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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State Rep. Bob Freeman D-Northampton
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Freeman bill would require better notification to tenants of mobile home parks
HARRISBURG, July 15 – State Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Northampton, has introduced legislation to require better notification and protections for mobile home park residents upon the sale of the park for new development.
House Bill 2633, known as the Manufactured Home Community Rights Act, would amend current law by requiring manufactured home community owners when selling the community to provide written notice to residents within 30 days of any decision to close the community; give residents a minimum of 180 days to vacate the community upon notice to close; pay relocation expenses up to $4,000 for single and $6,000 for multi-section manufactured homes; pay a minimum of $2,500 or the appraised value of the home when the homeowner is unable or unwilling to relocate the home; and allow tenants to terminate any leases without penalty upon receiving notice to close the community.
"The Barbosa Trailer Park in Bethlehem Township went up for sale in 2006, and tenants were not given timely notification that would have given them adequate time to deal with finding alternative housing," Freeman said. "People were scrambling for housing. With the help of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, they were able to obtain assistance. Those residents should have received more timely notification that would have given them sufficient opportunity to find housing."
Freeman worked with Alan Jennings, executive director of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, to write legislation that would address the concerns of the tenants while being fair to former and new owners of those communities. Freeman also worked with the Pennsylvania Manufactured Housing Association, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, Regional Housing Legal Services and National Consumer Law Center, as well as some local advocates.
"We think we have crafted legislation that should be acceptable to all parties," Freeman said. "What is most important, however, is that no homeowner in these communities would ever be confronted again by the kind of turmoil that these folks had to deal with if my bill becomes law."
The legislation is before the House Urban Affairs Committee for review.
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