Senator Metzger Sponsors Bill to Protect Manufactured Home Owners from Excessive Rent Increases

(Albany, NY) State Senator Jen Metzger has introduced a bill to protect owners of mobile homes and other manufactured housing from unreasonable lot rent increases. In recent years, some mobile home lot owners have taken advantage of tenants, who do not own the land on which they place their homes, by implementing large rent increases which have resulted in loss of housing and homelessness. Metzger’s bill limits rent increases in manufactured home parks to the three-year average of inflation plus acceptable allowances.

There are few vacancies in manufactured home parks and relocating a manufactured home is expensive and difficult, leaving homeowners with little recourse in response to lot increases. Evictions in these cases may cause the homeowner to lose possession of their home due to the lack of alternative locations.

“Manufactured homes are an important affordable housing option, particularly for seniors and others living on a fixed income, and we must make sure that mobile home owners are protected from predatory practices and landlord harassment,” said Senator Metzger. “This bill would provide state oversight and grant tenants legal remedies to address unfair rent increases.”

This bill also addresses the nationwide trend of corporate, out-of-state real estate speculators purchasing manufactured home parks and raising rents to exorbitant rates, assessing additional fees and reducing services. This legislation would curtail such practices in New York State.

"It's wonderful to know that Senator Jen Metzger and Assemblymember Didi Barrett are sponsoring legislation to keep our rents in check and are working on our behalf," stated Paula Frumkin a Loch Sheldrake resident and member of MHAction, a manufactured housing advocacy group. "As a manufactured homeowner living in the Foxcroft Community, we know all too well the harm done by the corporate takeover of manufactured housing communities. Too many of us are seeing the rents we pay for the land our homes sit on escalate to unaffordable levels while these same greedy corporate investors neglect needed infrastructure improvements. This legislation will ensure that manufactured housing remains affordable, safe, and accessible.”

The bill was introduced in the Assembly by Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, who represents the 106th District in the mid-Hudson region.

Jen Metzger represents the 42nd Senate District, which includes all of Sullivan County and parts of Delaware, Orange, and Ulster Counties. Senator Metzger serves as Chair of the Agriculture Committee and sits on the Environmental Conservation, Education, Health, Energy and Telecommunications, Local Government, Women’s Issues, Domestic Animal Welfare, and Legislative Commission on Rural Resources Committees.
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