Mobile Home Park News Briefing

Back in August, Blue Haven residents were notified that in December their rent would go up for the second time this year, with no explanation from park owners as to why.

The increase is as high as $145 a month.

Residents like Sarah Giles-Gardner, who has a disability and is on a fixed income, said that hike is not sustainable.

“I just don't have enough money to be able to stay if it's just gonna be $145. It's too much. It's too much, I can't do it,” she said. “We need to fight back because this is not right.”

The rent increase was announced ahead of new laws meant to slow rent hikes going into effect, including one giving...

Lazy Wheels Mobile Home Park has been the bane of the city of Ceres for decades and now it’s soon to become history.

As of Nov. 1, residents were ordered to vacate the park, which abuts to the eastern flank of Highway 99 north of the Whitmore Avenue. Calabasas owner Anthony Nowaid said those who remain will be evicted.

City officials have made it clear to Nowaid that once the residents are gone, Lazy Wheels no longer exists as a mobile home park – and that it can’t ever be one again.

“The park is a mess, it needs to be cleaned up,” said Ceres City Manager Doug Dunford. “You can’t go in and put in a few boards and nails and things. It...

A day after being served papers in a federal lawsuit from mobile home park owners who say town regulations infringe on their property rights, Windsor town leaders sent a strong message to tenants and park owners alike: they’re not backing down.

In a unanimous vote, the Town Council extended an urgency ordinance that pauses any changes or closures to mobile home parks for 10 months and 15 days. The extra time will allow staff to update Windsor’s 30-year-old mobile home ordinance and “close any loopholes” that might exist, Town Planner Jennifer Sedna said.

The urgency ordinance stems from proposed changes at Evergreen Mobile Home Park,...

Sunnyvale resident Gail Rubino first moved into the El Dorado Mobile Home Park 15 years ago because it was the only way she could afford home ownership in Silicon Valley. She settled into the park and formed a community she could call her own. Now, she’s fighting to change a statewide bill that would make it easier to redevelop mobile homes in the city — potentially displacing thousands of residents.

Senate Bill 79, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, makes it easier for developers to build dense housing within a half-mile radius of public transit corridors without much say from local jurisdictions. It goes into effect in July.

State...

Mobile homes are a unique form of homeownership in that people own their homes but rent the land underneath them. In some parks in Pima County, particularly those with a master meter system where the park owner is the customer of a utility company, organizers have seen troubling reports of higher-than-average utility bills that have then led to evictions. 

Part 2 of a four-part documentary collaboration between Arizona Public Media and Arizona Luminaria, building on over a year of Luminaria’s coverage of heat and displacement in manufactured homes, looks at the story of Roseanne Aldama.

Aldama was evicted over a contested utility bill...

A shift occurred in the 1950s. Those with higher incomes bought houses, and eventually, mobile home communities cropped up throughout the country as places for people to park their mobile homes for months, years or permanently. Nowadays, mobile homes are more often called “manufactured homes.” They are assembled in factories and rarely move once they’ve been purchased and settled. In fact, more than 90% never move from their original site.

Today, around 20.6 million Americans live in a mobile or manufactured home. About one-third of mobile homes are in mobile home communities, where the residents usually own the home itself, but they rent...

Bell is moving forward with plans that could lead to the sale of two mobile home parks, prompting residents to demand answers about their futures.

The parks house approximately 350 families according to the 2018-2019 Bell Community Housing Authority annual report.

The city is appraising land and mobile homes at Florence Village and Bell Mobile Home parks and interviewing each resident. City Manager Michael L. Antwine said the process doesn’t mean Bell will sell the parks, but state law requires an approved relocation plan before the city can vote on a potential sale.

The city doesn’t expect to vote on a plan until January 2026.

Residents...

HIGHLANDS — The Borough of Highlands has announced they have reached an agreement with Scenic Highlands Owner, LLC, the redeveloper of the property formerly known as the Shadow Lawn Mobile Home Park off Route 36.

