Iowa City manufactured home residents call for rent moratorium, access to clean, safe water

Johnson County manufactured home park residents are calling for a two-year moratorium on rent hikes, access to clean water and regular maintenance to residential grounds.

At a press conference Wednesday, the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition, Iowa Manufactured Home Residents Network and residents of Johnson County manufactured home parks gathered at Iowa City ReStore on south Scott Boulevard to address concerns they say have been ignored by Havenpark Communities, a Utah-based company that owns several manufactured home parks in the Iowa City area.

Since the private equity company started buying Iowa City manufactured home parks in 2019, some residents have seen their rent skyrocket as high as 61%.

“Lot rent 15 years ago was $375, covering essentials like cable, trash, water and yard services. It was actually beautiful when I first moved in. That was why I picked the place,” said Nicole Platz, resident of Modern Manor. “Since Havenpark took over, lot rent increased nearly 40%, yet most of those services have been eliminated (while) basic necessities like clean water remained ignored. Our clean water is a growing crisis.”

Ms. Platz said her dog passed away after developing calcified stones, attributing the condition to water quality, and she has had to replace three water heaters due to build up in the lines.

Water quality has suffered

Water quality has been a major issue for Johnson County residents in mobile home communities. In December, water at Lake Ridge Estates came out of the tap brown; this month, a written notice from the company warned residents not to use the water to make baby formula, because high levels of manganese were found.

“At Lake Ridge Estates, where a recent water sample detected elevated manganese levels, we quickly issued a notice to residents, provided bottled water, and took immediate steps to expedite a solution,” stated a letter addressed to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors from Havenpark.

“During a water disruption at Modern Manor, we distributed bottled water to residents and brought in temporary bathrooms. We also committed to reimbursing any resident who paid for a plumber or hotel room during the outage. We have distributed notifications to residents explaining how they should submit applicable receipts to the community manager,” the letter continued.

Jessica Andino, executive director of the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition, said the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center through the University of Iowa College of Public Health has provided funding to the Coalition to test tap water at manufactured housing parks.

“Currently, we are doing testing at five different parks in Johnson County, and it's a handful of samples at each of those parks on a monthly basis,” she said, adding that they test directly from the tap.

“The DNR tests the water on public water sources, but they only do it on a quarterly basis, and they don't do it at the homes,” she continued. “They only do it at the well for the original source site…but we know that the water systems have eroded underneath a lot of these parks, and it may be different [than] what they test at the well and what is coming out affecting the residents.”

Based on lab and antidote data, Lake Ride Estates seems to have the most issues with water quality, she said.

“We've had outages, though, at multiple parks, so it demonstrates a weak infrastructure – breaking parts, breaking pipes, things of that nature,” Ms. Andino said.

Out-of-state companies buying mobile home parks

Since Havenpark Communities – previously known as Havenpark Capital – began acquiring mobile home parks in Johnson County, residents say the company has steadily raised rents each year while slashing services and allowing park conditions to deteriorate – citing issues with street lighting, storm shelters, snow removal and tree trimming. Complaints from residents have grown louder as infrastructure issues pile up alongside rising costs.

“Every year we have an increase of fifty dollars, but we didn't have anything in return,” said Yasmin Morrell. “They took snow removal. We have to do our own (snow removal). They took everything – the cable, the grass (cutting),” adding that the lack of maintenance lowers property values and the rent increases, coupled with the lack of included utilities, puts a financial strain on residents.

In Johnson County, Havenpark owns Lake Ridge Estates, Modern Manor and Sunrise Village, adding West Branch Village to its portfolio in 2022. Critics have raised concerns about affordability, long-term stability, and predatory practices tied to out-of-state investors and private equity groups operating in affordable housing.

Companies like Mobile Home University teach ambitious entrepreneurs how to turn a profit with manufactured housing parks.

In a four-minute introductory video on the company’s home page, statistics on affordable housing for individuals falling into a lower-income bracket are cited, making a case for why manufactured housing parks are a lucrative investment.

“When the supply of anything is lower than the demand, the result is profit – if you own the asset,” the video says.

Citing the significant cost of moving a mobile home out of a park, the video continues, “so basically, nobody can ever move their home out of your park, and occupancy is always high. You only rent the land when you own a mobile home park, so there are no toilets to fix or issues like that. And the customers are relatively easy to please – they’re just happy to have a roof over their head.”

The video went on to say that returns on mobile homes are “very high,” normally 15-40% “cash-on-cash.”

In a 2022 interview with CBJ, Frank Rolfe – co-founder of Mobile Home University and owner of more than 250 communities in 25 states – was asked whether manufactured home park owners have a moral obligation to support tenants who can’t afford sudden rent hikes, especially when residents have no warning of corporate buyouts and few affordable housing alternatives.

“These are people who don’t like change,” Mr. Rolfe said, during the interview. “That’s what their argument is. ‘I like the McDonald’s value meal at 99 cents, and they’ve taken it away from me, and I’m mad.’ But everything in life changes… In other words, if someone can’t afford to live there because times change and time marches on, how is it their [the park owner’s] issue? It’s a parking lot.” Later during the interview, he added “We’re not supposed to be a social justice institution.”

