Mobile Home Park News Briefing

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Daily Breeze: Carson Imperial Avalon’s remaining residents to have cases heard individually

Preview:

A court-appointed special master on Tuesday, Dec. 12, will begin hearing the individual cases of Carson’s mobile home owners who live at the soon-to-be-demolished Imperial Avalon Mobile Estates, who say the property owner hasn’t offered them fair relocation packages.

The residents, who are set to be evicted to make way for a massive mixed-use development, have until Tuesday to decide whether they want the special master to adjudicate their cases.

A special master is usually an individual appointed by a judge to hear evidence on their behalf and offer recommendations to resolve a case.

It’s unclear when the adjudication process will...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Another park being torn down for a new and better use of the land. And, in this case, the residents are suing claiming that they want more relocation money and freebies. Maybe they should have been as aggressive about pushing the owner to charge higher rents so they would not be cut loose?

Spectrum Local News: State law aims to protect owners of mobile homes

Preview:

Celebrating at home with family is a holiday theme this time of the year, but some New Yorkers are increasingly in jeopardy of losing their homes, according to New York state lawmakers.

As the housing crisis in New York continues unabated, one demographic is being unexpectedly targeted by developers.

Pre-existing infrastructure for water and sewer and cleared acreage at trailer and mobile home parks makes them an attractive acquisition for developers.


What You Need To Know
  • Saratoga County has the most trailer parks in New York state
  • Long Island and Saratoga County are seeing a surge in developers acquiring manufactured home...
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Our thoughts on this story:

Here’s the Cliff Notes version of this article:

“As the housing crisis in New York continues unabated, one demographic is being unexpectedly targeted by developers. Pre-existing infrastructure for water and sewer and cleared acreage at trailer and mobile home parks makes them an attractive acquisition for any developer. Many New York manufactured homeowners have already lost their homes to developers, including a lot in Saratoga County and on Long Island. New York state elected officials say they’re seeing an increase in the development strategy, so they’re working to help give the homeowners some power through new legislation. Landowners cannot be prevented from selling. The new law means homeowners in the parks – most of them own their trailers and rent their spaces – now have the first right of refusal to purchase the land. So if the owner of the land wants to sell, residents can collaborate and match the purchase price."

Great fiction writing. Here’s the reality:

  • Only about .0001% of the time are the tenants successful in matching the price and closing on the deal.
  • The bureaucrats only added this meaningless law to appear like they have power, because they have none. Even though New York has rent control it has no power to block the sale of land.
  • In fact, it’s exactly the new rent control laws of New York that are causing park owners – in bulk – to redevelop into uses that are not rent controlled.

So how could the bureaucrats really help park residents if they wanted to? Simple:

  • Abolish rent control.
  • Stop harassing park owners who raise rents to meet market levels.
  • Offer tax incentives for those who sell and keep the park in operation as opposed to having it torn down.

Think this will ever happen? Are you kidding me – this is New York!

Wink: Residents worry after mobile home park goes up for sale

Preview:

People living in a mobile home park worked hard to rebuild from Hurricane Ian, but now they are worried they may be kicked out.

The Harmony Shores Mobile Home Park is being sold for about $25 million.

Just a few days ago, neighbors WINK spoke to said they came home to a notice on their doors.

A letter was sent to neighbors and clearly stated that nobody is being asked to move at this time, but it still has some residents on edge.

One neighbor WINK News spoke to has been in Harmony Shores for 26 years.

After Ian hit, she decided to repair her place like many others, but even the mobile home community still has no functioning street lights,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Watch the news story video – look at the condition of this property -- and tell me if anyone with an IQ higher than a lima bean would even remotely believe that this land is worth $25 million as a mobile home park use. Clearly, it’s going to be redeveloped into a better use, right? I am forever blown away that people have zero understanding of basic economics.

The Messenger News: Holidays Canceled for South Carolina Trailer Park Residents After New Property Owner Sends Eviction Notices

Preview:

amilies at a South Carolina mobile home park are reeling after the community's new owners suddenly told them they had only 30 days to vacate their properties — just in time for the holidays.

Neighbors at the Mustang Village Mobile Home Park in Greenville said they had to abandon their holiday plans after learning in early November that they needed to be out by Dec. 3. Some said that with nowhere to go, they could soon end up homeless, news station WYFF reported.

