Mobile Home Park News Briefing

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The much-troubled Superior Mobile Home Park off State Road in Oildale, which has been the scene of several homicides, arson fires and shootings in the past couple months, was being torn down by a mysterious work crew and their bulldozers Friday afternoon.

The dilapidated trailers on one side of the park were completely removed. Dust blew into the air as work crews cleaned out the debris.

A sign in the front of the park threatened in bright orange writing: “Out or Find out.”

William Clark, a resident of seven months at the park, said his power was turned off today. Clark said he needs a breathing machine after...

FLINT TWP., MI -- The township has rezoned property where a condemned mobile home park was located, potentially opening up the land for future construction of single-family homes.

The township Board of Trustees completed a second reading of the zoning change this week, and officials said the new designation will take effect after publication of a legal notice about the former Myrtle Grove Mobile Home Park off West Dayton Street.

Busloads of Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park residents in white T-shirts packed a rare six-judge hearing on Aug. 28, as Miami-Dade County courts pressed pause on immediate evictions, allowing more than 200 Sweetwater, Florida, families to stay in their homes—for now. 

Judges questioned two key points in the long saga of the decades-old mobile home park that is being redeveloped for “affordable” housing: whether the park’s owner properly served change-of-use notices and whether the residents’ homeowners’ association (HOA) is valid.

The case centered on a motion for summary judgment filed by park owner Consolidated Real Estate Investments...

Bruce Gordon, 81, and fellow residents at Marsh Brook Estates are hoping the city will step in to help prevent large rent increases. Sanford city leaders are expected to vote next week on a temporary moratorium on rent increases in manufactured and mobile home parks.

SANFORD — Bruce Gordon moved into Marsh Brook Estates hoping it would be somewhere he could enjoy retirement. And while the 81-year-old did retire briefly in 2022, he’s now a school bus driver.

For Gayle Pezzo, it started with the snowplows. 

In the fall of 2018, following a winter distinguished by the biggest snowfall in years, the town of Colchester, Vt., stopped plowing the nearly five miles of roads that snake through Westbury Mobile Home Park, where Pezzo, 72, lives. She and her neighbors were furious that the local government could simply withdraw its services and leave the park in the lurch. According to the Colchester Selectboard, the town’s five-member governing body, clearing Westbury’s roads was not the responsibility of public plows. They had decided that Westbury was a private residence — in effect, one with a long,...

LAKE PLACID — A last-minute attempt by the residents of the Cascade Acres mobile home park to stop the sale of the park to a private equity firm appears to be successful.

On Tuesday, Brandon Montag — the executor for the park’s new homeowners association — said all parties have signed the purchase agreement, with an anticipated sale closure in the fall. After the sale closes, the HOA plans to assign the purchase to Montag.

In the spring, current Cascade Acres owner M.H. Communities Ltd. announced its intentions to sell the 52-acre park to the private equity firm Crown Communities LLC. Residents moved fast, fearing they could lose their...

The owners of the Aspen Basalt and Mountain Valley Mobile Home Parks accepted an offer from the residents of the parks on July 28 to purchase the land underneath their homes for the asking price of $42 million for both. 

The residents had, up to that point, raised $14 million with the help of various local governments and businesses. However, a couple of weeks ago, the lender made it clear to West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition assisting with the deal that they would not be comfortable lending the remaining money unless the communities had $16 million committed. 

This kicked off a rapid effort to raise the $2 million needed to close...

When mobile home park residents in several communities across Maine received rent hike notices this summer, some landlords pointed to a new state law as the reason. But some residents — and the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Cheryl Golek (D-Harpswell)  — are pointing out that owners have been dramatically increasing rent since well before Golek introduced the bill, and are calling out the owners for scapegoating the new law. 

Golek says she introduced the bill in response to escalating lot rents that were already threatening to price residents out. “It’s frustrating that [the law] is being framed as the cause for rent increases,” Golek said. “The...

