Mobile Home Park News Briefing

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...

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...

Purchase is fourth to take place since passage of nation-leading mobile homeowner protections signed into law by Governor Mills 

Jay, MAINE – Governor Janet Mills tonight joined the residents of the Hidden Circle Mobile Home Park in Jay to celebrate their purchase of the mobile home park, which will ensure the land beneath their 31 homes will remain locally owned and affordable. 

In most cases, residents of mobile home parks own their home and pay rent for the lot on which their home sits. In recent years, investors have purchased mobile home parks across Maine and the nation, frequently raising lot fees to increase profits.

In 2023,...

The owner of Buena Vista Mobile Home Park in Nipomo isn’t ready to back down despite the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors and the Mobilehome Rent Review Board twice rejecting its rent increase requests.

On July 31, Buena Vista Mobile Home Park LLC filed a petition with the SLO Superior Court asking it to command the supervisors and the rent review board to set aside its rejections. The petition takes issue with the way the boards interpreted the county’s mobile home rent stabilization ordinance and could affect dozens of tenants living at the mobile home park who were named as parties in interest.

“The [rent review board]...

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...

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...

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....

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,...

BRADENTON BEACH, Fla. (WWSB) - The future of the Pines Mobile Home Park, a nearly three-acre parcel off the Gulf on Bradenton Beach, is under discussion after the property was closed following damage from Hurricane Helene in 2024.

The landowner is planning the site’s future, and a City Hall meeting is expected to draw significant public comment on the project.

Documents submitted to public record show the vision for the property includes shopping, dining, and recreational space. Some homes on the site remain damaged, a visible reminder of the storms that led to the park’s closure.

Residents of Bradenton Beach have expressed concern about...

Residents of the Hidden Circle Mobile Home Park in Jay purchased its manufactured home community last week for $1 million, ensuring the land beneath 31 homes in Jay can remain locally owned and affordable for years to come.

“It hasn’t been an easy process, but we never gave up,” said Travis, a resident of Hidden Circle Mobile Home Park and president of the cooperative’s volunteer board. “We had to purchase the park because the alternative could be worse. Someone could come in here and hike up the rents and eventually push people out of their homes. Now, people can feel financially safe and safe in their homes.”

The Hidden Circle residents...

When San Lazaro Mobile Home Park was listed for sale this spring, residents organized an effort to buy it themselves. They feared that a new owner could sharply increase rents, displace families or redevelop the property, dismantling a community that has existed for decades. 

Now, that effort has taken on greater urgency. 

On Aug. 10, residents were notified that an undisclosed buyer had offered the full asking price of $42.5 million, according to members of the residents’ group organizing the purchase. Boulder Reporting Lab was unable to determine who made the offer. David Eisenstein, an attorney for the park’s current owner, said the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Brookfield Asset Management has disclosed that it deployed its first investment for its Breva H housing strategy into YES! Communities, one of the nation’s largest owners of manufactured housing communities with almost 300 parks and over 80,000 home sites in 23 states.

The investment significantly expands Brookfield’s presence in one of America’s most important sources of affordable housing while raising new questions about protections for manufactured housing residents. 

Brookfield’s acquisition comes at a time when Congress has taken its first major step toward addressing corporate ownership of housing through the...

BRADENTON BEACH – Representatives of the Pines Park Investors LLC ownership group introduced their proposed conceptual plan to redevelop the Pines Trailer Park property at the east end of Bridge Street. 

The plans also propose redeveloping multiple properties at the west end of Bridge Street, near the Gulf Drive intersection. 

The conceptual plans and renderings were presented to the mayor, city commissioners and the public during the Aug. 6 city commission meeting. The presentation was given for informational purposes only. The commission took no action and the mayor did not open the discussion up for public comment. 

The plans propose...

WOODSTOCK, Ga. — A proposed redevelopment that could result in the displacement of roughly 130 families from their homes in Woodstock is heading to a final vote before the Woodstock City Council on August 24.

The Woodstock Planning Commission voted Thursday to recommend annexation and rezoning of the Ansley Park mobile home park at 200 Dupree Road and 681 Stonebridge Parkway, moving the project one step closer to approval. The commission did reject the developer's request for several zoning variances tied to the project's design.

The park's owner is retiring and plans to close the property, opening the door for redevelopment. Weekley...