“No one was prepared to move, especially with funds for deposits and moving expenses," resident Anthony Thompson told the outlet. "We didn’t even do Thanksgiving just because of...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Another story about a mobile home park being torn down to make way for a more profitable use for the land, probably because the rents were ridiculously low. Predictably, the park owner is blamed for the demolition and the resulting “homelessness” – but also would have been equally blamed if they had raised the lot rents high enough to keep the park intact. There’s no winning with the American media today so why worry about it?

Northern California Public Media: Cotati joins ranks in tightening rules for mobile home parks

Preview:

When Cotati’s mayor Susan Harvey called the vote on the city’s new mobile home park rules, the response wasn’t one you normally expect to greet a new set of local regulations: applause.

"Any no's, any abstentions? Harvey asked. "Not seeing any, then that passes unanimously at its first reading," Harvey said to applause from the gallery in council chambers.

That round of applause is all thanks to some of the newest rules in the Cotati city code.

The 35-unit Countryside Mobile Home Park, on West Sierra Avenue, has long been designated seniors only by park rules, which require all residents be 55 and up.

Now, that senior-only status is...

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Our thoughts on this story:

More government and non-profit stupidity in action. Cotati, California is going to stop a park from changing from senior designation to all-age because they are afraid that having freedom of competition will force rents higher:

Concerned that an all-ages conversion could drive up rents if dual-income families were to move into the retirement-aged community, Countryside residents called on the city council to act before a state mandated six month grace period on the all-ages conversion expired in February, 2024.

Smart move. So now it’s pretty much guaranteed that the park will be torn down to make way for more profitable uses.

Willamette Week: City Commissioner Dan Ryan Made a Generous Offer for a Mobile Home Park. Now the Deal is in Jeopardy.

Preview:

One year ago, City Commissioner Dan Ryan promised a gift to the 11 families who live in a Southeast Portland mobile home park: The city would spend $3.5 million so a nonprofit could purchase the land beneath their homes and save the residents from displacement.

That was welcome news to the residents of Kelly Butte Place, located along Southeast 112th Avenue. Four years ago, a developer and the property’s future owner had pulled permits to construct 26 single-family houses on the 1.5 acres on which the manufactured homes stand. The residents own their homes but not the land under them.

A purchase using city dollars would eliminate that...

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Our thoughts on this story:

No, wait, not another misguided non-profit in action? This story pins the “stupid meter” in two key ways:

  1. The city thought that spending $3.5 million to save 11 mobile homes from being torn down was a great investment. I mean, that’s only around $300,000 per household to save a $3,000 dilapidated mobile home from demolition, right? In non-profit world that must be a great use of taxpayer money (assuming you’re a complete idiot) but do you really think that those 11 families would not prefer receiving $300,000 in cash each so they can go buy a brick home in a subdivision and get out of that old, high-density park?
  2. The genius at the city that offered the $3.5 million to mom and pop just found out that the park was only worth $1.5 million and they have been “had” to the tune of $2 million. Boy, I never saw that coming.

So now what do the virtue signalers at the city do? I’m sure the only solution is to go ahead and pay the $3.5 million and spend another $2 million to build a solar array to make it more environmentally sustainable.

KTVU: Petaluma mobile home park rent doubled, mistakenly set to auto-debit

Preview:

PETALUMA, Calif. - Seniors on fixed incomes who live at a Petaluma mobile home park said Monday they feel bullied, harassed and stressed by their landlord and ongoing threats to double their rents.

Without notice, residents at Youngstown Mobile Home Park off North McDowell Boulevard said they had a $923 increase to their monthly rents, showing up on the online payment portal the day before Thanksgiving.

"I thought it’s either gross incompetence or retaliation and best wishes for the holidays," said Mary Ruppenthal who has lived at the park since 1987. "To me that’s strictly harassment."

It’s the latest frustration for a group of...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Wow, same story as above and will probably have the same ending unless these city leaders have more common sense.

I love the way that – only on mobile home parks – raising rents becomes a part of a social agenda. Here’s what the quote in the article said from one resident:

"I don’t understand why they think they need so much money to live on when we have so little to live on”.

I had the same question once from a woke reporter at PBS who said “why do you have to raise rents – why can’t you lower them instead?”. My answer was simply that I was a business person and not a non-profit but if she or PBS would like to cover the difference in rent – as a charitable act – then I could work out a deal. I’ve still never heard from the reporter or PBS to take me up on that offer. Charity sounds great as long as you don’t have to pay for it, right?

