A bill in the Delaware Senate’s Small Business Committee would require MHC owners to justify rents that change more than the cost-of-living, with a decision rendered by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Manufactured Housing. Residents of Aspen Meadows MHC, many of them seniors, took 150 signatures in support of Senate bill 205, called “the rent justification bill,” to Legislative Hall in Dover. WBOC-TV says the current lease at Aspen, which expires in 2014, has a three percent per annum cap on how much rents can increase in the community, owned by Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. MHProNews.com has learned approximately 30,000 of the state’s 53,000 manufactured homes are in Sussex County. Opponents of the measure say restrictions on their ability to return a profit may affect improvements to the communities; and there is no provision for MHC owners to collect legal fees should they win an appeal. A similar bill died in the Senate last year.
