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Residents urge committee to expand manufactured-housing dispute resolution, reinstate oversight board
Summary
At a hearing on manufactured housing and condominium disputes, resident speakers recounted mediation failures, steep lot‑rent increases, and barriers to legal remedies after the Manufactured Housing Board was repealed; witnesses asked the committee to include investor-owned parks and reinstate enforcement mechanisms.
The Commerce and Consumer Affairs subcommittee spent several hours hearing resident testimony and industry responses on SB 64 and related condominium dispute-resolution proposals. Multiple residents from investor-owned parks described problems they said remain unresolved after the state’s Manufactured Housing Board was repealed, and they urged lawmakers to include investor-owned parks in any dispute-resolution mechanism and to restore an oversight body.
Patty Cole of Great Brook Village told the committee she wants the bill to "include all manufactured home parks in the state of New Hampshire, resident owned or investor," and asked that the Manufactured Housing Board be returned to the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification. Anita Tourette, treasurer of a residents’ association, said residents—many elderly and low income—face tree hazards, driveway failures and expensive repairs but lack money for attorneys and have been turned away by state hotlines. David Dwyer recounted a mediation the park management "stonewalled," saying the mediator halted the session after management repeatedly failed to answer questions, and reported new tenant lot rents in some parks have jumped into the $1,100–$1,200 range.
Industry and association witnesses described existing programs and limits. Karen Susi of the New Hampshire Manufactured Housing Association confirmed the Manufactured Housing Board was repealed last year and described an industry-run MCAP mediation program that residents can invoke under certain statutory conditions (for example when proposed lot-rent increases exceed thresholds). Panelists and committee members discussed RSA 205‑A (manufactured housing law), RSA 540‑A (landlord–tenant provisions that apply to spaces in parks), and RSA 356‑B (condominium law). Representative (speaker 17) said she will draft new legislation next year to address dispute processes, potentially including a renewed oversight mechanism and a condominium dispute board, and committee members agreed to reconvene to weigh options and collect additional information.
No final action was taken; members encouraged residents, Moda and industry groups to work with staff and sponsors on narrower statutory language and outreach to improve access to mediation and legal remedies.
