Joe Kelly, executive vice-president of the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association (IAMHA), informs MHProNews that the Iowa Department of Revenue has notified local governments that land lease communities are not structured to qualify as co-ops under Iowa Code 499A. As a residential classification, co-ops pay only about half the taxes of the commercial class. Kelly says, “The essence of the argument against manufactured housing being a co-op is that the owner of the community does not own all the homes in the community. Chapter 499A allows the co-op owner ‘to build apartments or dwellings.’ The only two choices to respond to this developement is to either file a lawsuit or to ask the legislature to clarify on behalf of allowing manufactured housing to co-op.” The classification of at least two MHCs that declared as co-op had to be changed back to commercial.

(Photo credit: Prairie Oaks MHC in Cedar Rapids, Iowa—one of the communities that was forced to revert from co-op status.)