Florida Representative Maxwell Frost is leading the affordable housing fight against Wall Street.
Congressman Maxwell Frost, an Orlando Democrat, introduced the Promoting Residential Ownership of (PRO) Manufactured Home Communities Act, legislation to promote affordable housing and fight back against profiteering Wall Street investors by helping residents purchase and own their parks.
This introduction followed a local press conference held in Orlando at the former site of Lake Downey Mobile Home Park alongside Florida State Senator LaVon Bracy Davis, Orange County Commissioner Mayra Uribe, and housing advocates. Rep. Frost highlighted the urgent need to protect manufactured housing residents from greed-driven skyrocketing costs, hostile eviction, and unlivable conditions.
“Manufactured housing should be an opportunity for affordable homeownership, not a profit center for Wall Street,” said Orlando Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost. “To tackle the housing affordability crisis facing the nation, we must combat institutional investors having the upper hand in bidding for property. This bill gives manufactured home residents a fair shot to own their communities which will prevent eviction and keep costs low.”
There are over seven million occupied manufactured homes in the United States. Many of the residents who occupy these communities are older than 55, veterans, and on fixed incomes. In recent years, institutional investors have rapidly expanded their ownership of manufactured home parks, 25% of all units in the United States. Democrats like Rep. Frost said they are raising rents and fees while reducing maintenance and services.
Florida has the most private equity owned parks in the nation.
The PRO Manufactured Home Communities Act incentivizes states like Florida to adopt and strengthen “opportunity to purchase” policies that go beyond existing laws. It increases Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for states and localities that do enough to support resident ownership and helps pay for downpayment assistance.
“Ensuring residents have a real opportunity to purchase their manufactured housing community is one of the most powerful tools available to protect low-income homeowners and preserve this critical source of affordable housing,” said Emily Thaden, CEO of ROC USA. “We applaud Representative Frost’s leadership in advancing policies that level the playing field, give residents a fair shot at ownership, and strengthen the systems needed to make that ownership possible.”
“During a housing and affordability crisis, this bill would give residents of manufactured housing communities a meaningful opportunity to purchase the communities they call home,” said Alys Cohen, director of federal housing advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center. “Manufactured home owners face high fees, and deficient or unsafe community infrastructure. We thank Representative Frost for introducing legislation that will give these homeowners a fair shake when they try to purchase their communities.”
The PRO Manufactured Home Communities Act is endorsed by: ROC USA, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), Private Equity Stakeholder Project, MHAction, Americans for Financial Reform, National Manufactured Home Owners Association (NMHOA), National Housing Law Project, National Low Income Housing Coalition.
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