WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, pressed six corporate owners of manufactured housing communities for answers on affordability and living conditions for their residents. An estimated 22 million Americans live in manufactured housing communities, which are often referred to as mobile home parks. As corporate ownership of these communities has surged in recent years, so have reports of exploitative rent increases and neglected living conditions. In letters to Alden Global Capital (regarding its subsidiary Homes of America), Patriot Holdings, Philips International, Legacy Communities, the BoaVida Group, and Sun Communities, Senator Hassan pushed the companies to provide information to Congress about their business practices and the impact that investment firm ownership has had on manufactured housing communities in New England.

“An estimated 22 million Americans live in manufactured homes, and in recent years, investment firms have increasingly purchased manufactured housing communities,” wrote Senator Hassan. “Given this impact on our economy, public reports of concerns with the management of some manufactured housing communities, and the pressing need to increase access to safe, reliable housing that people can afford, I seek more information on your business practices.”

“Residents of manufactured housing communities include significant numbers of seniors, people with disabilities, low-income families, and people who live in rural areas,” Senator Hassan continued. “In addition, residents often have limited ability to move; homes can be difficult to resell, and homeowners rarely relocate them because of the costs and risk of structural damage. Therefore, residents may have few if any options when faced with egregious rent increases, changes in lease terms, or other business decisions by community owners.”

The full text Senator Hassan’s letter to Alden Global Capital, owner of Homes of America, is below. Read the full set of letters Senator Hassan sent here. 

Dear Mr. Freeman:

I am writing to request information from Homes of America regarding the impact of its business practices on manufactured housing communities in New England. An estimated 22 million Americans live in manufactured homes, and in recent years, investment firms have increasingly purchased manufactured housing communities, with total estimated purchases as high as $9.4 billion in 2021. According to one June 2021 analysis, acquisitions by investment firms – including Alden Global Capital, the owner of Homes of America – accounted for 23 percent of manufactured housing community sales over the previous two years. Given this impact on our economy, public reports of concerns with the management of some manufactured home communities, and the pressing need to increase access to safe, reliable housing that people can afford, I seek more information on your business practices.

Residents of manufactured housing communities include significant numbers of seniors, people with disabilities, low-income families, and people who live in rural areas. In addition, residents often have limited ability to move; homes can be difficult to resell, and homeowners rarely relocate them because of the costs and risk of structural damage. Therefore, residents may have few if any options when faced with egregious rent increases, changes in lease terms, or other business decisions by community owners.

More than four million manufactured homes in the United States are located in communities in which residents often own their homes but rent the land beneath them, which can make residents particularly vulnerable to changes that the landowners may make. According to the New York Times, manufactured housing communities have been “ripe targets for investors, who buy communities and then increase the lot rents.” Between 2023 and 2024, rents in these communities grew more than five times the pace of rent growth in traditional apartment buildings. Since 2021 in Maine, for example, the BoaVida Group and Philips International have reportedly raised rents more than 50 percent in some communities. Some firms highlight rent growth as part of their investment strategy; Patriot Holdings, one owner with multiple communities in New England, advertises that investors can expect “rent increases in line with market demand” – a demand it describes as “booming.” In some cases, the potentially exploitative nature of such practices has drawn legal attention. In 2024, for example, Homes of America agreed to repay residents in West Virginia to settle claims related to an allegedly unlawful rent increase that residents described as “unconscionable and inequitable. 

In addition, investment firms have allegedly coordinated to raise rents in manufactured housing communities nationwide. For example, a 2023 complaint filed in federal court in Illinois against Sun Communities, among other parties, alleges that the firm exchanged non-public, competitively sensitive information with other community owners through a third-party analytics provider. According to the complaint, this arrangement allowed the defendants “to increase manufactured home lot rents systematically and unlawfully.” The complaint also notes that the rents exceeded both the rate of inflation and historical trends. Attorneys general in Connecticut and Minnesota have also opened investigations into rent practices at investor-owned communities. 

Residents have also reported that certain investment firms neglect community maintenance and cause living conditions to deteriorate. In New Mexico, for example, one resident described Legacy Communities’ approach: “[T]he first thing they started doing was raising our rent, decreasing our property values by not keeping up the property, [and] firing all the staff that they had that knew how to keep up the property.” Despite the firm’s claim that higher rents fund maintenance and improvements, residents said that “their rent has gone up significantly while necessary fixes and upkeep have diminished.” Residents of communities that the BoaVida Group and Philips International own in New England have raised similar concerns about poor community maintenance and, in some cases, health hazards. Relatedly, a recent report on Homes of America communities found examples of serious neglect – including poor water quality and availability, pest infestations, and decaying infrastructure – that persisted for months and caused severe health impacts, including respiratory illnesses.

Legal and procedural hurdles can complicate residents’ efforts to challenge the types of issues described above. Residents in Homes of America communities, for example, have described a range of retaliatory strategies that the company has pursued to limit its legal exposure. In one example, residents in West Virginia alleged that Homes of America threatened to make their monthly rents “substantially higher” unless they signed releases “of all rights under [the West Virginia Manufactured House Act].” In another example, Homes of America reportedly sued a resident for interfering with the company’s “contractual relationship” with the community after she organized clinics to educate her neighbors about their rights. At the same time, investment firms have reportedly created barriers to shield themselves from resident lawsuits. According to a study published in the Journal of Affordable Housing, some actors in the manufactured housing industry have used “onerous arbitration provisions” that can “augment [resident-plaintiffs’] costs and diminish their procedural protections.” Investment firms also “often hide behind multiple shell [companies]” that obscure community ownership and the proper party for residents to sue. The Government Accountability Office has similarly found that “information is limited on who or what company owns manufactured housing communities.”