The official vote on the plan will be held at the Borough Council meeting Nov. 5 starting at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

Highlights of the project for the property, called Scenic Highlands, include a five-story building with 292 residential units, 44 of those which will be affordable, a clubhouse and other amenities. There will also be two below grade buildings for onsite parking, with courtyards.

The redeveloper will...

Rhode Island is facing a housing crisis, and the problem could become more acute as investment firms try to scoop up mobile home parks across the state. But the residents of these trailer parks aren’t always at the mercy of outside investors. Rhode Island law allows the residents to exercise a right of first refusal if they agree to purchase the trailer park themselves.

Portsmouth Town Councilor Sharlene Patton is leading an effort to convince the residents of Sunny Acres Trailer Park to band together and buy it. They’re receiving help from an organization called the Cooperative Development Institute. As reported by the Providence...

A wall of sequoias over 100 feet fall abuts a 25-unit mobile home park in Eastside Tacoma. Crows perch in their blue-green branches. Resident Viola Stewart, who has lived there nine years, enjoys watching the wind rustle the needles.

In August, residents of the Ohana Estates at 8211 E. McKinley Ave. learned that 59 giant sequoias might be cut down. The incident prompted them to mobilize. By January, the neighbors plan to start a co-op to buy the community from their landlord, thus ensuring their housing stays affordable and the trees remain cared for.

Owner Kelly Verduin told The News Tribune on Oct. 21 that she’s owned the property with...

Mobile home parks are temporarily restricted from raising lot rents in Saco.

The Saco City Council on Monday unanimously approved a moratorium on rent increases in mobile home parks, which was awarded by hearty applause from residents of a local mobile home park.

The issue came to the forefront after several residents from Blue Haven Mobile Home Park off Route One spoke out at City Council meetings, asking for the city’s assistance.

Councilor Phil Hatch thanked all the residents who came up to the podium to speak to the Council, share their stories and ask for help.

“As hard as it was, I want you to know how impactful that is,” he...

Last week, U.S. Rep Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, met with residents of an east Vancouver mobile home park who fear it will be sold out from under them.

Vista Del Rio has been on the market for $41 million since April 2024. That has created uncertainty for the 300 or so residents, all 55 and older, many of whom are on fixed incomes. Owners of mobile homes in Vancouver’s 16 parks are not protected from the sale of the land where they rent spaces for their units. The parks can be sold and used for another purpose, requiring the homes to be moved or demolished.

During the meeting, Vista Del Rio residents urged Perez to redefine...

Minnesota manufactured home park residents and lawmakers are speaking out against what they say are skyrocketing rents and unsafe living conditions.

At the Minnesota State Capitol Thursday, they placed the blame on out-of-state private equity firms that have been purchasing these communities in recent years.

State Sen. Liz Boldon and state Rep. Matt Norris, both Democrats, were authors of companion bills, introduced earlier this year, that would cap annual lot rent increases to 3% and give residents a chance to purchase the lot they live on.

"I had to go back to work after 30 years of hard work at UPS to afford my lot rent now," said Gwen...

Once seen as a symbol of independence and affordability, mobile home communities now face deadly heat, predatory management, inflated utility costs and few protections.

But over the last several years, a wave of organizing has risen that aims to address these issues and fill gaps in accountability. The goal: help make manufactured home communities in Pima County the thriving and affordable communities they could be.

Now a four-part documentary collaboration between Arizona Public Media and Arizona Luminaria, building on over a year of Luminaria’s coverage of heat and displacement in manufactured homes, investigates the hidden crises...

One of America’s most affordable paths to homeownership is slipping away.

At manufactured home parks – sometimes called trailer parks or mobile home parks – rents are rapidly rising due to large-scale buyouts by private equity firms.