Residents outline expectations

Members of Johnson County Residents United drafted a list of expectations for livable manufactured home communities, including:

• Safe, clean, drinking water
• Dated plans for fixing water infrastructure
• Safely lit streets
• ADA accessible storm shelters
• Tree and snow removal
• No rent increases for the next two years

“Increases in lot rents are unreasonable and have far outpaced inflation for several years in a row. They do not reflect improvements in park infrastructure and have instead coincided with deteriorating conditions and declines in maintenance service,” the expectations stated.

When reached for comment, Havenpark Communities emailed the following statement to the CBJ:

“Havenpark is proud to offer high-quality, affordable manufactured homes in desirable areas like Johnson County. The health and safety of our residents is our highest priority, and we work to ensure that our properties are always safe and well-maintained. We are committed to adding enduring value for current and future residents,” adding that the company has invested more than $2.1 million in upgrades and improvements with plans to invest an additional $1.2 million over the next 20 months in Sunrise Village, Modern Manor, and Lake Ridge Estates.

“We want our residents to be proud to call our communities home and welcome open communications at all times,” the email continued.

Expensive to move

For many residents, leaving just isn’t an easy option – mobile homes can cost up to $6,000 to $12,000 to move, and 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.

“I don’t even know where to start,” said Ms. Platz, when asked about barriers to moving. Her 30-year-old trailer cost thousands of dollars and though it’s paid off now, “I know it's a lot of money to move the trailer somewhere else,” she said. “I think I have to go through Modern Manor to even sell it…how easy is that going to be to do that? I'm ready, we're more than ready to get out of there, but I just don't even know how to start or where to begin. I'm almost kind of scared to – I love living there. I've been there for so long, and it's perfect for us.”

Unlike traditional tenant laws, Iowa Code Chapter 562B, which governs manufactured housing, offers few protections for residents, Ms. Andino said. There are “no guarantees” on rent increases, no caps on fees, and minimal requirements for park maintenance or on-site management.

“Manufactured housing has long served as one of the last accessible paths for ownership for low income and family workers,” she said. “When affordability is eroded and unchecked rent hikes and explorative management come to our door, our entire housing ecosystem suffers, deepening inequality and narrowing the range of truly affordable housing opportunities in our community.”

Iowa City council member Shawn Harmsen said the issue is one that is close to him personally – his mother resides in Golf View Mobile Home Park in North Liberty, one of the first manufactured home parks Havenpark bought.

“It's not just about affordable housing. It's affordable, safe, stable housing that people could own and build equity,” he said. “It hurts the residents the most, but it hurts the entire community when you take that away from the mix of housing in the entire community and the surrounding area. So everybody here loses, and the only people that win are the people that live in Utah or wherever these people and shareholders are.”

Johnson County Board of Supervisors draft letter

In May, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors drafted a letter to Havenpark Communities, urging the company to take immediate action on repairs and to place a moratorium on rent hikes while addressing deferred maintenance.

“I am deeply concerned about the conditions residents are reporting – inconsistent access to clean, safe water, inaccessible storm shelters, and steep rent hikes despite little to no upkeep,” supervisor Mandi Remington wrote the CBJ in an email. “Conditions in our manufactured home parks weren’t very good when I lived at Regency 17 years ago, and they seem to have declined significantly since then.

“While state law prevents us from regulating rent increases or enforcing minimum maintenance standards, the Board agreed we couldn’t stay silent,” she continued. “These are our neighbors and our constituents, and they deserve safe, stable homes. We’re urging Havenpark to take immediate action to enact a rent moratorium and work with residents to meet basic health and safety benchmarks.”

In the letter, the board urged Havenpark to take immediate action on several items, including the repair and cleaning of storm shelters and providing residents copies of the results of recent water testing.

“Johnson County is faced with a significant shortage of affordable housing. As mentioned above, these neighborhoods house many individuals with fixed incomes and/or low incomes,” the letter stated, in part. “It is our request that you instill a two-year lot rent moratorium while you work with residents to address these additional health and safety concerns.”

“To continue making community improvements and manage inflationary pressures, as well as projected property tax increases based on aggressive reassessments imposed by Johnson County of between 25% to 35% since last year, we anticipate annual rent increases at our properties,” Havenpark responded in a letter dated June 17. “We are proud to continue providing residents with attainable housing in the greater Iowa City area, where housing costs are rising across the board.”

Reiterating its investment of more than $2.1 million in recent upgrades, with plans to spend another $1.2 million over the next 20 months, Havenpark’s letter mentioned improvement plans that include a new playground, road upgrades and landscaping. Upcoming projects will add new lighting, street resurfacing, and continued tree maintenance.

At Sunrise and Modern Manor, “we will invest an additional $745,000 to upgrade community lighting, continue tree maintenance, and resurface several internal streets and driveways,” the letter stated. Lake Ridge Estates will see “another $455,000 to upgrade community lighting, install internal signage, continue tree maintenance, and resurface internal streets.”