Mobile Home Park News Briefing

Residents at Katoonah Lodges, a 55-plus community in Missoula, are struggling with a 35% increase in lot rent since the park was purchased by an out-of-state investment firm. Many fixed-income seniors say they now feel trapped, as home sales stall and affordability declines, prompting the formation of a tenants union seeking rent protections.

America is plagued by a housing crisis. One possible solution is manufactured housing, which can be produced quickly and relatively cheaply. A new federal housing law could open the door to the sector’s expansion. To succeed, though, manufactured housing must overcome the stigmas against mobile homes and trailer parks.

Manufactured homes are quietly “filling the suburbs,” said The Washington Post. The dwellings were long looked down on as “low-quality, less-safe housing” that was mostly “limited to trailer parks and rural properties” for decades, but higher-quality models are springing up in the “typical American...

STANDISH — The room filled with applause Tuesday after Standish Town Council passed an emergency 90-day mobile home park rent control ordinance, effective immediately.

The temporary moratorium is intended to protect mobile home park residents in Standish from rent increases before the November election, when voters will decide whether to pass the measure permanently. Advocates collected enough signatures earlier this month to place rent control on the ballot.

The emergency ordinance states that mobile home parks have long served as affordable housing for lower-income residents and seniors on fixed incomes in Standish, and that many...

Broader placement and occupancy of manufactured homes — particularly in neighborhoods zoned for single-family dwellings — could be one of the major consequences in New Hampshire of the new federal housing law.

Known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the bipartisan legislation seeks to address the lack of supply in the Granite State and across the country by, among other features, reducing barriers to development, protecting neighborhoods from corporate raiders and attracting more capital for builders.

The consequences of the housing act, which became law July 10, were discussed Aug. 13 among a group of housing advocates in a  Read More

Carol DeAngelis first learned Aug. 7 that her mobile home park near Asheville had been purchased by COARE Communities. A day later, she attended a meeting held at the mobile home park, where a representative from COARE told her that her lot rent would rise from $350 to $850, an account confirmed by two other tenants who attended the meeting.

Families at Green Mountain Mobile Manor in Fair Haven are facing a possible Sept. 1 closure deadline that residents say threatens their housing stability.

In the letter, Turi wrote that the closure "threatens the housing stability of 25 residents, including 11 children."

According to reporting by VTDigger and Vermont Public, Turi moved her family of seven into the park a year ago after relocating from northern Maine to be closer to medical specialists and her parents. The home cost $15,000, an amount her family could manage on her part-time income as a substitute teacher and her husband's work in property maintenance.

New Mexico lawmakers said this week they intend to try again to enact a law that would help mobile home park residents purchase their communities amid rising out-of-state ownership.

Maria Griego, economic equity director at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, told lawmakers on the interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee on Tuesday that other states, including Colorado, have “resident-owned community” legislation that aims to help mobile home park residents buy and collectively run their own communities.

Such a law would require owners to notify residents of a mobile home park, as well as the state Mortgage Finance...

The Town of Ulster held a public hearing last week to discuss seeking grant funding for additional infrastructure improvements at the Brigham Lane Mobile Home Park. However, the application will likely take place next year instead of in 2026.

The residential park, which opened over 65 years ago, has 48 lots for mobile homes, but only about 35 are currently occupied. Improvements to the sewer and water systems could help revitalize the community. According to the town’s grant consultant, Mark Blauer of Blauer Associates, Ulster County views communities like Brigham Lane Mobile Home Park as a way to address the local housing crisis.

“The...

The final two years of the Trump administration could be pivotal for the manufactured housing industry, experts say, as political pressure mounts to address the nation's massive housing shortage.

Manufactured housing—a category ranging from prefabricated materials to factory-built housing—has for years struggled to expand beyond a niche building type. But 2026 has brought the bipartisan housing reform package, the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which includes reforms to encourage manufactured housing.

"That's a response to an affordability crisis," Suzanne Garwood, a managing director and associate general counsel for JPMorgan Chase,...

The residents of a mobile home park in Loveland, many of whom are retirees or seniors, are working to buy the property themselves after they were notified of the sale this spring.

