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Mobile Home Park News Briefing

LancasterOnline: Benefit concert set Sunday for residents of closing Warwick Twp. mobile home park

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Residents of Plateau Village mobile home park, which is set to close at the end of the year, are pulling together for a benefit concert this weekend.

The event will take place 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Barn at Stoner Commons, 605 Granite Run Drive in Manheim Township. All proceeds will go to residents of the manufactured home community for adults age 55 and over.

Four local bands are donating their services to the benefit: Winged Victory, Keri Edwards Band, Band of Llamas and Nicks In Time, a Stevie Nicks tribute band. The event will also feature Plateau Village residents telling their personal stories.

Nicks In Time lead vocalist...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

And another park bites the dust.

WLRN: Little Havana trailer park residents want more time, more money before being forced to move

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The soon-to-be-removed residents of the Silver Court Trailer Park know they can't stay — they're just asking for more time to pack up and leave the homes they've owned for decades.

This past March, mobile home owners at the park in Little Havana were notified by the park owner, Zan Marquis, of California-based Marquis Property Company, that the land would be redeveloped and the residents had six months to vacate the premises. The owner has not said what the park will be redeveloped into, nor has the property been rezoned for a new use as yet.

"I've lived in Silver Court for 25 years," 68-year-old park resident Victoria Diaz told WLRN in...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

And another park bites the dust.

Prism: Mobile home closures grow in Miami as residents face displacement

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For nearly a decade, Teresa Lezama built a life at Silver Court Trailer Park in Miami.

She paid roughly $55,000 for her trailer home on park property, where she raised her family. The park where she rents land for her trailer was quiet, affordable, and stable, one of the few places left in Miami where working-class residents could realistically afford to live.

As of March 11, she said, all of that is slipping away.

“They left a notice on the door saying we had to move out,” Lezama told Prism, referencing a letter from The Urban Group, a real estate consulting firm acting on behalf of park owner 1989 Sunny Court LLC. “It affected me a lot....

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

And another park bites the dust. And another. And another. And another.

Aspen Public Radio: Community effort to help residents buy Cavern Springs Mobile Home Park could inform regional strategy, but challenges remain

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Local residents, nonprofits, governments and private donors are once again rallying together to help a for-sale mobile home park become a resident-owned community. If the purchase is successful, Cavern Springs Mobile Home Park — located in unincorporated Garfield County along Highway 82 between Carbondale and Glenwood Springs — would be the fourth park in the Roaring Fork Valley over the past year to transition to resident ownership.

Residents of mobile home parks often own their homes but rent the land underneath from a private landlord, leaving them vulnerable to displacement if owners redevelop or raise...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

To meet the full sale price and fund potential infrastructure updates, residents and their nonprofit partners need loan financing from several lenders, including the Impact Development Fund — a regional Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that provides flexible loans for affordable housing — and Boulder-based nonprofit Thistle Community Housing.

When you buy a mobile home park, most lending falls into a 10-year note which needs to be renewed at least two more times to full maturity. Look at the complexity of the above loan construction and tell me how that’s going to work 5 or 10 years from now. No way that loan’s going to be renewed. Then the park goes back on the market. Pretty stupid, right?

But even dumber is the concept that 98 households can buy a park for $23 million – that’s right, over $200,000 per space – and not have the rents go up exponentially to service that loan. These folks are going to have the same lot rent hikes whether they buy the park or a real company does.

wunc news: Cary's affordable housing options shrink as mobile home park sale uproots 140 households

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For decades, the mobile home park known as Chatham Estates was an oasis of affordability off of East Chatham Street, one that allowed working-class families to live and work in the heart of Cary.

Today, it's a patchwork of empty lots, leftover debris, and homes torn from the ground. Residents have until June 30 to move out to make room for a housing development slated for the 27-acre lot.

Mexican immigrant Angelina Zúñiga will leave the community after 30 years of living in the trailas, as the mobile homes are referred to informally in Spanish.

"I've had a whole life here," said Zuniga, 62, in Spanish. "Three years ago they told us that...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

And another park bites the dust.