JACKSON, Mich. (WLNS) — Residents of Cozy Homes Mobile Home Park are speaking out about what they call rising costs and issues with upkeep.

“I’ve never had a problem being in here. I pay my rent, and I do what we’re supposed to do,” said resident Ronda Mosley.

Mosley is a Jackson native and has lived at the mobile park for 17 years. She says the community got a new manager six years ago. Since then, she says, the living conditions for all homes — inside and out — have only gotten worse.

“If me and my children or my grandchildren are in my house, that tree falls and it kills us. What’s my house insurance got to do with you killing us...

Like most high desert towns, Madras, Oregon, is no stranger to extreme temperatures. 

Located about 2,250 feet above sea level in a dry valley surrounded by central Oregon’s Cascade Range, summers in Madras can reach triple-digits, and winters below freezing. 

Homes outfitted for both hot and cold days are necessary in this rural community – but never guaranteed. That’s because within Madras city limits, there are eight mobile home parks with 276 housing spaces total, according to Oregon’s manufactured dwelling park directory. 

Many of these manufactured homes are outdated and lack the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)...

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office is suing a California-based investment firm over allegations that it instituted “unfair and retaliatory” rent increases at a Taunton mobile home park.

On Monday, the state attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against BoaVida Communities, accusing it of violating state laws and regulations regarding manufactured housing communities through its management of Willow Terrace Mobile Home Park, the attorney general’s office said in a press release.

BoaVida Communities did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Since purchasing the 74-lot manufactured housing...

WATERVILLE — The owner of the mobile home park that prompted city officials to temporarily ban lot rent increases says his company may consider redeveloping the land or selling the park.

Last week, Waterville City Council voted to institute a moratorium on lot rent increases in response to resident complaints about a proposed $100 a month increase.

The ban is in place until April, giving city officials time to consider whether to adopt an ordinance restricting future lot rent hikes. That time frame also gives state officials time to craft model language for cities and towns interested in rent caps.

In response, Mark Hsu, a partner in C37...

A group of low-income seniors in Novato is trying to buy their mobile home park from the city, but how the city ended up owning the property has a lot of people crying foul.  

Now, the residents say the negotiations have been one-sided, and on Tuesday night, they took their complaints directly to the powers that be.

From the street, a host of "Private Property" signs indicates the Marin Valley Mobile Country Club to be privately owned. But it's not. The 319-unit mobile home complex is officially owned by the city of Novato.  

In 1997, the residents formed a group called the Park Acquisition Corporation (PAC) to try to buy the land, but...

There are new developments in a legal battle pitting some Colorado mobile home park residents against the real estate company that owns and operates the community. Earlier this month, a judge ruled in favor of the real estate company, Ascentia, wiping out its violations of the Mobile Home Park Act.

CBS News Colorado has been following the story at Foxridge Farm since 2023. Foxridge houses nearly 500 mobile homes on East Colfax Avenue, east of Powhaton Road in Arapahoe County.

In 2023, residents told us they thought Ascentia was taking advantage of them. They were upset with policies that banned on-street parking, instead offering spots in...

The Carbondale trustees meeting was short and sweet this week. After approving the consent agenda, which included a special event permit for Carbondale Education Foundation’s upcoming Oktoberfest and John Williams’ reappointment to the Historic Preservation Commission, the board moved onto public comment, but no members of the public were present. 

Considering the hubbub on the Carbondale Facebook page regarding the temporary Highway 133 detour, it’s a good thing the highway was reopened. However, the pedestrian crossing was not yet open as of Wednesday, pending some final touches — namely the installation of the push-buttons that...

ARUNDEL (WGME) -- New state laws in Maine, aimed at protecting mobile home park residents from high rent increases, are now having the opposite effect.

A state lawmaker says they're seeing unusually high rent increases at as many as one third of Maine's mobile home parks, including two more in York County.

Lisa Perry's monthly rent is going up to $660 at Shady Oaks in Arundel.

"I just about fell over," Perry said.

