Trina Novy Miller tells council Courtyards rent, new fees and utility billing changes are forcing residents into hardship

Trina Novy Miller, a Courtyards resident who gave her address as 2701 East Main in Reedsburg, told the Common Council that a corporate sale of the park has produced sharp rent increases, new lease fees and a change in how water and sewer are billed that she said is driving some neighbors toward homelessness.

"These extraordinary and unexpected increases in rent are causing much stress and worry for residents," Miller said, listing the scale of recent changes: since the park sale in December 2021 she said rents have risen about 158% with a stated company goal of roughly $800 per month by 2027; she said rent rose $75 in both 2025 and 2026 after three prior years of $50 increases. She also said new lease fees include $25 per month for vehicles and $35 per pet. On utilities, Miller said water and sewer charges shifted from per‑lot submeters to an equal split across lots and that "water and sewer bills have increased in some months by as much as 167% since June 2024," citing a personal jump from about $43 in June 2024 to $115 in June 2026.

Miller described service problems she attributes to the corporate owner and managers: slow or nonresponsive maintenance, lamp posts left dark for weeks, dead trees not removed, and repeated turnover of on‑site managers. She said the corporation has bought up to 10 parks in the past four years and that, although some of the practices she described may not be illegal, they are "immoral, unethical, unprofessional, and predatory at the very least." She asked the council to withhold future city funding requests from the corporation.

Jessica Holdwick, the assistant regional manager for the company that oversees the Courtyards MHC, responded that the company divides water and sewer billing by the number of occupied lots (she said 163 units in her example) and that she has prepared redacted billing statements to share with council. "We do divide the water and sewer bill simply as it is by 163 units," Holdwick said, acknowledging prior confusion after ownership transfers and saying about 40% of meters needed maintenance during an earlier period. She described a typical 48‑hour response time for requests and offered in‑house payment plans and referrals to local rental assistance programs for residents in hardship.

Council members and staff emphasized the meeting was not the place for a point‑by‑point adjudication of individual accounts and urged residents and company representatives to meet after the session or at a scheduled follow‑up to review bills, leases and repair requests. The mayor and other council members volunteered to help facilitate a meeting so the parties could exchange documentation without prolonging the council session.

The Council did not take formal action on the Courtyards complaints at the meeting; members encouraged a separate meeting between residents and company staff and accepted the company's offer to provide billing statements to the council for review.