The fight to preserve affordable housing continues.

We’ve all seen rents and the cost of homes go up in the past few years. We’ve seen the impacts on our communities, too, as long-time residents get pushed out by high prices. Many older Mainers, low-income families, and veterans live in mobile and manufactured home communities, which are some of the last truly affordable housing options in our state.

Preserving affordable housing has always been one of my priorities in the Legislature. This year, my colleagues and I have focused on housing in mobile home and manufactured home communities. There have been several good bills trying to give residents a leg up against investors who want to buy parks and increase rents. Let me highlight a few of my favorites and share what they can do for us.

One of my bills is “An Act to Establish the Manufactured Housing Community and Mobile Home Park Preservation and Assistance Fund,” LD 1016. This bill would encourage park owners to sell to residents, municipal affordable housing authorities, or local small businesses. It would also provide a stable funding source for the fund that supports park purchases by residents.  LD 1016 requires investors with net worths of over $50 million — which are often profit-seeking out-of-state private equity firms — to pay a $10,000 per lot fee into the Manufactured Housing Community and Mobile Home Park Preservation and Assistance Fund. Over 440 units have already been preserved using this fund, and giving it sustainable funding could help even more Mainers access stable, affordable housing. 

Another bill I’ve sponsored on this subject is “An Act to Encourage Resident-owned Communities and Preserve Affordable Housing Through Tax Deductions,” LD 554. This legislation would use tax deductions, instead of a fee, to make it more attractive to sell a mobile home community to a resident cooperative or affordable housing provider. As of writing, LD 1016 is on the Governor’s desk and LD 554 is being considered for funding. 

A few of my colleagues’ bills will also help give mobile home community residents a fighting chance to own the land under their homes. LD 1145 from Sen. Tim Nangle will create a right of first refusal for residents to match a third-party offer to purchase the park they live in, providing them with the ability to control their future housing costs while ensuring that sellers receive the full market value of their property. Sen. Donna Bailey’s bill, LD 1768, would eliminate the real estate transfer tax on sales of mobile home parks when the buyers are the residents themselves. Similar to my LD 554, this would help make selling a park to its residents more attractive. 

The Legislature has given initial approval to all of these bills, demonstrating our commitment to ensuring Mainers have access to stable, affordable housing. I’m proud to stand with mobile home communities across the state. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or my office if you have questions about this or other legislation, or if you need help accessing state government resources. You can email me at Cameron.Reny@legislature.maine.gov or call my office at (207) 287-1515. I also encourage you to sign up to receive my regular legislative updates at www.mainesenate.org.