Advocates Call for Action to Protect Manufactured Home Communities.

Pennsylvania lawmakers, advocates, and residents gathered in Harrisburg this week to call for the passage of legislation that would strengthen protections for homeowners in manufactured home communities. The press conference highlighted the urgent need to address rising land-lot rents and the growing financial instability faced by residents across the Commonwealth.

Speakers at the event included Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, HB 1250 prime sponsor Representative Liz Hanbidge, Coalition for Manufactured Home Communities leader Bob Besecker, and Vanessa Raymond-Garcia, Senior Policy Analyst at Regional Housing Legal Services (RHLS). Together, they emphasized the need for timely legislative action to protect vulnerable homeowners.

Vanessa spoke in support of the legislation, highlighting both the unique vulnerabilities of manufactured homeowners and the importance of targeted policy solutions.

RHLS is a nonprofit law firm dedicated to creating and protecting safe, affordable housing through legal representation, policy advocacy, and community partnerships. As Vanessa noted in her remarks, RHLS works alongside organizations like the Community Justice Project and the Coalition for Manufactured Home Communities—a grassroots network representing residents from more than 100 communities statewide—to ensure that homeowners can remain in their communities with dignity, stability, and fairness.

Manufactured home residents occupy a distinct position within the housing system. While they own their homes, they rent the land on which those homes sit. Relocating a manufactured home is often prohibitively expensive and, in many cases, not feasible due to the limited availability of alternative sites. This leaves residents with few options when faced with significant rent increases.

In recent years, many manufactured home communities have been acquired by private equity firms and institutional investors. These ownership changes have often been accompanied by steep rent increases and declining community conditions. Residents have reported rent hikes of 50 percent, 75 percent, or even more within short periods of time, placing substantial strain on households that frequently include seniors, veterans, and individuals with disabilities living on fixed incomes.

Coalition leader Bob Besecker and other resident advocates reinforced these realities, sharing the lived experiences of homeowners facing sudden and significant cost increases that threaten their ability to remain in their communities.

Rising lot rents not only affect day-to-day affordability but also undermine long-term financial stability. As Vanessa explained, increasing rent costs can erode the value of the homes residents own, impacting their ability to build and retain wealth. These challenges underscore the need for policy interventions that promote both affordability and fairness.

The proposed legislation—HB 1250 and SB 745—seeks to address these issues through a balanced approach. Representative Liz Hanbidge emphasized that the bill provides reasonable protections while maintaining flexibility for community owners, reflecting the strong bipartisan support that helped advance the legislation in the House. Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa also voiced support for advancing the legislation in the Senate, underscoring the importance of protecting Pennsylvanians from predatory practices.

The bills would allow for annual rent increases tied to inflation while requiring justification for increases that exceed that threshold. This concept, known as lot rent justification, is already in use in several other states and has been shown to protect residents while allowing community owners to maintain viable operations.

Importantly, the legislation is not rent control. Instead, it introduces transparency and accountability by requiring that significant increases be supported by documented changes in operating costs. The bills also aim to provide residents with greater predictability and a fair process for challenging unreasonable rent hikes.

“At its core, this legislation restores balance,” Vanessa noted. “Housing is not just an asset—it is the foundation of family and community life.”

The bills would provide manufactured homeowners with tools they currently lack, including clearer expectations around housing costs and a mechanism to ensure that those costs remain fair and sustainable. These protections are especially critical as housing affordability continues to be a pressing concern across Pennsylvania.

Participants in the press conference emphasized the urgency of legislative action this session. Without reform, many residents remain at risk of being priced out of homes they own.

RHLS will continue to support policy solutions that expand and preserve affordable housing opportunities and protect the stability of communities across the Commonwealth.

If you would like to join RHLS in advocacy opportunities to support affordable housing development and preservation in the future, please reach out to Deanna Dyer, Director of Policy, at deanna.dyer@rhls.org.

The video of the press conference is below. You can read a transcript of the press conference by clicking on this link.