A bill capping lot rent increases for manufactured home owners passed in the Delaware House on Tuesday, albeit with some notable updates since it was heard in committee.
Last year, the General Assembly voted to tie lot rent increases in manufactured home parks to the consumer price index – a move lawmakers believed would prevent overwhelming year-over-year rent increases.
But when inflation rose to above six percent earlier this year, manufactured homeowners — generally low-income or on fixed incomes — saw rents rise at unprecedented rates.
State Rep. Valerie Longhurst says a panicked call from a constituent unable to afford rent pushed her to introduce a bill limiting landowners’ abilities to raise rents: if they increased rent more than five percent in a year, they would be barred from raising rents the following year.
The bill cleared committee, but Longhurst later amended it to address some landowners’ concerns.
“The original bill I had said they couldn’t raise it at all for a year," she explained, "but this bill says they can raise it by three percent to even it out.”
Nevertheless, House Republicans argue that placing additional constraints on manufactured home community owners could push parks out of business, placing further strain on Delaware’s affordable housing supply.
“There hasn’t been a new community created since the 1990s," said state Rep. Richard Collins. "Since this activism began in the General Assembly a few years ago, approximately 12 communities have closed.”
Some manufactured home owners share those anxieties: if parks are driven out of business, residents would likely be left with no alternative housing options. While residents are entitled to the first right of offer to purchase bankrupt parks, few communities would have the resources to make an offer.
The bill would also require manufactured home park owners to provide the state with contact information for their corporate owners and local management – information often unavailable to lawmakers and residents.
The bill passed on a near-party line vote and now heads to the Senate.
