CBJ Newsmakers: Advocates fight for manufactured housing rights against Havenpark Communities

Controversy overshadows mobile home ‘compromise’ legislation

December 27, 2022

This story is a part of the CBJ’s Newsmakers edition. This year-end wrap-up from the staff of the Corridor Business Journal is a compilation of the year’s most noteworthy articles and projects, as told through stories that appeared in the bi-weekly issues of the CBJ. This story was originally published in Feb. 2022. Candi Evans bought […]

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This story is a part of the CBJ’s Newsmakers edition. This year-end wrap-up from the staff of the Corridor Business Journal is a compilation of the year’s most noteworthy articles and projects, as told through stories that appeared in the bi-weekly issues of the CBJ. This story was originally published in Feb. 2022.

Candi Evans bought her mobile home with her husband in 1998. The two, hoping to put roots down for years to come, built a family room addition — primarily by themselves with help from a contractor — where they did the installation, woodworking, sanding and staining. Her husband died in 2002. Ms. Evans worked until she was 70 to ensure she was debt-free and didn’t have to “be a burden on anybody.” Then, finally able to retire on a fixed income, she stopped working in January 2019. By the end of March 2019, she received a notice on her door: Golf View Mobile Home Park (MHP) had sold to Utah-based Havenpark Communities just a few weeks prior and raised rent by 61%. Havenpark is one of many private equity companies following a proven business model with a simple playbook — buy mobile home (or manufactured housing) parks for a premium from mom-and-pop owners. Kevin Borden, executive director of MHAction, says they then increase the rent to unprecedented levels, collect punitive fees, separate utilities like garbage, sewer and water from lot rent and evict residents who cannot keep up. This increases the value of the land, allowing ambitious MHP owners to bank the passive income or invest it in a nearby MHP elsewhere. Like most mobile home residents, Ms. Evans owns her home but not the land underneath, leaving her financial investment susceptible to outside interests — and skyrocketing rent prices — that are out of her control. Ms. Evans reached out to other homeowners, advocate groups and anyone who would listen. But for several years, state legislation that included rent justification for lot price increases, longer notice times and good-cause evictions stalled and eventually fizzled out despite bipartisan support and constant pressure from mobile homeowners.

Havenpark’s business strategy

Havenpark bought Golfview for $12.3 million. At the time, the land was assessed at just $5.28 million. Havenpark states that many previous owners deliberately keep rent low out of “altruistic intent” for long-time residents in most situations. Havenpark says mom-and-pop owners don’t sufficiently invest back into improving the park. This has unintended consequences until deferred maintenance is addressed. Since 2019, Ms. Evan’s monthly rent has increased by $205. In an email to the CBJ, Havenpark said they acknowledged their mistake of excessively large rent increases and no longer raise rents by more than $50 at a time. However, like other MHP owners, they say that keeping rent at a “market rate” is the only way to combat “rising operating costs and general inflation” and still make community improvements. Mr. Borden believes this practice is an example of a large corporation engaging in land speculation deals. “They’re overvaluing the land that they’re purchasing, which makes the current community owner much more open to sell,” he said. “And then they’re making up that difference for their shareholders by increasing rents exponentially.” He says Havenpark is only attempting to justify “a nebulous reality of fair market rents” with “voodoo economics” while owners boast about staggering profit margins in investment schools. On a now-defunct page on Havenpark’s website, the company says tenant turnover is “minimal since it is difficult and costly for tenants to move their homes.” “The strategy is to trap your money source,” said Assistant Attorney General Ben Bellus. Mobile homeowners, he said, face a series of challenges because their homes aren’t actually mobile: It can cost up to $6,000 to $12,000 to move; some parks might require a resident to cut hitches or take off axles in a lease; older home models are virtually impossible to transport on a highway; and homes deteriorate over time. Havenpark insists they are looking to own MHPs for the long term. They say they have spent approximately $793,000 on community improvements at Golf View since 2019.

Current legislation

Three years after the notice on Ms. Evans’ door, Iowa’s state government is on the verge of passing legislation to increase the notification time for rent increases from 60 to 90 days, changing the presumption from retaliation period from six months to one year and making mobile homeowners exempt from property taxes. Critics of the compromise bill say the legislation doesn’t address the underlying concerns in a meaningful way. The barrier to getting better protections for residents passed is the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association (IMHA), said State Representative Lindsay James, D-Dubuque. “It continues to shock me the outsized influence that special interests lobbying groups have in shaping our laws.” In a statement to the CBJ, the IMHA supports the bills while emphasizing that government-imposed rent controls are bad public policy. When asked why there is no rent justification in the bills, sponsor Brian Lohse, R-Bondurant, said it’s tough to implement price controls on private companies, especially with rising land prices and property taxes.

NEWSMAKERS UPDATE

More residents join organizing efforts

While residents at Havenpark-owned manufactured housing parks (MHPs) have expressed disapproval of their corporate landlords before, tenants at Modern Manor, Sunrise Village and Lake Ridge are experiencing their first months under new leadership. And like those before them, Modern Manor residents aren’t happy with the changes. For long-time advocates, the concerns are the same. “The struggles of the Modern Manor residents are déjà vu for those of us who have been living through this,” said Candi Evans, a lead organizer against Havenpark. Prior to Havenpark purchasing Modern Manor in January, the previous owner abruptly raised the rent $35 in December, ended cable on Christmas and eventually terminated snow removal, lawn mowing and weed eating services. The sudden changes, and Havenpark’s silence on eliminating out-of-pocket expenses to keep the park affordable for all, led tenants to call a press conference Oct. 26. The goal? Bring attention to what residents see as a direct threat to affordability and to request a meeting with the owners in-person. “Many residents are elderly and on fixed incomes, unable to increase their incomes due to age or disabling health conditions,” a news release said. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law minor modifications to Iowa’s MHP law in May, giving residents a longer notice for rent increases among several other changes. But Ms. Evans believes the bill was largely symbolic in nature. “The little they did was more harmful than helpful,” she said, pointing to a new list of provisions that makes it easier for landlords to evict. Havenpark held a closed door meeting with residents Nov. 17, according to Iowa Public Radio. It was closed to the press.

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Havenpark’s business strategy

Current legislation

NEWSMAKERS UPDATE

More residents join organizing efforts

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