Longmont Leader: County loans $1.1M for mobile home park purchase in Lafayette

Preview:

The Boulder County Commissioners have approved a 30-year forgivable loan of $1,055,000 in support of the purchase of the Mountain View Mobile Home Park located in Lafayette to help transition it to a resident-owned community.

The community’s residents founded La Luna Cooperative a year ago as part of a plan to purchase Mountain View after it was listed for sale in September 2022. The cooperative has obtained most of its financing for the acquisition of the property in the form of grants and low-interest loans that lower the total cost of purchasing the park.

In addition to Boulder County, the partnership also includes Thistle, a small...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The article fails to mention how many people live in this park (no doubt so you could not easily whip out your calculator and see what a monumental waste of money this non-profit inspired project was) so I did the research for you. Here’s the information on Mountain View Mobile Home Park. As you can see, it houses 34 trailers. When you see how many non-profits contributed to this deal you begin to realize why nobody wanted to identify the number of beneficiaries. Assuming they procured 80% LTV – and only counting the county’s contribution of $1 million as the total down payment -- then the park must have been purchased for around $5 million. At 34 total sites, that works out to $147,000 per household, and you know the actual number is probably closer to $200,000 when you add in all the extras from all the other non-profits. This then begs the question “is this really the best way to spend that money”? For example, they could have simply passed on buying the park and given each family $200,000 in cash and told them to go buy a nice brick house with no mortgage, a newer car free-and-clear, and have a happy life. But instead, they are going to force these folks to live in a highly dense 1960’s trailer park for the rest of their lives.

I promise you that not one single resident would have elected to stay if given the option of the money or their trailer. Shouldn’t they be given that choice in these transactions?

The Fresno Bee: Fresno leaders finally listen to mobile home park concerns, but it may be too late Read more at: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/marek-warszawski/article282190413.html#storylink=cpy

Preview:

Things are finally looking up for the remaining residents of a north Fresno mobile home park under the threat of closure by an unscrupulous owner with a cash register heart.

Whose entreats, up until recently, were largely ignored by the governmental powers-that-be.

Even if the changing tide didn’t arrive soon enough for people such as Patricia Shawn, who is being evicted at year’s end from the place she’s called home since 1998.

“It’s coming a little too late for some of us,” said Shawn, a 59-year-old IRS retiree living off $1,053 per month from disability and Social Security. “But at least my neighbors have a shot to stay.”

The...

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Our thoughts on this story:

First of all, I love the lack of bias from the woke reporter:

Fresno mobile home park under the threat of closure by an unscrupulous owner with a cash register heart.

Second of all, this is an article that is the perfect illustration of why Ronald Reagan once said “the nine scariest words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”. This owner offered to keep the park free from redevelopment at a $650 per month lot rent, which was more than reasonable. The city blocked him and told him it could not be more than $350. He warned them, the park would be demolished if they refused to listen to reason but they wouldn’t budge. And now it will be demolished and everyone in the park will be homeless.

Here's a quick look at Fresno housing prices looks like: $359,700 on the single-family home average and $1,330 per month apartment rent on the two-bedroom unit and $1,800 per month on the three-bedroom.

So, $650 looked like too much, huh? Interesting logic.

But don’t worry, residents of the park, those same bureaucrats are ensuring you’re going to get at least 12 months’ notice to move out.

Think the residents would have voted to raise the rent to $650 per month as opposed to their new position as being homeless in a market with $1,300 2-bedroom and $1,800 3-bedroom rents?

Tampa Bay Times: Florida seniors face eviction over mobile home community assessment dispute

Preview:

The community website urges potential residents to “elevate their life” by joining The Highlands at Scotland Yard, showing a well-manicured, 55 and above gated community featuring two swimming pools, walking trails, a fire pit and a community center nestled next to a lush public golf course just south of Dade City.

But many residents of the mobile home community, who own their homes but pay rent for their lots, aren’t so sure their life has been improved since the community’s new owner, Legacy Communities, arrived. Management sent out notices in August that they owe Legacy an additional $3,557.44 for unspecified “capital improvements.”

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Our thoughts on this story:

I know nothing about the facts of this case, but let’s face it, if you live in California or Florida and your rent is too low the odds are 99% your property will be redeveloped. If I was a resident in a CA or FL mobile home park my question to the owners would be “how high does the rent need to be so the park won’t be torn down?” Isn’t that just basic common sense?

