Out-of-State Investors Buying Up More Mobile Home Parks

Over 20 percent of mobile home parks in Maine are owned by out-of-state investors, reports Zara Norman of Bangor Daily News, sparking affordability concerns among residents and housing advocates.

“Long ago, these parks were generally owned by the family owners who built them. Many of those owners are hitting retirement age and selling to corporate investors eager to scoop up some of the last bastions of affordable living,” Norman explains. “Almost always, they immediately increase lot fees on the residents that typically own their homes and steadily raise rent thereafter. New parks are almost never built, keeping rents high.”

While the parks are an attractive investment for owners, these tactics put residents — many of whom are elderly and on a fixed income — at risk of eviction and homelessness. A growing movement to put ownership into the hands of mobile home park residents seeks to combat these risks through cooperatively owned parks, but residents who want to purchase the land they live on often come up against challenges with loan financing. Some states, like New York, have passed legislation to protect residents and allow mortgages and mortgage pool insurance for manufactured homes.