ClickOnDetroit: Redford Township mobile home residents given 30-45 days to leave amid safety concerns

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REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Residents of Long’s Mobile Home Court on Plymouth Road are facing a tight deadline to find new housing after Redford Township — now owner of the property — says infrastructure failures and unsafe living conditions have made the site uninhabitable.

Township officials say residents have 30 to 45 days to leave following recent court action and eviction notices served to the park. For many residents who have called Long’s home for years, the news has been devastating.

“Half of us haven’t even been sleeping. We don’t know what to do anymore,” said Lori Gauthier, a resident of the park. “You know I just started to get...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

And another park bites the dust.

Live 5 News: Ferndale mobile home residents get more time, $70K relocation help after deal with new owner

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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — After weeks of organizing, residents at Ferndale Mobile Home Park in North Charleston have reached an agreement with the property’s new owner, New Tide LLC, that provides more time and added relocation support as families prepare to leave the community.

Residents were initially told they had to vacate the park by May 31 after the land was sold to New Tide LLC, a deadline that many said was impossible to meet given the high cost and logistics of moving a mobile home. Families say they were offered incentives such as $1,000 for those who relocated by the deadline, but said that amount fell far short of what...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

And another park bites the dust.

Pennsylvania DCED: Governor Shapiro Calls for Reform to Protect Pennsylvanians Living in Manufactured Home Communities from Greedy Out-of-State Management Companies During Visit to Berks County Neighborhood

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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...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

It’s interesting to note that Shapiro has removed “rent control” from these new bills he wants to pass. That’s simply because the Pennsylvania Senate is staunchly Republican and his initial “rent control” bill died a year ago. Rent control is a dead issue in Pennsylvania and everyone with any intelligence already knows that.

As for the “greedy out-of-state” nonsense, it’s important to point out that Shapiro is from Kansas City and, therefore, is an “out-of-state” Governor, if you want to get technical about it. He’s out stumping to bring more industry to Pennsylvania at the same time he’s criticizing “out-of-state” ownership. Pretty hypocritical, huh? Modern politicians will say anything – even what they don’t believe in – for votes.

Maine Beacon: Sanford moves to protect mobile home residents from predatory rent hikes. Will other Maine cities follow?

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Sanford City Council voted Tuesday to cap rent increases at manufactured housing parks after months of organizing by mobile home residents.

The ordinance passed 6-1 and limits rent increases to once per year. It also caps rent hikes at either 3% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

The next paragraph begins by explaining what the measure will do, but the indexed copy cuts off there.

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

Raising rents in-line with inflation and market forces now means “predatory rent hikes” in Maine. Even if you’re half of apartment rents. And a tenth of single-family homes. You see, Maine can’t decide if it’s part of Cuba or not – they are geography challenged. Just look at the lunatic they have running for U.S. Senate and you have to wonder if the lobster is tainted.

Crested Butte News: Town shouldn’t speed up gentrifying the commercial zone and trailer park

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It feels sometimes like we are living in plan-a-paloozaville. As tidal waves of change descend on the North Valley, it is certainly better to be prepared than not, but the number of words coming out of CB planning documents that started with Crested Butte’s Community Compass a couple years ago is setting tsunami records.
The Crested Butte town council packets put together for their meetings held every two weeks are not light and airy reading. Jam-packed with words, graphics and information, I am not sure anyone (okay, besides the mayor) can read and absorb every piece of info in those packets. I used to, but it’s getting harder and...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

Why not? Gentrification is a byproduct of progress in property values, which creates more tax base and a higher quality of life. What a stupid article. 

Bozeman Vintage: 'Act of good faith': Tenants union calls off rent strike, eyes better future with new mobile home parks owners

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Three weeks after authorizing a historic rent strike, the residents of King Arthur Park and Mountain Meadows Estate voted to call it off in hopes of building a better rapport with the mobile home parks’ new owners.

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

Come on, they gave up because they were being evicted, not because they suddenly saw an apparition of a dove landing on their polycart – what a bunch of crap. As I said from the beginning on this story, Montana recognizes no such thing as a “tenant union” and all that was going to happen was that they were all going to be evicted as a group. Then reality set in, they saw that single-family homes in Bozeman are around $600,000, and the socialist party was over.

