by Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH) in co-leading this legislation. Companion legislation is being introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

“Manufactured homeowners deserve the same stability, dignity, and protection as any other homeowner,” said Congresswoman Omar. “Too many families who own their homes are still...

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...