A man rides a bike through Cole Brown Estates in Eliot. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

ELIOT — Karen Avery expects the lot rent for her manufactured home at Cole Brown Estates to go up a little each year, but she was surprised by a recent notice that it will soon jump from $645 to $800.

That’s double what Avery and her husband were paying when they moved in seven years ago.

“It will mean rethinking how we’re going to be spending our money, and it’s definitely a hefty amount to be paying each month,” she said.

The 76-year-old retired special education teacher is among several residents at Cole Brown Estates, a manufactured housing community for those ages 55 and up, who were notified by the property owner last month that rents would be increasing to $800 per month starting in mid-September.

“Due to the recently passed — and pending — legislation in the state of Maine, I must raise the lot rent,” reads the letter from owner Russell Sylvester to residents.

The letter cites one law in particular, LD 1723, as factoring into the rent increase.

“Under this law, future rent increases will be severely limited, even if the cost of services continues to rise,” Sylvester’s letter states.

Residents at other mobile home parks in Sabattus, Ogunquit, Mechanic Falls and Waterville have also received letters or been told by park owners that new legislation is a reason their rents are being raised.

But that law, which will take effect Sept. 24, doesn’t keep park owners from increasing rents, and state officials said it’s likely being misinterpreted.

Greg Payne, senior adviser for housing policy in the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, said Tuesday that his office has been made aware of misinformation or misunderstandings about the requirements of LD 1723, as well as concerns that it has prompted some mobile home park owners to increase rents.

“The (office) is working with the Manufactured Housing Association of Maine and other stakeholders to address this problem and ensure their members and others have an accurate understanding of the law,” Payne said in a written statement. “We will continue to closely monitor this unfortunate development affecting mobile home parks, which are a critical source of affordable housing in Maine.”

BILL SPONSOR: ‘IT’S SAD FOR ME’

Lawmakers who worked on LD 1723 and another new law related to mobile homes, LD 1765, also have heard concerns about new laws being cited as a reason for rent increases and expressed frustration with the reaction from park owners.

Owners are not always specific in communications with residents about which laws they say are impacting them, but the executive director of the Manufactured Housing Association of Maine said owners were particularly concerned this past legislative session with the original versions of those bills, both of which would have implemented rent control. Although mobile home owners own houses, they must rent or lease the land.

The bills came amid a flurry of activity from lawmakers aiming to preserve the affordability of mobile home parks. In addition to LD 1723 and LD 1765, lawmakers this year also passed LD 1145, which gives mobile home residents “the right of first refusal” when their parks go up for sale, and LD 1016, which established a permanent fund to assist mobile home owners in purchasing their parks.

Rep. Cheryl Golek, D-Harpswell, the sponsor of LD 1723, said she introduced the bill out of concern for people who were struggling to pay their lot rents and getting priced out of parks.

The version that passed requires owners to provide 90 days’ written notice of lot rent or fee increases, and establishes a process for residents to request mediation if the increase is more than the Consumer Price Index plus 1%. While owners are required by the new law to act in good faith, they are not prevented from moving forward with an increase.

Golek said she has heard of a couple cases of park owners citing the law in rent increases and said it “feels like an excuse” to raise rents.

“It’s sad for me because all this bill has done is try and stop some of the bleeding from the rent gouging that has been displacing people around the state for a while,” she said.

Sylvester, the owner of Cole Brown Estates, argued that his “hands are tied” under the new law, and said that if residents ask to go to mediation over a rent increase, it could cost him thousands of dollars. He also took issue with the law requiring the owner to pay for all mediation costs.

“It’s a lopsided thing,” he said. “It’s aimed at the owners and aimed at controlling rent.”

Julie Ann Smith, executive director of the Manufactured Housing Association of Maine, agreed that while LD 1723 doesn’t implement rent control as originally proposed, it still places restrictions on owners.

“While there isn’t a direct limit, there’s still a concern,” she said.

Smith said park owners generally felt unheard by lawmakers in the last legislative session and are fearful that future legislation will only further restrict their ability to raise rents.