The Press of Atlantic City: Middle Township mobile home park owners stuck in the middle

Preview:

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP — The cost of almost everything has risen steadily in recent years.

The price to rent a mobile or manufactured home in Middle Township may be a notable exception.

It’s not that the owners are not interested in raising rents. Instead, it appears they’re not allowed to.

The township has an ordinance that limits rent increases for mobile and manufactured home parks. The businesses can raise rents, but only within certain limits and with the approval of the township’s rent control board.

Trouble is, that board does not appear to be functioning.

“There hasn’t been a meeting for over a year,” said Scott Davis, the...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Looks like the same flight path as the earlier articles. When you fight lot rents going up even with CPI increases you are just asking for closure. Either these bureaucrats are completely incompetent or maybe their plan all along is just to get the parks torn down.

WVVA: Eviction notices sent to residents of Mercer County mobile home park

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MERCER COUNTY, W.Va. (WVVA) - As cold weather moves in, some mobile home park residents in Mercer County are being told to get out. Attorney Adam Wolfe with Mountain State Justice says 12 residents of the Maples Acres Estates mobile home park received eviction notices on Monday.

Wolfe says the mobile home park is owned by a man named Abraham Anderson who runs the mobile home park under ‘Diamond Field LLC’.

Wolfe says Mountain State Justice is taking action against the notices, filing motions for the eviction cases to be moved from magistrate court to circuit court where three lawsuits involving mobile home parks in the area are currently...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Ditto. Same story as all the earlier ones. Fighting higher rents = certain closure of the park.

Looks like construction companies will have plenty of work redeveloping former mobile home parks in 2024.

NH Business Review: Shaheen sponsors bill to support resident-owned manufactured housing communities

Preview:

When the Meredith Trailer Park was put up for sale decades ago, residents feared new ownership would mean the 13-home park would be torn down and redeveloped.

But instead of developers capitalizing on the lot, which was prime real estate along the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, a cooperative of park residents came together to purchase the land. Now, it’s the Meredith Center Cooperative the state’s first resident-owned manufactured housing community.

When residents purchased the park in 1984, their choice not only preserved their park but also laid the framework for an affordable housing model that has since boomed across the...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The same tired story of how resident-owned communities saved a 13-space trailer park from demolition and can do the same for all the other 44,000 parks in the U.S. There’s only one problem with this story: resident-owned cooperatives have only done around 300 parks total in decades of existence. That works out to a .0068% success ratio. At the current speed it will take them roughly 3,666 years to tackle the rest of the parks! That seems like a reasonable use of this much attention and discussion, right?

XL Country: Only $5.5M For This Montana Property. Hello New Skyrise? Only $5.5M For This Montana Property. Hello New Skyrise? Only $5.5M For This Montana Property. Hello New Skyrise? Read More: Only $5.5M For This Montana Property. Hello New Skyrise? | https://xlcountry.com/only-5-5m-for-this-montana-property-hello-new-skyrise/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

Preview:

It's really no surprise to anyone here in the area that have been looking at buying a house, renting an apartment or a townhome or even buying a small business, the prices are outrageous.

Recently listed by Realtor.com, you will find a trailer park off of East Griffin Dr. for $5.5 million. Now the big question is will it stay a trailer park? Or will some big company come in and purchase it and try and build high-end condos with skyrocketing prices?

At some point the people at Bozeman have to speak up about this. $5.5 million for a piece of land. Let's be real. The estimated monthly mortgage on this type of loan would be around $35k per...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This is a 31-space park in poor condition. At $5.5 million that works out to around $200,000 per space. So, yes, this park is going to be torn down as far as I can tell. Everyone has to remember that there are many different options for every tract of land and mobile home parks are only one of those. It’s perfectly natural for a piece of land to go through a progression of uses over time – just as many mobile home parks started off as producing farms and then RV parks with gas stations and then on to mobile home parks. When a mobile home park gets turned into a nice apartment complex or retail center it’s simply called “progress”. There’s no deeper meaning.

abc 7 Chicago: Blue Island mobile home park residents uncertain over future of water service

Preview:

BLUE ISLAND, Ill. (WLS) -- The future of the water service at a suburban mobile home park remains uncertain after residents found out it would be shut off due to the landlord not paying the city in full.

