Around 55,000 people live in manufactured housing (mobile home) communities in Pennsylvania, according to testimony from Rep. Liz Hanbidge (D) at a recent Housing & Community Development Hearing. 

An owner will buy and pay off their house, but still have to pay monthly rent on their ‘lot’ in the park.

In recent years, these lot rents have drastically increased in some communities. Manufactured house owners have created a statewide coalition to raise awareness about the issue; many are pointing blame on out of state companies or private equity firms buying mom and pop operations and raising rents.

One manufactured housing industry expert noted that many of the original operators of parks were running the communities debt free. Now that original owners are retiring or passing away, these once debt free operations are being sold— and new owners are paying the mortgages on their purchases.

The cost of buying an operation gets passed to the lot renters— whether the purchaser is an out of state group, a local business, or even if the community members form a cooperative and buy the property themselves.

“I had a man crying to me on the phone. His lot rent went from $300 to $800. He's a Vietnam veteran, a senior, his spouse just died— crying to me on the phone,” Rep. Brandon Markosek (D) said, chair of the Housing and Community Development Committee in the PA House.

One community in Erie had a 25% rent increase on their monthly rate in 2024, going from $464 a month to $580 a month. A community in Douglassville has had annual 13-15% increases on their rent rate for the past few years.

In a recent Housing and Community Economic Development committee, lawmakers from across the state and on both sides of the aisle shared that communities in their areas are facing similar circumstances.

“I've heard from many seniors, veterans, first time homeowners and disabled people with disability,” Rep. Liz Handbidge (D) said, bill sponsor for HB 1250. “Who've been subject to rent increases that have forced them to make choices between paying rent, affording food, and affording medications that are essential.”

There are communities that are only for residents 55 years or older; senior citizens across the state  will own their home, and pay the monthly rent rate out of their fixed income.

House Bill 1250 is the current solution lawmakers are proposing. The bill would limit how much a community owner could raise monthly rent; capping it at 4% in relation to the Consumer Price Index. 

“We are looking for relief, to provide some sort of curbs on what these out of state organizations are inflicting,” Robert Besecker said, who leads the Coalition of Manufactured Home Communities of Pennsylvania. 

A community owner could get special permission to raise rent more than the cap if they can prove they face substantial increases in their operating costs.

The Pennsylvania Manufactured Housing Association opposes the bill. A spokesperson for the group said over email that “singling out one segment of the housing industry—such as the manufactured housing sector—and limiting its ability to effectively manage its own rising expenses undermines its financial stability.”

The association also said that over the years, rent caps have been studied and reported to make housing markets worse.