“We were not successful in really having legislators listen to us,” she said. “We had a lot of community owners who reached out to their legislator and the response was essentially, ‘We are so concerned about the residents. We are not concerned about the businesses.’ And that is where you’re now seeing the rent increases. … It’s about the fact that all these community owners are terrified of what the Legislature is going to do next.”

“If I want to live here, I got to pay it,” David Baker said about the increase in rent he will pay to live at Cole Brown Estates in Eliot. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

SEVERAL PARK OWNERS CITE LAW

Park owners in other communities outside of Eliot are also citing new legislation as the reason for lot rent increases. Rep. Cassie Julia, D-Waterville, the sponsor of LD 1765, shared with the Press Herald an email from a staff member at RCM Property Management, which oversees Countryside Mobile Home Park and Pooler’s Parkway in Waterville, in which they said the owners raise rent every year but “raised it so much this year because of the new law that just passed on mobile home parks.”

Residents were notified in June that lot rents would increase to $600 per month in September — an increase of $100 from a year ago. The Waterville City Council has since voted to approve a six-month moratorium on lot rent increases following concern from residents.

A woman who answered the phone at RCM Property Management said management did not want to comment on the rent increases.

LD 1765 as passed requires park operators to submit additional information to the state to get licensed, directs the state to develop a model rent stabilization ordinance for manufactured housing communities for municipalities to use and has the state compile other information on how to preserve mobile home affordability to present to the Legislature.

Julia said she did not have further information from RCM on which law they were referring to, but said she felt like their citation of the law was retaliatory. She also said park owners were given opportunities to weigh in on the bills during the legislative process.

“We’re not looking to take away the ability of the owners to make money or provide a good setting for people to live in,” Julia said. “We’re just trying to create a fair situation for residents. If they were in a traditional home or an apartment, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation because laws would already exist to protect them.”

The Press Herald also obtained copies of recent notices issued by Maple Hill Estates in Mechanic Falls and Riverbrook Estates in Ogunquit citing legislation in connection with rent increases.

“The governor has signed a law that intends to limit the rent increase amounts and frequency, which prohibits our ability to not only complete future capital projects, but also reduces our ability to maintain the property day to day to a level that keeps it a respectable and well-maintained community,” reads the Maple Hill Estates notice.

A voicemail message and email to Maple Hill Estates were not returned Tuesday, and an owner of Riverbrook Estates declined to comment.

One resident at Riverbrook Estates who did not want to be named said the owner has rescinded the rent increase after learning more about the law.

Residents at Begin Estates in Sabattus also told the Sun Journal in June that they had received notices of rent increases citing rising costs in insurance, utilities and taxes as well as new legislation.

HUGE INCREASE OR REASONABLE?

Avery, the resident at Cole Brown Estates, said she understands the need to periodically raise the rent, but said the current increase is a lot. She said she felt like her park’s owner might be “jumping the gun” after she read the law and received a letter that Rep. Michele Meyer, D-Eliot, sent to residents reacting to the rent increase and seeking to clarify for them what the new law does.

“I feel like the law is being used to have this huge increase,” said Avery.

Karen Avery and her husband have a home on land they rent at Cole Brown Estates in Eliot. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

David Baker, another resident at Cole Brown Estates, said he was under the impression that the new law will limit the amount the owner can raise rent, even though LD 1723 does not require owners to abide by the outcome of the mediation it requires.

“They’re going to do what they have to do, and if I want to live here, I have to pay it,” he said.

Baker, 85, said he’ll be able to manage the increase, but not everyone can.

“I’m not happy with it,” he said. “I won’t go out for lunch as much as I do.”

Sylvester, the park owner, said he feels like lawmakers took a blanket approach with LD 1723 when they should have focused their legislation on large investors that are taking over parks and rent gouging.

“That’s probably what this is aimed at, but it’s hurting places like Cole Brown Estates who have always had a nice community with reasonable rent,” he said. 

Meyer shared a copy of the letter she sent to residents with the Press Herald, in which she said Sylvester’s notice did not accurately represent LD 1723 and she hoped he would reconsider the rent increases. He said he doesn’t plan to do so.

Since he sent the rent increase notice to residents, Sylvester said he was notified by a vendor that provides services to the park of an increase in prices, which he said is another reason the rent increase is needed.

“I feel comfortable with what I’ve done,” he said.