Bangor Daily News: Hancock mobile home park residents are fighting rent hikes from multinational owner

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Residents of a Hancock mobile home park say their property’s out-of-state, multinational corporate owners are steadily pricing them out of a once-affordable community.

The publicly traded corporation Sun Communities, which markets itself as one of the world’s largest real estate investment trusts, acquired Hancock Heights Mobile Home Park — a 113-site property about 10 minutes east of Ellsworth on Route 1 — about five years ago.

Since then, residents say the corporation has raised rents excessively and neglected the park’s maintenance, creating water and sewage problems that compound the financial strain on residents,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

Apparently, the new thing – even more “evil” than private equity groups – are “multinational” owners. Never mind the fact that Walmart, Amazon and Apple are all “multinational”. To Maine residents, anyone with more revenue than a lemonade stand is “evil” by definition. Considering their disastrously weak economy, is this perhaps just a case of sour grapes?

ABC News 4: Ferndale mobile home community left with little options after being forced to relocate

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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Residents of a North Charleston mobile home park say they are being forced out after the property was sold, leaving many scrambling to relocate with little time or financial support.

Tenants at the Ferndale mobile home community said they received notices in March informing them they must vacate the property by May 31. Several residents said the sudden timeline caught them off guard.

“They could have told us, ‘Hey, this is coming.’ We didn’t get that,” said resident Bruce Ford. “If they had contacted us early and offered more money, offered more time, everything would have worked out smoothly. Most of the...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

And another park bites the dust.

Missoulian: Katoonah Lodges: Tenants of another Missoula mobile home park unionize after rent hikes

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The residents of yet another mobile home park near Missoula have formed a tenants union after their landlord, an out-of-state private equity firm, raised rents twice in the last year and a half.

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

I know the concept of unionizing the whole world is exciting to woke morons, but there’s absolutely nothing in Montana law that recognizes the concept of a “tenant union”. If you don’t pay your rent, you get evicted. It’s a red state. Please take this woke nonsense back to the blue states where it belongs.

Concord Monitor: 'Fighting for the park': Hopkinton housing park residents turn to Attorney General after new owner increases rent

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Lori Fournier calls her three-bedroom home at Meadows of Hopkinton her utopia.

In the six years since she moved in, she has remodeled the manufactured home to be everything she ever wanted, even installing an ADA-compliant walk-in shower to accommodate her disability.

But after Sado Parks, a Michigan-based investment firm, purchased the housing park in December, Fournier, 57, finds herself in a position she never anticipated — planning to sell.

“I love living here, I’d live here until I die,” she said, as her voice cracked under the emotion of it all. “But I think it’s going to be a contentious relationship with this owner, and that’s my...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

Manufactured housing has long been viewed as … a good way for seniors to keep costs down in their later years. But high lot rents, especially in investor-owned communities, are making that promise riskier.

Mobile home parks are not non-profits and their mission is not to suppress rents to keep seniors happy but to maximize the value of their investment. Why in the world are mobile home parks always singled out as the ONLY thing in life that you shouldn’t raise prices at? Filling up my gas tank has doubled since the Iran war, yet I don’t see any articles saying that gas companies need to suppress their market pricing – nor food, utilities, insurance or taxes. Why the double-standard?

Ilhan Omar: U.S. Representatives Ilhan Omar, Chris Pappas, Senator Shaheen Introduce Bill to Tackle Manufactured Housing Evictions

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) reintroduced the Frank Adelmann Manufactured Housing Community Sustainability Act, which would incentivize manufactured home park owners to sell the park to community residents or nonprofits, rather than another developer or landlord. Rep. Omar is joined by Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH) in co-leading this legislation. Companion legislation is being introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

“Manufactured homeowners deserve the same stability, dignity, and protection as any other homeowner,” said Congresswoman Omar. “Too many families who own their homes are still...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

I guess these folks have been reading this weekly news offering as I’ve been proposing giving tax incentives to not redevelop mobile home parks for years. But they screwed this up. By only giving a tax incentive on selling to the tenants, you are basically wasting everyone’s energy as the residents only are able to put together those deals maybe .000001% of the time (just look at the stats). Park owners have no issues with selling to the tenants, but the tenants have big issues with raising the down payment and obtaining financing, and their failure rate is worse than Kamala’s sobriety testing.

