Marilyn Moore

Senator Moore Leads Senate Passage Of Bill On Purchase Of Mobile Home Parks

Today, state Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport), Senate Chair of the Housing Committee, led passage of a bill that enhances the ability of mobile home residents to purchase mobile home park land. Currently, Connecticut law gives park residents the right to organize and buy a mobile home park only if the park owner intends to close the park or to sell it to someone who is going to close the park. Senate Bill 988, ‘An Act Concerning The Purchase Of A Mobile Manufactured Home Park By Its Residents,’ expands this protection to the sale of a park even if there is no intention to close the park.

“Mobile home residents are uniquely vulnerable since they own their homes and are renters of the land,” said Sen. Moore. “If the land is sold they cannot pick up and move their home. Creating the availability of right of first refusal will give them the opportunity to organize an association to purchase the mobile park. It serves as a protection for anyone who lives in a mobile park and faces the possibility of someone purchasing the land. This is a basic and necessary protection.”

SB 988 will provide park residents with a right of first refusal to match an offer that to purchase the park that the owner is prepared to accept. It requires park owners who have received an offer to give residents 45 days (60 days for the first two years of the bill) to organize and notify them of their intent to attempt to match the offer. At least half of the residents who own mobile homes must sign on. By the 90th day after the notice, there must be a negotiated purchase and sale agreement. They then have an additional 90 days to obtain financing and close on the sale.

The process which would be established by this bill is similar to laws in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. There are at least 17 other states with laws that provide some mechanism by which park residents can attempt to purchase their park. Four of the five other New England states – Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island — have laws that specifically give residents an opportunity purchase a park when it is being sold.

Mobile home parks are licensed and regulated by the Department of Consumer Protection. Their characteristic is that the land is rented but, in most cases, the homes are owned by the renters. Mobile home parks are not campgrounds or RV parks. The homes are manufactured but are placed on a foundation and tethered to the ground. There are almost 200 mobile home parks in Connecticut with nearly 10,000 housing units.

Also, SB 988 will change the type of complex transactions so it’s not as difficult for residents to match. Now, a park can be paid for with stock in the buyer’s business, or a buyer may be purchasing multiple parks in a single deal. This creates a problem for residents matching the offer. Other states have solved this by requiring the seller to put a cash value on each park so that the park residents would have a chance to match it. SB988 gives the park residents a chance to work out a purchase arrangement with the park owner even if they cannot match the offer, but requires the owner give residents notice of the offer for a chance for them to make an offer without a right of first refusal. It otherwise retains the right of first refusal if a matching offer would be possible.