Forest View mobile home park resident Patricia Guzman said even though Thanksgiving is a few days away, it's hard to get into the holiday spirit.

"We're just on pins and needles," Guzman said. "We haven't slept right since this started two weeks ago."

That was when Guzman and other residents Blue Island mobile home park woke up to find red notices on their doors informing them their water would be shut off on November 20 and that it will...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The real moral of this article is not that the water bills were not paid by the “evil” park owner but simply that, once again, low rents = park closure. I’m sure the reason that mom and pop did not pay the water bill was that there was not enough money in the account to do so. And the only solution – as usual – is for a new buyer to come along and inject a huge amount of capital into the property to bring it back to life. Here’s what the attorney for the mom and pop owners had to say:

A deal is in the works for another company to buy Forest View, Gigante said. "They're prepared to invest over a million dollars into this park and upgrade it.”

Of course, you know the rest of the story. With the capital infusion and good financial prudence to make sure the property does not get into this situation again the rents should go up significantly. And then these same journalists will write scathing articles about how the new owner has ruined the lives of the residents because the rent is now still ridiculously cheap and not just insanely, unsustainably, ridiculously cheap.

You know that’s coming up soon.

WLRN: How Florida law fails to protect mobile home owners facing eviction

Preview:

Janie DeCoil shows up to court alone.

She’s representing herself in an eviction case over mobile home park rule violations.

She’s a spunky 70-year-old woman in a colorful top and bright-blue eyeshadow. Her gray mullet is pulled back at her shoulders.

DeCoil takes a seat across the aisle from the mobile home park’s owner and her attorney. Her table is bare except for the single, plastic folder filled with handwritten notes on her defense.

The hearing begins with an examination of DeCoil about the state of her yard.

“There’s a great deal of debris here, what is all of this?” the plaintiff’s attorney questioned.

Poring over more than a dozen...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This is the rule the tenant was evicted under and appears to have admitted they are guilty of:

That included Section E of the lot rental agreement that states, “no bottles, cans, equipment, tires, lumber or debris of any matter shall be stored outside or under the mobile home.”

That’s a pretty bad problem: having junk in your lot, right? Pretty big eyesore for the neighbors and hurts the quality of life for 99.9% of the residents. And they refused to clean it up after they were given every possible opportunity to do so.

But that doesn’t matter because all the author was looking for was some lame intro in order to do the zombie repetition trick with this quote that reads like the article above it:

“Most people that own the mobile home will be facing loss of the mobile home itself,” he said. DeCoil estimates her home was worth about $10,000. She said she tried selling her home, too, but a pending eviction was a black mark for buyers. Experts estimate the cost of relocating a mobile home can cost between $5,000 and $15,000. And that’s assuming it can be moved, Eviction Lab research specialist Jacob Haas said. “They're called mobile homes, but they're often very immobile," he said. "It can be really costly, or often an impossible, process to relocate a mobile home to another site.”

So if some woke writer can engage in the hypnotism scam, then I will respond in kind:

What about selling the home or having another park pay to move it? What about selling the home or having another park pay to move it? Have I mentioned selling it or having another park pay to move it?

What a bunch of idiots these media groups think you are.

The Daily Journal: Half Moon Bay moves toward rent control

Preview:

Rent control in Half Moon Bay could happen in the coming months, as four of five councilmembers and advocates want it to help low-income workers — amid some concerns from others that the action could be costly to implement and hurt new housing efforts.

Housing — particularly for lower-income, Latino and farmworker communities — has long been a crisis issue in Half Moon Bay. But proponents see rent control protections as one potential solution to alleviate high and oftentimes unpredictable costs of living for these communities, they said at a meeting Nov. 14.

“I work as a farmworker and community promoter. My husband works in...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This park manager – facing rent control – had a not too veiled opinion of the end result:

Vance Verderame, operating manager of Canada Cove mobile home park, spoke against the idea, explaining that Canada Cove maintains all infrastructure and amenities in the park and government regulation could upset this balance.

Here’s the translation: “If you pass this rent control we’re going to demolish this thing”.

Can you blame them?

Only in California …

Bluefield Daily Telegraph: Eviction notices sent to residents of Maple Acres Estates

Preview:

PRINCETON — Days before Thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas season, eviction notices were distributed to residents of a Mercer County mobile home park that has been fighting in court to keep their lot rents from going up dramatically.

