Ward is one of the residents at Ridgeview participating in a rent strike after new owners of the park announced they were raising rents by six percent. "I moved here because it's basically the most affordable living," said Ward, who is disabled and living off of a fixed income. The plight of residents at Ridgeview is playing out nationwide as institutional investors, led by private equity firms and real estate trusts and sometimes funded by pension funds, swoop in to buy mobile home parks. …
Residents, about half of whom are seniors or disabled people on fixed incomes, put up with the first two increases. They hoped the latest owner, Cook Properties, would address the bourbon-colored drinking water, sewage bubbling into their bathtubs and the pothole-filled roads.
When that didn't happen and a new lease with a 6% increase was imposed this year, they formed an association. About half the residents launched a rent strike in May, prompting Cook Properties to send out about 30 eviction notices.
“All they care about is raising the rent because they only care about the money,” said Jeremy Ward, 49, who gets by on just over $1,000 a month in disability payments after his legs suffered nerve damage in a car accident.
He was recently fined $10 for using a leaf blower. “I’m disabled," he said. "You guys aren’t doing your job and I get a violation?”
Blackstone company towns, except they don’t make anything. Rentier class will ultimately kick off the revolution.
The Torture Never Stops…
the mobile home / "trailer" park thing in the US is insane. as said in another post in here, it's the most predatory housing scheme the US has going. even if you can buy the home (because they are cheaper, cash out the door than a house), you're still paying absurd lot rent and other utilities. also, the structure is absolutely not going to protect you in an extreme weather event. even if your weather is a permanent paradise, it's going to be falling apart in 15 years. if there's one bad storm, it's going to be fucked up. they are meant to be temporary structures. like for a construction company or a disaster situation. so of course someone was like, "oh yeah, you can live in this."
also, they are not mobile. they are usually over some county line and existing in some place that has zero services or housing regulations. and it is a little fiefdom where the guy who owns it probably owns the only gas station and convenience store nearby.
i've had various family that lived in trailer parks, and despite thinking they had some kind of equity, when they finally needed to leave the place for good, they were always walking away with nothing, even if they had "bought" the trailer. also, having seen trailer parks in the UK, they seem to have some kind of council standard at least. the units all look clean and the grounds well maintained. in the US, 90% of the time they look like a movie set for a movie i wouldn't watch alone.
my double wide is on land i own on a foundation and is like 35 years old and in great shape. had one roof job and some cheap siding put on it before i bought it. been through storms and an earthquake. probably just depends on the design/quality like many things.
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ok cool yeah mine is technically "manufactured" it can't be moved it was built in 2 parts and assembled on the foundation. but very interesting i didn't know about those grades. i've seen full renovations done on ones like mine and they can be amazing looking like vacation homes. mine is still very outdated interior but we've just been too exhausted/broke to do a full renovation yet. surprisingly it's gained 30k in value after we only paid as much for it as someone would for a new pickup truck.. but i guess the housing market is insane. i still think like a tornado or something would obliterate this place and we have plans to eventually build a storm shelter/garage