The California company that bought Shady Oaks in Arundel, Blue Haven in Saco and other mobile home parks is raising lot rents for a second time this year.

"We just got this letter saying we're going to $660 a month. That's...

TEHAMA COUNTY, California — Residents of the Bend Mobile Home Park voiced their concerns at the Tehama County Supervisor's meeting on Tuesday, following significant rent increases imposed by new ownership.

The Texas-based company Park Nation, which took over the park at the beginning of the summer, announced rent hikes from 40% to 60% of previous rental agreements. Over a dozen residents came forward to share how this move and continued increases could force them out of where they live.

"It just went from $494 to $850 in three months," said one man who lives at the Bend Mobile Home Park. "I’m on SSDI. I got four children, eight...

More than 200 families who are still living at Li'l Abner Mobile Home Park will continue living at their trailers in Sweetwater – for now.

"They're deferring a decision at this point as a result of some of these legal issues that go to the notices," said David Winker, attorney for the defendants—the homeowners.

At issue is whether eviction notices were given to all of the residents being kicked out.

"If they give us the opportunity to buy the land, we can buy it," Enrique Zelaya told CBS News Miami.

He is among the roughly 210 defendants that C.R.E.I. Holdings, the mobile home park's owner and the plaintiff in this case, is suing to...

IOWA CITY — The Johnson County Board of Supervisors is reiterating its request that the owner of three mobile home parks in the county implement a two-year moratorium on lot rent increases.

In 2019, Utah-based Havenpark Communities began buying mobile home parks in Johnson County. Since then, residents of the Havenpark-owned parks have expressed concerns over sudden rent increases, questionable water quality and poor park maintenance.

The Board is in the process of penning a new letter to Havenpark Communities, after the most recent one was sent in May. The letter, which still must be formally approved by the board, will look to...

James Demarest planned on dying in his Eagle home. But the mobile home park he lives in, formerly Riviera Estates, was bought by new owners this summer. His monthly rent for his site, lawn care and utilities went from $700 to almost $1,000, said Demarest and his real estate listing agent, Betty Lanum. Demarest, a 63-year-old Army veteran who takes pride in his house, said he can no longer afford to live in it. He said he makes only $1,900 a month on Social Security Disability Insurance. He wants out of Riviera Estates, now called Eagle MHC (for manufactured housing community). He put the house up for sale and plans to move in with family....

TEHAMA COUNTY, Calif. - The Tehama County Board of Supervisors is addressing rising concerns over ongoing rent increases in local mobile home parks. This issue has sparked significant attention from residents.

On Tuesday, the supervisors listened to a presentation based on surveys conducted last year among mobile home park residents. The surveys revealed that most residents are struggling with rent hikes, as there are no caps on rent increases within the county.

"My rent has now increased to 975 dollars as of yesterday; it was 593 dollars back in June. It was 875 dollars the day before yesterday," said John Adams, a resident of Tehama...

NOVATO, Calif. - The Marin Valley Mobile Country Club is a town within a town nestled in the hills above Novato, a haven for low-income seniors who are worried their haven is in real jeopardy. 

California's mostly merciless housing situation is especially hard on folks who worked their entire lives and want housing security as much as health.

As sunny it was on Wednesday, the Marin Valley Mobile Country Club’s 400 low-income senior citizens living in 315 permanent mobile homes, have been under a cloud of anxiety and fear for two years. 

"This is a retirement and this is an end of life story for many people. They come here to live out...

SACO (WGME) -- At least eight mobile home parks in Maine are raising monthly rents by $75 or more.

Tenants of Blue Haven Mobile Home Park in Saco just got their notices. They say the new rent hike is about five times higher than usual rent increases.

"This would be the second increase this year," Blue Haven Mobile Home Park resident Barb Thomas said.

She and Barbara Scorse are on disability, and like many Blue Haven mobile homeowners, they're on fixed incomes.

"We know 70-plus-year-old people in this park that from the last raise we had this year, had to go out and get part time jobs," Thomas said. "And now they're raising it another...