DCED: Governor Shapiro Calls for Reform to Protect Pennsylvanians Living in Manufactured Home Communities from Greedy Out-of-State Management Companies During Visit to Berks County Neighborhood

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There are 56,000 Pennsylvania households in manufactured homes and thousands have been subjected to significant increases to their monthly lot rent in recent years.

In his budget address last month, Governor Shapiro called on the legislature to pass legislation limiting lot rent increases for manufactured homeowners.

Governor Shapiro’s visit to Douglass Village highlighted his budget proposal and his Housing Action Plan to meet Pennsylvania’s housing needs and make housing more affordable.

Douglassville, PA – Today, Governor Josh Shapiro visited a manufactured housing community in Berks County to call for reform to protect Pennsylvanians...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

Does anyone remember when Shapiro gave these same speeches about two years ago, which then resulted in the Pennsylvania House passing rent control only to have the Senate reject it? Well, he’s hoping you don’t remember that because THERE IS ZERO CHANCE THAT A REPUBLICAN PENNSYLVANIA SENATE IS GOING TO PASS RENT CONTROL. What’s happening is that Shapiro’s approval rating has plummeted because the woke voters are fed up with his inability to get them a bunch of socialist free stuff and he’s in panic mode and going back to playing his greatest hits collection. But it’s a TOTAL waste of time.

Post and Courier: A North Charleston mobile home park was sold to a developer. Residents ‘scramble’ to relocate.

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NORTH CHARLESTON — Over the last year, Bruce Ford has spent thousands of dollars on improvements to his mobile home where he has lived for 15 years and planned to stay for the long run.

He used his inheritance from his parents to invest $20,000 into the mobile home he owns, including a new roof and flooring, and a $3,000 porch so he can sit outside and enjoy the weather on nice days. Living at the Ferndale Mobile Home Park, he is only two miles away from North Charleston Elementary School where he works as a custodian.

“I truly believed this would be my home forever,” he said.

On March 25, Ford, along with residents living in the nearly...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

And another park bites the dust.

Click On Detroit: Warren manufactured housing community forms rare resident union to address quality of life concerns

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WARREN, Mich. – Manufactured housing residents at a Southeast Michigan community are taking the rare move and creating a resident-union. It comes after Local 4 reported on a series of stories about issues plaguing communities across the region.

“Join the resident-union. We will be there for you,” Mike Whitty, the director of the resident-union and Mr. Mike’s Neighborhood, said when reading a sign displayed in his front yard.

When you pull up to Whitty’s home at Lafayette Place in Warren, you’ll hear some old tunes and get that familiar wave.

His mission is simple.

“The service standpoint. Creating programs to be able to bring neighbors...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

They believe it’s the first union of its kind. Residents can register online or with Mike for $40 per family every year.

Hmmm, “Mike” charges $40 per year to join his “union”. Sounds like this is more of money-maker for “Mike” than anything else. Here’s the problem: there’s no such thing as a “resident union” in Michigan. Here’s what AI says on this matter: There is no standalone, automatic “official” legal recognition or universal statutory rights for a housing resident/tenant union under current Michigan state law”. Ouch. The only winner on this deal looks to be “Mike”.

WIFR: Riverview residents voice fears over proposed RV park that could displace them

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ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Residents at Riverview Mobile Home Park gathered Saturday morning with Rockford city leaders hoping for answers about a proposal that could eventually replace their neighborhood with an RV park.

Emotions surfaced throughout the meeting as residents voiced fears about affordability, housing availability and uncertainty surrounding what happens next if the proposal moves forward.

“I’m 68 years old. I shouldn’t be going through all this,” one resident told city leaders during the discussion.

Rockford City Council Alderpeople Gabrielle Torina, Gina Meeks, Dawn Granath and Aprel Prunty joined the meeting alongside...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

And another park bites the dust.

MontanaRightNow: Bozeman mobile home residents end rent strike, seek new lease terms

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BOZEMAN, Mont. — A rent strike at two Bozeman mobile home parks has ended as residents said they wanted to give the new owner a chance to work with them. 

