Owner closes Michigan mobile home park, shuts off water on remaining residents

On March 28, 2025, residents of Kristana Estates in Dewitt Township, Michigan were notified by owner TIR Equities that the park would close on April 1 and that they had to move out, shocking residents, including a man who had lived in the park for 47 years.  Then, even though some residents had not been able to leave due to the short notice, the park’s water was shut off on April 2. [1]  Residents who remained in the park have faced significant challenges and have had to stock up on bottled water.[2]

TIR Equities is a private equity company which purchased the park in 2023, and the closure is part of the company’s plan to redevelop the park into a new manufactured housing community.[3] The state had approved a $2 million grant for the owner to “upgrade, renovate, and install new affordable housing units” at the park, but the funding has now been put on hold.[4] “There’s no way in hell that I would support a project, that involved displacement as part of the project,” the legislator who sponsored the grant said.[5] “I absolutely would never approve an appropriation if I thought that a steward had any plans for shifting people out of their community or for cutting off access to the resources necessary to meet their basic human need.”

News stories have reported that the park had been operating without a license since last October.[6]

The situation with Kristana Estates demonstrates the need to strengthen Michigan’s mobile home park regulations, which were put into place almost forty years ago.  State legislation was introduced last year that would have implemented a number of tenant protections, including imposing fines up to $100,000 on unlicensed parks and prohibiting unlicensed parks from collecting rent. [7]

The NAACP Lansing Branch called on elected officials to intervene and stop the attempt to evict Kristana residents. “This is not just a housing issue – it is a civil rights issue,” the organization said. “When landlords exploit loopholes, misrepresent occupancy, and leave families without basic services like water and sewer, they violate the dignity and humanity of residents who already face barriers to fair and stable housing.”[8]

The owner had previously tried to close a park in Oakland County, Michigan and turn it into a luxury apartment complex, but faced a backlash about displacing the parks low-income residents, including many seniors, families with young children, and Latino immigrants.[9]

The owner of Kristana Estates was also in the news about another one of its Michigan parks. The water at its Kingsbrook Mobile Home Park in Almont was shut off in June 2025. The shut off was because the park’s owner hadn’t paid the water bill and owes over $83,000. Residents said they have been paying their water bills to the owner. “It’s been ridiculous. We pay our bills always on time, and now here we are with no water. What are we going to do?” said one resident. [10]

[1]https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2025/05/a-2m-grant-was-supposed-to-revive-a-mobile-home-park-then-residents-got-4-days-to-get-out.html

[2]https://www.fox47news.com/neighborhoods/dewitt-st-johns/state-funding-for-kristana-mobile-homes-redevelopment-will-dewitt-charter-twp-accept-funds

[3]https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2025/05/a-2m-grant-was-supposed-to-revive-a-mobile-home-park-then-residents-got-4-days-to-get-out.html

[4]https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2025/05/a-2m-grant-was-supposed-to-revive-a-mobile-home-park-then-residents-got-4-days-to-get-out.html

[5]https://www.fox47news.com/neighborhoods/dewitt-st-johns/state-funding-for-kristana-mobile-homes-redevelopment-will-dewitt-charter-twp-accept-funds

[6]https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2025/05/a-2m-grant-was-supposed-to-revive-a-mobile-home-park-then-residents-got-4-days-to-get-out.html

[7]https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2024/07/michigans-extremely-lax-mobile-home-law-could-get-first-overhaul-since-1987.html

[8]https://www.wlns.com/news/naacp-lansing-calls-on-local-leaders-to-intervene-in-inhumane-eviction/

[9]https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2025/05/a-2m-grant-was-supposed-to-revive-a-mobile-home-park-then-residents-got-4-days-to-get-out.html

[10]https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/water-turned-back-hundreds-almont-mobile-home-park-after-day-long-shut-off