To aid Congress in understanding the impact of Homes of America’s business practices on residents of its manufactured housing communities, please provide responses to the following document and information requests. Unless otherwise specified, these requests cover the period of January 1, 2020, to the present:

1. Documents sufficient to show the ownership and organizational structure of Homes of America, including percent ownership by Alden Global Capital and related entities;

2. Any reports or presentations (including slide decks) concerning the corporate strategies of Homes of America, Alden Global Capital, or affiliated LLCs as they relate to manufactured housing communities and:

1. Rent increases; 
2. Resident fees; 
3. Operating cost management;
4. Capital expenditures;
5. Resident turnover;
6. Resident organizing activity;
7. Community disposition;
8. The use of public financing, including from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac; and
9. The use of tax incentives, including Opportunity Zones;

3. The number of manufactured homes, if any, Homes of America, Alden Global Capital, or affiliated LLCs rent to residents while these entities do not hold title, broken down by ZIP code;

4. The number of manufactured homes, if any, Homes of America, Alden Global Capital, or affiliated LLCs have demolished, broken down by ZIP code;

5. The number of manufactured housing communities, if any, Homes of America, Alden Global Capital, or affiliated LLCs has disposed of, redeveloped, or otherwise changed the use of, broken down by ZIP code;

6. A list of all settlements of litigation, including the date and terms of the settlement and a summary of the plaintiff’s claims, related to a potential violation of any federal or state laws or regulations during ownership or operation of a manufactured housing community by Homes of America, Alden Global Capital, or affiliated LLCs;

For each community listed in Schedule A, please provide the following information:

7. Documents sufficient to show ownership and organizational structure of the community, including percent ownership by Homes of America, Alden Global Capital, and related entities, management staff and their roles, and any changes to these arrangements over time;

8. Documents sufficient to show state and local licensing to operate the community;

9. Documents sufficient to show whether and how the community has been used as collateral in any financing obtained by Homes of America, Alden Global Capital, or affiliated LLCs;

10. Documents sufficient to show any recapitalization or similar refinancing of the community by Homes of America, Alden Global Capital, or affiliated LLCs;

11. All policies, procedures, and guidelines related to the following topics:

1. Setting and adjusting lot rents over time, including criteria and data sources considered; any software, tools, or third-party services used; and any references to market rates or competitor rents;
2. Rent-to-own-contracts;
3. Fees for home installation, late rent payments, utilities, amenities, services, the sale of a home by a resident, and the removal or relocation of a home from the community;
4. Eviction actions, including criteria that triggers action and notice requirements;
5. Maintenance and community infrastructure repairs (e.g., staffing levels, plumbing, HVAC, pest control, road repairs, amenities, waste removal, and landscaping);
6. Capital expenditures and the connection between these expenditures and increases in rent or fees; and
7. Resident organizing activity (e.g., resident meetings and associations, class action cooperation, and engagement with policymakers and media);

12. Per month, covering the period of 365 days before the purchase date for the community to the present:

1. Number of occupied and vacant homes;
2. Number of residents;
3. Number of homes owned by residents, under rent-to-own contracts, or rented to residents;
4. Average lot rent;
5. Total resident fees, broken down by fees for home installation, late rent payments, utilities, amenities, services, the sale of a home by a resident, and the removal or relocation of a home from the community;
6. Total fees paid by an affiliated LLC, if any, that owns or operates the community;
7. Total accounts receivable;
8. Net income;
9. Number of complaints filed by residents concerning the management or conditions of the community;
10. Number of maintenance requests submitted by residents;
11. Number of arbitration clauses, waivers, and releases presented to or signed by residents;
12. Number of eviction notices issued, eviction actions filed, and eviction actions resulting in the removal of a resident;
13. Number of demolished homes;
14. Number of homes newly placed in the community;
15. Itemized capital expenditures; 
16. Itemized maintenance costs;
17. Itemized operating costs not categorized as capital expenditures or maintenance;
18. Any reports or warnings received from federal, state, or local authorities concerning housing, building, and health code violations, as well as water quality reports;
19. Documents sufficient to show the status of any corrective actions taken due to a code violation or report;
20. Any reports or warnings from a federal, state, or local authority concerning the community’s licensing status;

13. Standard lease agreements, arbitration clauses, waivers, releases, home financing agreements (including rent-to-own contracts), home financing promotional materials, and written rules for the community and residents;

14. A summary of each instance in which Homes of America, Alden Global Capital, or an affiliated LLC offered a release of claims to a manufactured housing community resident, including information regarding:

1. The date the release was offered or signed;
2. The circumstances giving rise to the offer (e.g., ongoing litigation, rent dispute, lease agreement negotiation, resident complaint to management or third parties);
3. The claims or potential claims covered by the release; and
4. Any incentives offered to the resident in exchange for the release.

Please provide your responses as soon as possible but in no event later than January 5, 2026.

 

Schedule A

1. Homes of America
   1. Evergreen Terrace
      • Silver Street, Clinton, ME 04927
   2. Pine View Park
      • 499 August Road, Winslow, ME 04901

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