Residents of Maple Acres Estates, a mobile home park off Maple Acres Road near the intersection of Maple Acres Road and New Hope Road, have been receiving eviction notices, attorney Adam Wolfe with Mountain State Justice, a nonprofit legal firm, said Tuesday.

“Our firm took action,” Wolfe said. “We filed motions in all those eviction cases in Maple Acres. As far as I know, they (representatives of...

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Our thoughts on this story:

OK, it’s pocket watch time again. Start swinging it side to side while you read this pile of nonsense:

“Diamond Field LLC (also referenced as defendant) purchased Maple Acres Estates in August 2022. In March Diamond Field issued notice to Maple Acres tenants of its intent to increase their lot rent from $170 to $299 … Diamond Field’s tactics coincide with a nationwide trend, in whcih predatory corporations hiding behind layers of shell companies purchase manufactured housing communities, then raise the lot rent and force mass evictions”

So let me get this straight. Park owners raise rents because they want to do mass evictions? That’s their business model? Where’s the money in that? And, of course, there isn’t. A good rent increase is one in which you lose not a single tenant. And you get there by offering a good value, which at $299 I’m sure it is.

OK, so now let’s get to the down-and-dirty truth. Diamond Field LLC appears to have taken a crazy, stupid ridiculously low rent of $170 per month and raised it to $299 which is still crazy, stupid and ridiculously low but a little less so. And I’m sure they did major improvements and started to enforce the park rules as part of the increase. And if we went to the park right now and knocked on any random door we would find that the residents are absolutely ecstatic with the improvements and have no problem paying the ridiculously low rent of $299 now that the park is nicer. But, as usual, one or two people who were living marginally in the park and having trouble paying $170 per month ran out and found a cheap attorney who filed a frivolous case since there is no rent control in West Virginia. In fact, if you read the preamble to the article, you’ll see that all the attorney accomplished was to file an appeal wanting to get the eviction case moved to a different court in order to buy the marginal folks a little more time before they pack up their pickup trucks and drive off. Big deal.

Was anyone hypnotized by this article and its repetitive mantra? If you have an IQ higher than a lima bean then probably not.

FOX13: Rent hikes, strict rules: Puyallup mobile home community feels taken advantage of

Preview:

PUYALLUP, Wash. - Astronomical rate hikes, some as much as 50 percent, have Puyallup mobile homeowners outraged. After feeling ignored by property owners, frustrated neighbors hope to take their case to the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.

Sandra Majors is moved to tears just thinking about what’s at stake here at the Cottonwood Mobile Home Park.

PUYALLUP, Wash. - Astronomical rate hikes, some as much as 50 percent, have Puyallup mobile homeowners outraged. After feeling ignored by property owners, frustrated neighbors hope to take their case to the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.

Sandra Majors is moved to tears...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Great quote from the park owner:

“While our aim is to preserve mobile home parks, Hurst and Son is not a low-income housing provider. At the same time, we want our communities to be mixed income, and we don’t want improvements to displace anyone. Many mobile home parks are at a crossroads, but that doesn’t have to be the future. If we looked at this as a private-public partnership, the state could allocate income assistance for those who are low-income while the private sector makes the required infrastructure improvements to sustain the communities as an attainable housing option."

The bottom line is that bringing old parks back to life is expensive and rents are going to go up and marginal residents are going to be displaced – and 99.9% of residents are going to be delighted by the improvements and happy to pay the higher rent. It’s either that or just tear the parks down and put up apartments which never seem to get any pushback on anything they do. It is NOT the park owner’s responsibility to provide for the marginal group that can’t afford to live in a modern world. That falls on the back of Section 8 which does a poor job of addressing the needs of the American public and has massive waiting lists. The government should not use private property owners as the backstop for their failure to do their job of offering housing assistance.

Montana Public Radio: Mobile home tenants win state Supreme Court case over lease termination

Preview:

Montana’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of mobile home park tenants, saying landlords cannot terminate their leases without cause.

The case grouped two suits where mobile homeowners sued their landlords for ending leases and providing them with only 30 days to vacate the lot. Many mobile home owners rent the land underneath their homes.

In a 6 to 2 vote, Montana’s Supreme Court ruled landlords must provide due cause for canceling a tenant’s lease.

Democratic Representative Johnathan Karlen brought legislation during the 2023 session to create a bill of rights for mobile homeowners.