Residents at Mountain Meadows and King Arthur mobile home parks voted to stop the strike over the weekend, according to union leaders. They said they took that step in good faith toward new owner Steve Martini of the California-based Cabrillo Management Corporation. 

Benjamin Moore, Mountain Meadows Tenant Union leader, said residents wanted to show they were open to working with the new ownership. 

“We're willing to give these new guys a chance. So, this is an olive branch...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

Boy, can I call them or what? There’s no such thing as a “rent strike” in a red state, just a bunch of delusional idiots facing eviction as a group. As soon as the process server shows up with the eviction notices, the “strike” came to an immediate end. It was not a hard prediction to make.

Missoulian: Cashing in: Across Montana, mobile home courts fall prey to out-of-state investors

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if you live in a mobile home community in Montana, you could easily come home one day to a piece of mail informing you that the land underneath your home has been sold.

And your new landlord is an out-of-state, private equity company looking to maximize profits for investors.

That's what happened to Brandi Hyatt and 60 of her neighbors in April. The Mobile City manufactured home community where they live near the Clark Fork River in Missoula was bought by a company called Axia Realty Partners, based in Texas. The news came out of nowhere.

"We were very much all caught off guard," she said. "We didn't even know it was for sale."

All...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

Yes, those out-of-state investors are just plain evil, all right. You know, because they … no wait they …… well, everybody knows they ….. OK, actually I guess they are not evil at all. This moronic narrative – beloved by young, woke journalists (and Luigi Mangione) – translates to their joint opinion that all “big” business is evil without grasping the fact that they represent 60% of the entire U.S. GDP. If you want to ban “big” business, then you’ll be losing McDonald’s, Taco Bell, pretty much every retail store, all car dealerships, most utility companies and virtually all tract home builders. You might miss those when you’re living in a tent down by the river.

I would also add that this new trend of young, woke, idiot journalists to promote socialist causes in red states is probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s as stupid as me going to a Nintendo convention carrying a sign denouncing video games.

CNS News: Novato seniors continue fight for ownership of mobile home park after decades of payments

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(VIDEO) Novato seniors continue fight for ownership of mobile home park after decades of payments
Kevin Ko reports.

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

And another park bites the dust – shortly.

Chicago Tribune: Effort to save Blue Island mobile home park culminates in demolished homes, unclear property plans

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Elisept Vanegas held her niece in a sidehug as they watched a bulldozer ram into their kitchen and bring down their front door. Their five children played in the grass, and one boy held his hand over his mouth, unblinking at the site.

Vanegas, who has lived at Forest View Mobile Home park for two years, stood at the culmination of a nearly yearlong effort to save the park after Blue Island officials ordered the property owners to evict residents, citing unsafe conditions, incorrect zoning, unpaid water debt and code violations.

As 66 homes are set to be demolished by the end of May, what’s next for the more than 15-acre parcel at 13800...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

And another park bites the dust.

Denver7: Boulder Co. mobile home neighbors push to buy $42.5M park before new owner prices them out

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BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Julie Heins only planned to live in San Lazaro mobile home park for a short time. Nearly 40 years later, it is still the place she calls home.

More than 800 people live in the Boulder County mobile home park, and many of them share that same deep connection to the community.

"I've lived here for about eight years," resident Wendy Kinal said. "There's just a really good neighborhood and family feel and I feel safe here."

Denver7's Claire Lavezzorio spoke to residents about their concerns in the video player below:

 

Fellow resident Susana Rodriguez echoed that sentiment.

"I'm very proud to live here," Rodriguez...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Frank Rolfe

… push to buy $42.5M park before new owner prices them out

Yes, it’s the same topic as the other article on this park, but I wanted to include it because it is built on the same fallacy. ANYBODY who buys this park is going to have to increase rents substantially BY VIRTUE OF ADDING THE PAYMENTS ON A $42.5 MILLION MORTGAGE! Whether the park is bought by Apollo (the private equity group), Apollo (the moon mission team from NASA), Apollo (the Greek god) or Apollo the non-profit (I’m sure there’s a non-profit somewhere by that name), they will all have the same mortgage to pay every month and will have to raise the lot rent equally high to support that reality. It’s simply called math – you know, that thing the schools no longer teach (and journalists flunked).