Holly Hook has been trying to get Michigan to update its mobile home park law for three years.
It’s an urgent issue for Hook, 40, who says her lot rent nearly doubled – from about $300 to nearly $600 – after her Swartz Creek park was purchased by new owners in 2018. Now she’s “desperately hoping” lawmakers pass a package of bills that would modify the law before the session ends in December.
“We’re very tired. We’ve been pushing for years,” she said. “There’s just no excuses for not getting something passed.”
Senate bills 486-490 would be the first major overhaul to Michigan’s mobile home park laws since 1987. It’s one package of dozens of bills that Michigan Democrats could try to push through the lame duck period before Republicans gain control of the state House next year.
“They’re going through a process right now of looking at all the items that various folks want to get across the finish line, and so I’ve highlighted this issue to leadership in my caucus,” said Sen. John Cherry, D-Flint, who introduced the legislation last year.
The bill package has been sitting on the Senate floor since being passed by the Committee on Housing and Human Services in June.
A similar version of the legislation died in 2022.
“We’ve been trying to tackle this for multiple sessions now,” Cherry said. “It’s really needed.”
The bills are backed by Democratic lawmakers, advocacy groups and tenants like Hook who have been involved with the group MHAction. But it’s faced resistance from the Michigan Manufactured Housing Association – an industry group that represents park owners, manufacturers and transporters.
A key provision of the bills would address climbing rents.
In recent years, mobile home residents say they’ve been experiencing steep rent increases after their parks were purchased by new owners.
If the bills pass, the state will have to sign off on any “unjustifiable rent increase” that exceeds the inflation rate. Park owners would also be prohibited from charging extra for utilities or unrelated fees.
For Hook, an independent author who now lives with two roommates to help cover costs, the rent provision is “the thing people most desperately need” before lame duck ends.
“If we don’t get these bills passed this year, we’re looking at at least two more years of probable inaction on these bills,” she said. “And it’s two more years of rent increases, it’s two more years of undrinkable water.”
The legislation would also strengthen licensing requirements by prohibiting park owners without a current license from collecting rent. And it would create a way for the public to report unlicensed parks to the state.
An unknown number of parks are currently operating without a license.
Under the bills, Michigan would also be required to create a public database of mobile home park owners.
And the legislation would broaden authority for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to oversee drinking water problems at mobile home parks.
Cherry says the legislation “will significantly improve the living situation” for the estimated 474,000 Michiganders who live in manufactured housing communities.
“Is it going to be a light switch, and all the problems are solved?” he said. “No, that’s not the way it works. But we think that this provides a pathway for these communities to turn into better places to live.”
A previous version of the bills passed through the House with bipartisan support three years ago but lost steam after the Michigan Manufactured Housing Association pulled its support. John Lindley, the association’s president, agrees that the current law is “ripe for some updating,” but believes the Senate bills would be “devastating to housing in the state of Michigan.”
Specifically, he says the rent provision is a “non-starter.”
“That is a horrible economic policy that will drastically decrease the housing stock in the state of Michigan when we already have a housing crisis,” he said.
The Michigan Manufactured Housing Association, which represents some of the state’s largest park owners and roughly 60% of the parks across the state, is backing a different set of bills that would also update the law. HB 4886-4889, introduced as a response to the Senate bill, are unlikely to survive this session.
A key issue Lindley wants addressed is abandoned mobile homes.
Under the House bills, park owners could apply for a mobile home’s title if it’s been vacant for 30 days. The Senate bills also address this, but they would require a home to be empty for 90 days before park owners could declare it abandoned.
“That process is broken and needs to be fixed,” Lindley said.
Senate Democrats have yet to make their priorities clear for the remaining days in lame duck.
But lawmakers did pass bills last week that would outlaw openly carrying guns at polling places. The House also passed a measure that would repeal Medicaid work requirements and legislation that would create harsher punishments for drivers who kill or injure pedestrians.
Cherry says it’s urgent for his bills to get to governor’s desk because it’s become increasingly important to tighten the laws as more Michigan mobile home parks get bought up by large ownership groups.
An MLive analysis of state data found nearly half of the 1,033 licensed mobile home parks are operated by investment groups or owners with five or more communities. And Michigan ranks second nationally for the number of mobile home parks owned by private equity firms.
If the Senate bills die in session, Cherry plans to reintroduce them next year.
“We’re really ground zero for a lot of bad actors across the nation and we need to provide the first really significant update to our manufactured housing regulation since the 80s,” he said.
Senate Democrats are scheduled to meet Tuesday, Nov. 26 then they’ll return after Thanksgiving for 10 remaining days in session. The state House has eight days left on the calendar to pass legislation before this session ends.