Although private equity’s foray into the housing market is not new, the buyout of mobile home parks by investment firms is on the rise – with devastating consequences for residents. Over the past decade, rents in these parks have risen 45%, according to census data. Once a park is sold, the risk of eviction rises significantly in the following year.

I’m a poverty law attorney in Virginia, and many of my...

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 manufactured housing sector performed well during the second quarter, with occupancy holding at peak levels and asking rents continuing to rise. Demand for manufactured housing remains strong alongside elevated new supply shipments. Nearly 54,000 units were shipped across the country during the first six months of the year, marking the second highest first-half total of the past decade, surpassed only by levels recorded in 2022. Despite continued supply growth, occupancy conditions have remained stable since approaching 95.0% in early 2024. The current rate of 94.9% is up 10 basis points annually. This tight occupancy has allowed...

VANCOUVER, WA – On Wednesday, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03),visited the Vista Del Rio Mobile Home Community in Vancouver and met with residents to discuss the role manufactured homes can play in addressing the housing shortfall and building generational wealth. 

“Mobile and manufactured homes are one of the most cost-effective, achievable forms of affordable housing in our country and it’s one that is critical for seniors, people on fixed income and many veterans. More than 22 million Americans live in manufactured homes, but they have been largely neglected as a vehicle for building generational wealth and self-determination in...

Prices in Montauk’s “Best Kept Secret” are still making headlines. 

A $3.49 million mobile home just hit the market in East End’s Montauk Shores, a tony trailer park — long a crash pad for millionaires and even some billionaires — at the far reaches of the East End.

If sold at asking, the tiny oceanfront home would tie for the area’s most expensive price per square foot.

[VIDEO] The Quincy City Council approved an ordinance to add new regulations and standards for mobile home parks.

Mobile home park rents will be capped in the city of Camarillo — at least for the next six months.

The Camarillo City Council voted unanimously on Oct. 22 to temporarily block mobile home park owners from increasing parcel rents by more than 4.2% while the city works out the details for a potential permanent rent ordinance.

Mobile home park owners filed separate federal civil rights lawsuits Wednesday against the town of Windsor and the city of Petaluma, alleging municipal regulations governing park closures and rent increases illegally infringed on their property rights.

Members of the Ubaldi family own both Evergreen Mobile Estates in Windsor and Capri Mobile Villa in Petaluma, as well as four additional parks in Sonoma County and more than a dozen others in California.

They are challenging a recent temporary moratorium on park closures in Windsor and rules in Petaluma that block ownership from raising or negotiating higher rents in certain...

EAGLE, Idaho — Residents of a Treasure Valley mobile home park made state history Saturday by forming Idaho's first tenant union, with an overwhelming majority of households joining in what organizers are calling a "supermajority fighting tenant union."

The Treasure Valley Tenants Union announced that 84% of occupied households at Elevate Eagle Mobile Home Community (formerly Riviera Estates Mobile Home Park) have signed union cards to bargain collectively with their landlord, including at least 32 of 38 units. The launch took place at 3:15 p.m. at the park, located at 1298 Artesian Road in Eagle.

The union is seeking negotiations...

IOWA CITY — Utah-based Havenpark Communities, owner of mobile home parks across Johnson County, has agreed to an in-person meeting with the Johnson County Board of Supervisors.

Earlier this month, the board requested an in-person public meeting with Havenpark, after months of letters back and forth between the two entities.

Johnson County Residents United, a group that advocates for safe conditions in mobile home parks, has voiced concerns over rent increases, questionable water quality and poor park maintenance at Havenpark-owned properties. The group also has pushed for a two-year rent increase moratorium, but Havenpark has not...

The Michigan Manufactured Housing Association (MMHA) filed a complaint last week in Macomb County Circuit Court against the City of Warren, building director Kirk Rehn, and building inspector John Impellizzeri.

The complaint alleges the city and members of the building department are operating outside state statutes governing manufactured home communities and willfully and deliberately blocking or slowing down improvements at various mobile home communities around the city.