"Unlike someone living in an apartment who can pack up...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Before the residents pop the cork on the champagne bottle over their “big win” they might want to read the decision. Having to give cause for a lease termination is not really that big a deal. Most park owners don’t like to do so because their attorneys tell them not to since it’s not required. But it’s not going to be that hard for those same park attorneys to come with standard reasons that allow the park owner to proceed without undue risk.

The key item that people are missing is that there is no financial incentive for park owners to terminate the lease of a paying customer who follows the rules. Never has been. The only type of tenant that would be terminated would be one that is a detriment to the general community. So effectively they are trying to ruin the lives of the 99.9% of residents who follow rules and pay rent and don’t want their neighbor having three pit bulls in the yard, two non-running vehicles and playing Van Halen at full volume at 3 AM. That’s why the Governor of Montana vetoed this idiocy to begin with, but now the court has once again overruled common sense.

GV Wire: Mobile Home Park Owner Sues Petaluma Over Closure Rules. Will Lawsuit Affect Fresno?

Preview:

On Thursday, the Fresno City Council will hear a request from Harmony Communities to shut down its La Hacienda Mobile Home Park.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit from a Petaluma mobile home park owner seeks to undo a law preventing the owner from selling a park there.

More than 100 cities throughout California have special rules for mobile home parks.

Many require park owners to conduct studies on how closing would affect residents. The owners then have to report how they would compensate residents for their lost homes. And, a closure impact report has to be approved by local officials before a park closes.

Officials look at mobile home parks...

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Our thoughts on this story:

You’ve got to love California. If you own a mobile home park there and simply want to sell it as land for redevelopment, here’s what the state says you have to do:

Many require park owners to conduct studies on how closing would affect residents. The owners then have to report how they would compensate residents for their lost homes. And, a closure impact report has to be approved by local officials before a park closes.

Wait – you might say – do they require this of any other landlord? And the answer, of course, is “no” and here’s why:

Officials look at mobile home parks differently than other forms of housing because people living there often own the homes but not the land. But because moving a mobile home can be expensive, residents often leave the trailers behind if the park closes.

Now here’s where I see this argument falling apart. When someone buys a mobile home it comes with the condition that it is on rented land and there’s no assurance that the land will always be a mobile home park. That’s the basics of the agreement. It’s a ground lease. Just like parking your car at the airport. And mobile homes are very cheap as a result (think $1,000 to $5,000 for used homes in many markets).

If park owners are forced to go through all of these insane requirements, then they will need to adjust their rents accordingly, right? If you have to basically act as the guardian of every tenant in perpetuity then that’s a service that’s pretty expensive. Kind of like if the parking lot has to offer 24/7 roadside assistance and free auto repair as part of the parking fee.

But even though park owners have this additional burden in California now, they can’t raise their rent to accommodate this insane request due to rent control.

Which is just one more reason that you may have to be insane to buy a park (or anything) in that state.

WBKO: Bowling Green man evicted from mobile home over alleged property manager bias

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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - Eddie Adler, a long-term tenant at Countryside Village Mobile Home Park, claims that he is being evicted due to the park’s property manager’s bias.

Adler owns his trailer and rents the plot that it sits on, and attempted to purchase another mobile home in the community for his son. After Adler collected the necessary funds, the individual selling the mobile home approached Countryside Village’s property manager, Marsha. It was then made clear that Adler was not welcome in his community.

“The lady at lot 58 went up to the office, and Marsha made the statement to them that, ‘I’m not gonna sell it to him because I...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Do you notice a new trend in this week’s news stories? It’s back to the media brainwash plan of having every article tie back to the same dubious conclusion and – with repetition – turn you into a zombie that surrenders and starts believing their nonsense. This story has the same conclusion as many this week:

“Asking someone that, due to circumstances, to move out of an apartment with their possessions is totally different than asking someone to move their home to a new location,” Richardson said.

There’s one big piece missing that the writers are hoping you’re too dumb to ask: what about selling the home before you abandon it?

When I was on the Freakonomics podcast recently (one of the largest in the U.S.) and this topic came up, the folks that produce the podcast cut that discussion out. So let me try to use the brainwash technique myself to hammer it home:

Mobile home tenants have the freedom to sell their mobile home. And the freedom to sell their mobile home. And have I mentioned they have the freedom to sell their mobile home?

Additionally, they have the freedom to move their home to another mobile home park and have that owner foot the bill (called an “organic” move).

