More Perfect Union : “Private Equity’s Ruthless Takeover Of The Last Affordable Housing In America”
November 26, 2024
More Perfect Union explored the incursion of private equity and corporate landlords into manufactured housing in a recent video.
More Perfect Union, September 18, 2024: “Private Equity’s Ruthless Takeover Of The Last Affordable Housing In America”
Citing PESP and MHAction’s Manufactured Housing Tracker, the video examines the state of private equity-owned manufactured housing in Michigan, one of the nationwide leaders in PE ownership of manufactured housing parks (MHPs). Michigan has a disproportionate share of private equity-owned manufactured housing: private equity firms own one in every seven manufactured homes in MI.
In their investigation, More Perfect Union toured North Morris Estates with Theo Gantos, an advocate and resident of the manufactured housing community. North Morris Estates is owned by Alden Global Capital-affiliated Homes of America. Residents at Alden-owned parks have reported lot rent hikes of as much as 98% after Homes of America took control of their community, as well as the addition of new fees for services that had once been free.
Theo showed More Perfect Union the brown water that sometimes flows from his and his neighbors’ taps, as well as the community center and pool that fell into disrepair after Homes of America bought the park. North Morris Estates is the first MHP in Michigan to be criminally charged under the state’s Mobile Home Act for operating without a license – the state declined to renew the park’s license due in part to the community’s poor water quality.
As private equity and related corporate landlords rapidly acquire mobile home parks across the state, MHAction is pushing a bill package that would improve the state’s outdated manufactured housing laws.
Senate Bills 486 through 492 would ban unjustifiable rent increases, require landlords to provide written leases, and update licensing standards, among a comprehensive list of other changes. Crucially, the legislation would also close a loophole in oversight of drinking water.
For more on Alden Global Capital’s ownership of manufactured housing, read PESP and MHAction’s report here.
