Rapidly rising rents in local manufactured-home parks have driven some residents to fight back, which included a recent trip to the state Capitol to press their legislative representatives to take action on their behalf.
On Sept. 25 Royal Villas residents Kathy Elliott and Pat Bishop, Eldorado Villas resident Rita Loberger and King Village resident John Spencer, who together represented about 540 homes in the three parks, met with Sen. Aaron Woods (D-District 13), and Reps. Ben Bowman (D-District 25) and Courtney Neron (D-District 26) at their Capitol offices’ conference room for a half-hour to discuss the issue.
All the parks are owned by Cal-Am Properties, which owns eight parks in Oregon, and the group explained that they own their homes but rent the land under them and are subject to large rent increases every year.
Last spring the residents held two town hall meetings about the rent increases – one in April at Eldorado Villas and one in May at Royal Villas with the three legislators in attendance.
“I have lived there almost 25 years, and historically the rent would go up $10 or $20 a month once a year,” Loberger said. “We also have to pay for water and sewer and garbage.”
Spencer added, “The past three or four years the increase has been 9.3 percent on average. King Village is for all ages, but a lot of the residents are retired and on fixed incomes. Many of them are already spending 50 percent of their income on rent. I own my home free and clear now, but it would be harder for me to sell with the projected increases in monthly rent.”
Loberger explained that if someone can’t pay their rent, they are foreclosed on, and if they move, the property is considered abandoned, and Cal-Am sells it for a profit.
“Every year, people have to move out,” Elliott said. “They are buying RVs and moving from park to park. The next stop is the curb. At the rate we are going, in 10 years we will have to pay over $3,000. For people on Social Security, this is just mind-blowing.”
Spencer added, “This is happening around the country. Other communities are facing this problem. Mom-and-pop (manufactured-home park) operations are being bought out by investors. Unless you hire an attorney, you can’t stand up to them.
“This creates such insecurity in all of us. Many people are in a vulnerable situation where one change in their situation could force them out. If you’re on a fixed income, your rent should be a percentage of your income.”
The group presented the legislators with about 600 letters written by residents of the three parks requesting action on a cap on their annual rent raises.
Spencer read one of the letters that stated that the current rent cap is about 10 percent, “which will cause more of us to lose our homes, or we won’t be able to sell them,” he read, adding about his own situation: “I qualified to buy a home when I moved in, but I couldn’t qualify right now to buy a home because the requirement is for your income to be three times the monthly rent.
“This is supposed to be the last-affordable option, but it no longer is. My entire life savings is in my home.”
The three legislators did a lot of listening during the meeting, and Neron said, “There is a need for more legal assistance, and we’re looking at a number of people in the state that could be helped. We’re trying to figure out the next step.”
Loberger explained, “We are a community, we are individuals, and some of these rules are outlandish. I have lived here 23 years. I love it, I love my home, I love my neighbors.”
Neron’s Chief of Staff Marcella Martinson reported that there is a work group working with stakeholders on lowering the rental cap for mobile-home parks and marinas.
Elliott suggested that maybe there should be one rate cap for people on Social Security and a higher cap for people who are still working. “We are looking at a 10 percent increase next year,” she said. “We’ve already seen the notice. And they won’t let us have a roommate to split the costs.”
Bowman noted that the three legislators sent Cal-Am a two-page letter in June with numerous questions about the large increases in rents – 8.9 percent in 2022, 10.3 in 2023 and 8.7 percent in 2024 with a planned increase of 9 percent in 2025 – plus impractical inspection requests, requiring residents to do their own water testing, plumbing problems due to “the very old infrastructure of the parks,” and use of Roundup, which may be a carcinogen, in dog parks and along sidewalks without a notice posted.
“We have not heard back from them,” Neron said, and Bowman added, “I’m so sorry you are going through this. This is not acceptable… We will work together on legislation and introduce a bill during the next legislative session… You have struck a nerve.”
This is a statewide issue, and if people in other areas are interested in getting involved in this effort, they may call Elliott at 1-440-552-4136 or their state representatives and senators.