So why do many mobile home owners simply abandon the home? Because they have bad planning and foresight and don’t even try to sell it or move it. And why don’t they care? Because they value the home at next to nothing, which is normally what they paid for it.

Only when the media comes by – or a pandering bureaucrat – does the home suddenly become highly valuable.

Shocking, huh?

The Coast news: Vista housing project draws criticism from nearby mobile home park residents

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VISTA — The Vista City Council approved a 38-unit townhome project off Sunset Drive this week despite major concerns among residents of an adjacent mobile home park about negative impacts on traffic and access.

The Sunset Drive Townhomes project proposes 38 two-story homes ranging from two to three bedrooms, split between 10 different buildings.

The 4.3-acre site near the Pavilion Shopping Center is divided into two parcels by the driveway to the Vista Green Valley Mobile Home Park, which abuts the property to the southwest. 

Leaders at Legacy Partners, the project developer, said the project will add needed homes to the area.

“We’re...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Ok, this is a first. Who ever heard of a bunch of mobile home park residents trying to criticize a fancy, new townhome project going in next door? But here’s what they had to say at the council meeting:

Residents said the project is too dense for the site.“For you to imply that it fits the area is ludicrous,” said Steve Harvey. “I believe we, the 155 residents in the park, deserve more consideration than just going forward with this project. On paper, it looks beautiful; in reality, it’s going to be a nightmare.”

Now take a look at the rendering for the project, then look at a normal mobile home park’s density and appearance, and you can easily see why the board immediately voted to approve the project.

This is one of the dumbest articles of 2023.

Trib Live: Flooding concerns contribute to rejection of plans to expand Plum mobile home park

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Concerns over floods that have damaged or destroyed homes in a Plum mobile home park factored heavily into borough officials rejecting a proposal to expand the park.

The borough’s zoning hearing board denied a request from Plum Creek MHC to add 21 manufactured home sites, for a total of 61 sites, to the property off Hulton Road.

The proposal also included upgrading the park’s utility infrastructure, road and lighting, and adding a park management office, new recreation space and a stormwater detention facility.

Plum officials and Holiday Park fire Chief James Sims, the borough’s emergency management coordinator, opposed the request....

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Our thoughts on this story:

Yeah, right. That’s the only reason that they rejected the expansion of the park – because hypothetically a flood would make the additional lots unsafe, even though such a flood has actually never occurred nor probably ever would? I’m pretty sure that this is what actually went on at the meeting behind the scenes, when the Board met before they went on stage:

Board Member #1: ”We need a really good reason to deny this trailer park expansion thing tonight. I’m thinking we go with the flooding idea.”

Board Member #2: “Are you sure? I really like the meteorite might hit the park excuse”.

Board Member #3: “Wait, I liked the potential forest fire one”.

Board Member #4: “I don’t care which one we use – let’s just get this thing denied quick because I don’t want to miss Monday Night Football”.

FOX 8: How Florida law fails to Euclid Beach mobile home residents concerned by earlier-than-expected demolitionprotect mobile home owners facing eviction

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CLEVELAND (WJW) — The partial demolition of a lakefront community is causing problems for people who can’t afford to leave.

Vacant units on the property are being torn down in advance of the summer 2024 deadline Euclid Beach residents were given to find another place to live.

Mystery illness sickens dogs — symptoms to look for

“It’s a tough situation because we have demolition going on all hours of the day 3, 4 o’clock in the morning, weekends,” said Anthony Beard, who has owned his mobile home for 17 years.

According to the Euclid Beach Neighborhood Plan, 28 acres of the property occupied by mobile homes will be converted to green...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The city/county is trying to clear out this dilapidated trailer park from the nice lake front to benefit the lives of thousands of community residents. It’s a no-brainer and the residents have zero chance of convincing any sane adult otherwise. Yet here’s what the media claims:

Community advocates said finding affordable housing, especially on the lakefront, remains difficult. “There’s just not a lot of good, affordable housing in the area that is suitable for folks,” said Josiah Quarles, the director of organizing and advocacy for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. “They have crafted a life for themselves that fits their needs and means and now they’re being tossed into a market that does not have a wealth of affordable housing.”

Fortunately, this drama is playing out with a municipal group and not a park owner. But it harkens back to the earlier article in which the media now thinks that all tenants somehow have the right to demand their landlord to be their legal guardian for life just because they paid rent at one time.