Minnesota lawmakers, residents unveil Manufactured Home Park Resident Bill of Rights

State Rep. Matt Norris and Sen. Liz Bolden joined residents Wednesday to introduce the Manufactured Home Park Resident Bill of Rights, a proposal that would cap annual lot-rent increases at 3 percent, create opportunities for residents to buy parks and increase enforcement tools against owners, advocates said.

The bill came at a public event where residents from multiple parks described rising rents, service cutbacks and eviction threats after private-equity and corporate purchases of manufactured-home communities. "We need a bill that will put residents first and give us some protection under law," Tammy Fry, a 13-year homeowner at Blaine International Village, told the group.

According to Rep. Matt Norris, roughly 80,000 Minnesotans live in manufactured-home communities across about 800 parks in Minnesota, and about 90 percent of those residents own their homes but rent the lot beneath them. Norris and residents said that structure leaves homeowners vulnerable when park owners raise lot rents or cut services; he said moving a manufactured home can cost about $15,000 and…