The listing price for the Sunset Park Manufactured Home Community is $44.5 million. The 24-acre park hosts 164 double-wide homes.

Residents found out about the sale in April, when a ‘notice of intent to sell’ was sent out.

According to the document, residents would have 120 days to put together financing and make an offer to Legacy Communities LLC, the park’s current owner.

Since then, a committee has started the formal process of submitting a bid, including...

BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. — In Kentucky, landlords can terminate month-to-month tenancies without citing nonpayment, behavior problems, or breaches of contract.

Brandon King is living that reality. A "For Sale" sign stands outside his place in the Turfland mobile home community, but King says he was forced to move out three weeks ago without explanation.

King owns his trailer but rents the lot beneath it. He says he is now barred from the property while a lawsuit involving dozens of tenants and their landlord, Maple Grove MHC LLC, plays out in court.

"Yes, I ain't allowed on the property, they said I was kicked off the property during the...

Douglassville, PA – Today, Governor Josh Shapiro visited a manufactured housing community in Berks County to call for reform to protect Pennsylvanians living in manufactured home communities from predatory practices often used by out-of-state property management companies. In his 2026 Budget Address, Governor Shapiro called on the Pennsylvania General Assembly to pass legislation limiting annual lot rent increases for manufactured housing communities. This legislation, coupled with reforms included in the Governor’s 2026-27 proposed budget and Housing Action Plan, would protect manufactured homeowners and help make housing more affordable...

WOODSTOCK, Ga. — The City of Woodstock provided an update on a development plan that threatens to displace 130 families not far from downtown Woodstock.

The city said in a social media post that the developer who plans to redevelop Ansley Park has asked the city council to table the case and send it back to the planning commission.

Channel 2’s Tom Regan previously reported that the owner of Ansley Park is retiring. The plans called for the mobile home community to be sold to a developer, who plans to build 220 single-family homes on the site.

Those opposed to the plan say it threatens to displace “working‑class, predominantly...

Seniors in another Pennsylvania Cloverleaf community are publicly pushing back against rising housing costs, saying steep lot-rent increases are putting serious pressure on residents with few realistic options to move.

As WPXI reported, the demonstration at Cloverleaf West in Carnegie adds to a broader outcry from older adults in manufactured-home communities who say they are being priced out of their neighborhoods.

The station reported that people living in Cloverleaf West, a 55-and-over community, held a protest with homemade signs over charges they say are unfair. The demonstration came after residents at another...

HICKORY, N.C. — Families at a Hickory mobile home park said they’re scrambling to find new housing after receiving end-of-lease notices giving them until Sept. 1 to leave. County records show the property was sold in mid-July for $1.8 million by Hickory MHC Land based in Delaware.

Tenants are unsure where they’ll go next and told Channel 9’s Dave Faherty that some of the homes are in bad shape and are full of bugs.

Destiny Fuller isn’t sure where she and her four-month-old daughter will end up after receiving an end-of-lease notice from the property manager at Hickory Place Mobile Homes.

“New management just came in, swept in,” she...

As the competition and the price for housing continue to climb, longtime residents in mobile home parks are in a difficult spot.  

Many own their houses but must pay rising rents for the spaces they occupy. Despite San Jose's rent control laws, one group of park residents feels they are being retaliated against for trying to stand up for their rights.

The San Jose Mobile Home and RV Park is definitely showing its age. Many of the mobile homes and RV's look worn and a large majority of the low-income residents speak little, if any, English. But there are some new small modular homes that have been added to the property that can fetch a lot...

Residents of Mountain View Park in Mancos are purchasing their 31-space mobile home community and converting it into a not-for-profit cooperative with the goal of stabilizing rent and securing long-term housing for those who call it home, as well as those who will eventually move in.

Sharon Reddert has lived at the park for more than 30 years and is one of the residents leading the effort for the purchase of the community. She is acting as president for Mountain View Cooperative Inc.’s interim five-member volunteer board.

“We don’t get paid. It’s a work of love to benefit our community, as it is very time consuming,” she said. “Our board...

MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — Residents at the Mona Lake Motor Home Park in Muskegon were put on a 30-day notice to move out last week.

Residents said they’re angry and worried. Some said they are unsure of where they’ll go because of the short notice to find alternative living arrangements or move their trailer.

On Aug. 10, attorneys for the park, Bowen Hoogstra, sent letters to the tenants reading, “The owner of the park has made the difficult decision to cease operation of the mobile home park in order to sell the property,” giving tenants until September 15 to leave before they formally evicted them. News 8 attempted to call park...

The City of Sonoma’s mobilehome park residents have provided important new evidence about what the loss of a mobilehome park would actually mean for people who live there.

What Happens Next
Wednesday, August 19, 6:00 PM – City of Sonoma study session about updating the City’s Mobilehome Park Closure and Conversion Ordinance. The ordinance addresses relocation impact reports, replacement housing, relocation assistance, protections for vulnerable residents, and the loss of existing affordable housing.

Mobilehome Park Survey Results

Homeowner-residents from Sonoma’s three mobilehome parks were surveyed in July, in response to a request from...

A Boulder church announced Friday that it’s committing $40,000 to support the residents of the San Lazaro Mobile Home Park in their effort to purchase the park.

San Lazaro, in unincorporated Boulder County just outside Boulder limits at 5505 Valmont Road, is home to 213 households totaling nearly 800 residents. So far, more than 80% of the community has organized in support of forming a resident-ow...

People who live in mobile homes in Augusta last week succeeded in gathering enough signatures to put a lot rent stabilization ordinance on the city’s November ballot. It’s the latest in a series of efforts by mobile home residents and the state to keep the homes affordable.

Residents in Augusta began meeting last fall as they struggled to handle rent hikes with many on fixed incomes through retirement funds, veteran benefits or disability, which is the case for Vanessa Decker, 65, who has lived in Riverside Drive mobile home park with her fiancé for about three years.

“The rent has gone up every year since I’ve been here,” Decker said,...

AUBURN — City councilors gave final approval Monday to an ordinance limiting mobile home park lot rent increases despite opposition from the state’s manufactured housing industry.

The council voted 6-1 to adopt the ordinance with Ward 5 Councilor Leroy Walker Sr. voting against.

The ordinance caps annual lot rent increases at 5% or the annual consumer price index, whichever is lower. Increases can only happen once a year and park owners must provide 90 days notice to tenants. The ordinance does not apply to lots that become vacant.

Mobile home park residents advocated earlier this year for the city to intervene after rent increases....

The Maine Office of Community Affairs has released a cache of data about the state’s mobile home parks that advocates say will be crucial in ongoing efforts to protect residents against the out-of-state private equity firms that have been snapping up parks and dramatically raising lot rents.

Historically, data surrounding mobile homes has been almost nonexistent. 

The Maine Manufactured Housing Board, which oversaw mobile home licensing and inspections until this year, tracked the number of licensed parks (475), but that’s about it. 

Legislators, regulators, state officials and park residents have been kept in the dark about the number of...

NORRIDGEWOCK –– The Maine Attorney General’s office is suing the owner of a mobile home park in Norridgewock, alleging the company raised rents for its tenants without proper notice.

The suit, filed on Aug. 4 in Kennebec County Superior Court, also accused Brown Stone MHP, which owns Tempesta Way Mobile Home Park, of refusing to fully cooperate with an investigation into the rent claims by the AG’s office.

“This is an action seeking relief for Defendant’s unlawful acts or practices relating to rent and fees charged to residents of the Tempesta Way Mobile Home Park,” the AG’s office wrote in the suit.

According to court documents, Brown...

San Jose Mobile Home & RV Park residents are fighting back against a landlord who they claim is retaliating against them for standing up for their rights.

The residents allege property owner Monte Christo Communities has pressured them to sign new leases, written them up for small infractions and violated their personal space to take pictures of items on their property. Residents also allege Monte Christo Communities, which purchased the property in 2019 and manages it, has targeted individuals who are part of an association formed by resident Maria Munoz.

“I’ve been targeted so many times, so many times. We are under a lot of stress,”...