A manufactured home community in North Adams, Massachusetts, has experienced some roadblocks in trying to raise their own site rent $40 per month in order to make needed improvements. Wheel Estates was purchased by the tenants in 2013, with the help of ROC USA, as was reported here in the article linked here.
The property is managed by a democratically elected board of directors voted in by homeowners, according to their website.
Last fall, their Association voted to apply for a rent increase — up from the current $349 per month — based on “what we needed to run the park in the coming year with all the increases in electricity and the sewer and water [fees] and other utilities that were going up,” Sandra Overlock, president of the Tenants Association, said. “We all agreed that in order to run the park and pay the bills we have to pay, we need to increase the rent,” she explained.
The Berkshire Eagle tells MHProNews that at a recent meeting of the Tenants Association, Rent Control Board Chairman Wayne Wilkinson asked the Tenants Association to withdraw its request. “Right now we don’t have enough information to be able to pursue this petition,” Wilkinson said, adding that if the association didn’t withdraw the request “you’re probably going to be an unhappy camper” when the hearings are complete.
Wilkinson warned Overlock and Tenants Association Vice President Jesse Martinez that their application should be based on the previous year of expenses, not what increases are anticipated. The Tenants Association only provided 10 months of prior expenses, Wilkinson noted.
Rent Control Board Vice Chairman James Morocco also pointed out that rent increases based on capital expenditures should be applied for separately. The increase was partly to pay for “a water project that we have to finish in the cul-de-sacs in the other part of the park in the spring,” Overlock said. Once a project is paid for and taken out of the park’s budget, it would have to be subtracted from the rent, according to Wilkinson.
The project is intended to reduce water line breaks, according to Martinez, and was not covered under a recently completed $1.1 million capital improvement investment.
Wilkinson questioned increases in fees and a 10 percent rise in employee costs in the community’s budget, in addition to being puzzled by the layout of the park’s expenses. “Nothing in your petition matches up to your expenses in any way shape or form because they’re based on two different timeframes,” Wilkinson said.
Rent Control Board Vice Chairman James Morocco also pointed out that rent increases based on capital expenditures should be applied for separately. The increase was partly to pay for “a water project that we have to finish in the cul-de-sacs in the other part of the park in the spring,” Overlock said. Once a project is paid for and taken out of the park’s budget, it would have to be subtracted from the rent, according to Wilkinson.
The project is intended to reduce water line breaks, according to Martinez, and was not covered under a recently completed $1.1 million capital improvement investment.
Wilkinson questioned increases in fees and a 10 percent rise in employee costs in the community’s budget, in addition to being puzzled by the layout of the park’s expenses. “Nothing in your petition matches up to your expenses in any way shape or form because they’re based on two different timeframes,” Wilkinson said.
The Wheel Estates Tenants Association is expected to submit a revised application early next year.
Mary O’Hara, with ROCUSA told MHProNews that, “like every other community owner, ROCs have to work within the local regulatory system and respect local jurisdictions’ need be consistent not absolutely not set precedent.”
Ms. O’Hara added, “Wheels Estates ROC has completed $1MM in improvements and is about to complete their final phase this spring, about $400,000 worth of work. The Rent Control Board acted on their petition without prejudice because the resident corporation does not yet have a full year of post-improvement operating expenses to present.”
The insights and ironies in this story are many. The residents are wisely wanting to invest in their own property, to make sure that needed maintenance is properly done in a timely fashion. That same need to invest in a property exists with investor owned properties, not just resident owned communities.
Yet here the local jurisdiction – because of rent control, etc. – are making it harder for residents to do what is needed to keep their property up. Properly operated MHCommunities – resident or investor owned – need standards. A better understanding by media and public officials of that reality, which is no different than a neighborhood homeowners’ association for site-built housing, can only help home owners in communities across the country. ##
Editor’s Note1: Related article:
Editor’s Note2: Mary O’Hara will be at the Lessons Learned in Manufactured Home Communities Panel Discussion in Louisville, KY. See link here to this event, which is free to most MH Industry professionals. Other panelists will be from UMH Properties, Newport Pacific and from a ‘mom and pop’ family operated community backgrounds.
(Photo Credits: Century21, Wheel Estates and CDI.org)
Article Submitted by Sandra Lane to – Daily Business News- MHProNews.
