Bill Would Establish Mediation Process for Disputes Between Mobile Home Park Residents, Owners

At the request of area mobile home park residents, Rep. Nora Slawik introduced legislation this month that calls for a formal dispute resolution process for park owners and their residents when a violation of state law is alleged.

The bill, HF1430, would give manufactured home park owners and residents the opportunity to settle disputes through an administrative law judge at a lower cost than legal action. The legislation is needed, Slawik said, because in the past mobile home park residents have had no recourse when they’ve disagreed with decisions made by park owners.

“This legislation gives residents a continued voice with the owners when they may be unwilling to move forward on certain issues,” said Slawik (DFL-Maplewood).

Part of the reason a more formal system has become necessary, is that more and more manufactured home parks that were once owned by local families are being purchased by big, out-of-town corporations, said Paul Ruby a resident at Rolling Hills Mobile Home Community who has been working with Slawik on the legislation. This makes it harder to get park management to be responsive to residents' needs and requests, he said.

Ruby said he and his wife moved in to the park in 2003, in an effort to downsize and cut back on yard work. At that time, the park was still family-owned, he said, but in 2005 California-based Follett Investment Properties purchased it.

“In a situation where you’re in an apartment, you don’t like the deed holder, you just get up and leave,” he said. “In here, it doesn’t happen, because the cost to move a home like this—$10,000 to $12,000, a single-wide costs $5,000 to $6,000.”

A representative from Follett Investment Properties could not be reached for comment.

Ruby has organized a neighborhood group, and is even featured on a website, to advocate for specific issues in Rolling Hills—like rent increases, street sign changes and removal of a flagpole.

Ruby said he doesn’t want to be overly negative about his own park, because manufactured home residents all over the state—which has 900 mobile home parks—and country have similar issues. Because of this, the legislation addresses a systemic problem, rather than one isolated to just his neighborhood, he said.

Here’s what’s happened this past week with other bills authored or co-authored by your legislators:

Rep. Nora Slawik—Introduced a bill that would provide funding for voluntary all-day kindergarten. HF1503, introduced April 18.

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