CFED Assets & Opportunity Scorecard
Resident Ownership of Manufactured Housing Communities
Definition
States that have enacted legislation that promotes resident ownership of manufactured housing communities, December 2012.
Description
About 2.9 million manufactured homes are located in an estimated 50,000 manufactured home communities. Most of the families living in those communities own their homes but rent the ground beneath them, leaving them vulnerable to excessive rent hikes and even eviction if the land owner sells the land.
Through policies that promote resident ownership, owners of manufactured homes increase the likelihood of price appreciation and secure affordable homeownership for the community in the long run.
Strong state policy to promote resident ownership of manufactured housing communities has the following characteristics:
- Advance Notice of Community Sale: States should enact laws granting residents advance notice of the sale of a community for change of use or when it is about to be sold to another investor. The length of the notice period needs to be long enough to allow homeowners to prepare and submit a purchase offer for the community, which varies depending on local conditions, but 60 days is usually sufficient.
- Opportunity to Purchase: Manufactured homeowners should have an opportunity to purchase the community after they receive notice of the sale. Some states require the community owner to sell the community to the residents if they match the other offer. An alternative approach that has also proven effective is to require the community owner to consider any offer made by the residents and negotiate with them in good faith.
- Tax Incentives. States can also enact laws providing a tax incentive for landowners to sell the community to the homeowners.
- Strength of Protection against Sale of Park: Tax incentives and laws requiring advance notice and a purchase opportunity are weakened if they apply only in special circumstances, e.g., only when the community is being sold for a change in use, or only when the residents have already formed a resident association and sent a notice to the community owner. Protections against sale of park do not exist in many states, but where they do exist, they may range between medium strength and strong depending on the conditions in which they apply.
For more information and a complete resource guide on promoting resident ownership of manufactured housing communities, please visit CFED’s Manufactured Housing Advocacy Center and Toolkit.
Resident Ownership of Manufactured Housing Communities
| State | Is there a closure notice? | Is there a provision for opportunity to purchase? | Is there a tax incentive to sell to homeowners? | What is the strength of protection against sale of park? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No | No | No | No protection |
| Alaska | No | No | No | No protection |
| Arizona | No | No | No | No protection |
| Arkansas | No | No | No | No protection |
| California | Yes (30 days) | No | No | Medium 1 |
| Colorado | No | No | No | No protection |
| Connecticut | Yes (120 days) | Yes | No | Medium 2 |
| Delaware | Yes (60 days) 3 | Yes | No | Medium |
| District of Columbia | No | No | No | No protection |
| Florida | Yes (45 days) 4 | Yes | No | Medium 5 |
| Georgia | No | No | No | No protection |
| Hawaii | No | No | No | No protection |
| Idaho | Yes (15 days) 6 | No | No | Medium 1 |
| Illinois | No | No | No | No protection |
| Indiana | No | No | No | No protection |
| Iowa | No | No | No | No protection |
| Kansas | No | No | No | No protection |
| Kentucky | No | No | No | No protection |
| Louisiana | No | No | No | No protection |
| Maine | Yes (45 days) | No | No | Medium 2 |
| Maryland | No | No | No | No protection |
| Massachusetts | Yes (45 days) | Yes | No | Strong 7 |
| Michigan | No | No | No | No protection |
| Minnesota | Yes (45 days) | Yes | No | Medium 2 |
| Mississippi | No | No | No | No protection |
| Missouri | No | No | No | No protection |
| Montana | No | No | Yes | Medium |
| Nebraska | No | No | No | No protection |
| Nevada | Yes (10 to 30 days) 8 | No | No | Medium 1 |
| New Hampshire | Yes (60 days) | Yes | No | Strong |
| New Jersey | Yes (45 to 60 days) | Yes | No | Medium 2 |
| New Mexico | No | No | No | No protection |
| New York | Yes (120 days) | Yes | No | Medium 2 |
| North Carolina | No | No | Yes | Medium |
| North Dakota | No | No | No | No protection |
| Ohio | No | No | No | No protection |
| Oklahoma | No | No | No | No protection |
| Oregon | Yes (10 days) | Yes | Yes | Medium 1 |
| Pennsylvania | No | No | No | No protection |
| Rhode Island | Yes (45 days) | Yes | Yes | Medium 1 |
| South Carolina | No | No | No | No protection |
| South Dakota | No | No | No | No protection |
| Tennessee | No | No | No | No protection |
| Texas | No | No | No | No protection |
| Utah | No | No | No | No protection |
| Vermont | Yes (45 days) | Yes | Yes | Medium |
| Virginia | No | No | No | No protection |
| Washington | Yes (14 days) 9 | Yes | Yes | Medium |
| West Virginia | No | No | No | No protection |
| Wisconsin | No | No | No | No protection |
| Wyoming | No | No | No | No protection |
Source
Manufactured Housing Resource Guide: Promoting Resident Ownership of Communities. Washington, DC: CFED and National Consumer Law Center, 2012.
Footnotes
1. Notice is required only if resident association meets certain requirements and sends notice to community owner.
2. Protections apply only in case of change of use.
3. Residents have 30 days to respond to an offer and an additional 30 days to agree to a sales contract.
4. If community owner is changing use, must give residents 45 days to sign and deliver a contract to purchase the community.
5. Community owner who receives third-party offer must give notice but there is no waiting period.
6. Notice must be provided within 15 days after entering into a listing agreement.
7. In some circumstances (where community owner receives third-party offer that will not result in change in use), notice is required only if resident association has sent notice to community owner.
8. Notice must be provided within 10 to 30 days before community is listed for sale.
9. Notice must be provided within 14 days after multiple listing, public notice, or advertisement.
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