generic House votes to change Iowa mobile home park law. It's too little, say residents facing rent hikes
Iowa's mobile home park residents would receive a month's longer notice from their landlords if their rent is going up or their leases aren't renewed, under a bill the Iowa House passed Tuesday.
The bill's passage, a response to rising rent and utility costs that residents at mobile home parks across the state have experienced, marked the first time in recent years the chamber has passed legislation aimed at protecting the residents. The bill now awaits passage in the Iowa Senate, where a similar proposal is eligible for a floor vote.
But mobile home park residents who have been affected by rent spikes over the past few years have said the long-awaited legislation waters down the protections they have been seeking.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Brian Lohse, R-Bondurant, acknowledged it doesn't go as far as he and advocates for stronger protections want. The bill, he has said, is a compromise, after years of negotiations with the lobbying group for park owners, whose opposition has made it difficult to get enough support to pass.
Using a baseball metaphor, Lohse said Tuesday he considers the bill a “single” rather than a "home run."
“It’s not the bill I’d like to have," he said. "It’s the bill I can get.”
Candi Evans, a resident of Golf View Mobile Home Park in North Liberty who's part of a statewide network of mobile home residents, told the Des Moines Register Tuesday afternoon that she wishes residents had more of a seat at the table during discussions on the legislation.
She said the legislation doesn't include the main points she and other residents had requested, such as limiting the frequency or amount of rent increases; requiring landowners to cite a cause for not renewing a resident's lease; giving residents the first right of purchase if their park goes up for sale; and capping fees.
"We asked for five points," Evans said. "Not one of those five were addressed."
The bill passed the Iowa House by a 60-37 vote on Tuesday, with two Democrats — Reps. Lindsay James, D-Dubuque and Kenan Judge, D-Waukee — joining Republicans in favor. One Republican, Rep. Jeff Shipley, R-Birmingham, joined Democrats in voting against it.
"This bill is not good enough," said Rep. Amy Nielsen, D-North Liberty. "And I am angry that in three years since we’ve started working on this, this is the best we could come up with. This is crumbs. This is nothing."
What the bill does: More notice of rent increases, but no limitations
Advocates for Iowa mobile home park residents have pushed for decades to strengthen the state law governing tenants and landlords at the parks.
Many residents of the parks own their homes but rent the land underneath. Since mobile homes are often impossible or expensive to move, residents have limited options when parks change hands and rent checks spike.
In recent years, a flock of out-of-state investment companies across the country have purchased mobile home parks. In Iowa, these companies have at times dramatically increased rent prices and added new charges, such as utility costs and service fees.
Lawmakers have proposed legislation in each of the last three years aimed at the issue, but the bills have failed each time.
The House bill that passed Tuesday would lengthen the required notice period for a rent increase from 60 to 90 days, although it wouldn't limit the frequency or the amount of increases. The bill would also require landlords to give mobile home owners at least 90 days' notice if they are not renewing their lease, also an increase of 30 days.
In addition, the bill would make a handful of other adjustments to state law:
Giving mobile home owners 12 months of legal protection against retaliation, the same amount of time apartment renters have from landlords.
Including utilities in the definition of "rent" and making increases subject to the same notification period, except under specific situations.
Giving tenants legal remedies if a park owner is not providing essential services, such as water.
Requiring landlords to provide a general reason for refusing to accept a new tenant who has purchased another resident's home at the park.
Prohibiting landlords from requiring tenants to modify their homes in a way that would make the structures more difficult to move later.
Proposal to eliminate mobile home tax struck from bill
A previous version of the House legislation would have also eliminated the annual tax on mobile or manufactured homes in a mobile home parks.
But Republicans amended the bill on Tuesday to eliminate that portion. Lohse said that was because the repeal of the tax would "cast too wide a net," beyond just the mobile home park residents Republicans want to provide tax relief to. He said he plans to continue working on the issue between sessions.
Mobile home owners currently pay a tax of up to 20 cents per square foot on their home, a rate that declines as the home ages. The average Iowa mobile home has 1,217 square feet of floor space, resulting in a tax bill between $195 and $243, according to a report from the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency. Mobile home owners with low incomes can already receive reduced rates or exemptions.
Residents said that decrease would have helped mobile home park residents but would have been small relief compared to the monthly increases in rent costs and utilities that many residents have seen.
Some advocates have also pushed for a requirement for a one-year renewable lease, a proposal meant to give residents more security that they would be able to remain at the park unless they violate their lease terms or are unable to pay rent. That proposal also did not end up in the final version of the bill.
The bill, House File 2562, has the support of the park owner's association, which referred to an earlier version of the bill as a compromise. The bill is opposed by the Iowa attorney general's office, which has advocated for stronger tenant protections in Iowa law for years.
Democrats who represent mobile home parks that have seen large increases said Tuesday that they also want to keep working toward more protections for residents.
Judge's district includes Midwest Country Estates, a mobile home park where rent has increased by about $200 per month in the three years since a Utah-based company, Havenpark Capital, purchased it. He said there were some positives in the bill, but he encouraged more lawmakers to look into the issue.
"It makes incremental changes to the law, but at the end of the day, we've really missed the mark with what we need," he said.
Ian Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at irichardson@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at @DMRIanR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mobile home residents in Iowa could get more notice of rent hikes
