Residents purchase land under their homes to keep their housing locally owned and affordable

Residents of the Hidden Circle Mobile Home Park in Jay, Maine, have purchased the site for $1 million in an effort to keep the land under their 31 homes locally owned and affordable.

Mobile home park residents usually own their home and pay rent for the lot-and in recent years, investors have been buying up sites across the U.S., frequently raising lot fees to increase profits.

In 2023, Maine State Governor Janet Mills signed "Opportunity to Purchase" legislation requiring mobile home park owners to give advance notice to residents of their intent to sell, giving them the chance to submit a competing offer. Last year, Mills strengthened those protections by signing legislation giving residents the right to match a third-party offer, effectively giving them first right of refusal on any mobile home park sale.

Hidden Circle's purchase is the 14th of its kind in Maine, and the fourth since Mills signed the new protections.

"No one should lose their home to exploitative companies looking to make a profit," Mills said, "which is why I worked with the legislature to pass and sign legislation that gives residents of mobile homes the first chance to buy the land they reside on before big companies can displace them.

"No one should lose their home to exploitative companies looking to make a profit." - Maine State Governor Janet Mills

"Congratulations to the residents of Hidden Circle Mobile Home Park for taking their futures into their hands, becoming owners of this land, and working together to create a lasting foundation for their community for years to come," Governor Mills added.

"It hasn't been an easy process, but we never gave up," said Hidden Circle resident Travis White, who serves as president of the cooperative's volunteer board. "We had to purchase the park because the alternative could be worse. Someone could come in here and hike up the rents and eventually push people out of their homes. Now, people can feel financially safe in their homes."

The residents formed the co-op last year with the support of the Cooperative Development Institute, a New England nonprofit that supports communities in making transitions to resident ownership.

Financing for the purchase came from the Mobile Home Park Preservation Fund created by Governor Mills and administered by MaineHousing, the Brunswick-based Genesis Community Loan Fund, and the donors of the Maine Community Foundation.

"Hidden Circle demonstrates what's possible when residents, community organizations, and public partners work together to preserve affordable housing," MaineHousing director Dan Brennan said.

"The Mobile Home Park Preservation Fund was designed to help residents compete for ownership of the communities they call home, and today that investment is creating lasting benefits for families in Jay. Resident ownership not only protects affordability-it gives people a stronger voice in their future and helps ensure these communities remain stable and vibrant for generations to come," Brennan added.

"The Hidden Circle residents demonstrated remarkable determination throughout this process," said Nora Gosselin, director of resident acquisitions at the Cooperative Development Institute. "From the very start-be it septic challenges or survey hurdles-they hung together and got it done."

Genesis Executive Director Liza Fleming-Ives said: "Every successful resident-owned community strengthens this model and gives more mobile home community residents confidence that they can protect their homes. Genesis will continue working with partners across the state to expand this proven model, helping ensure stable, affordable homes for Maine families."

"Every successful resident-owned community strengthens this model and gives more mobile home community residents confidence that they can protect their homes." - Liza Fleming-Ives, Executive Director, Genesis Community Loan Fund

The Maine Office of Community Affairs has launched the Manufactured Housing Community Data Dashboard, a new tool to provide information on licensed manufactured housing communities across the state.

"The dashboard will be updated annually and allow residents, policymakers, park owners, housing practitioners and the general public to track, for the first time, annual lot increases at all Maine manufactured housing communities."