(Radio Iowa) – A group of residents from three mobile home parks in Johnson County says the rent for their lots has increased dramatically and the out-of-state company that owns the parks has not addressed health and safety issues. Nicole Platz is a resident at Modern Manor, one of the manufactured home parks Utah-based Havenpark Communities bought in 2019. “We need change. We need to ensure safe drinking water, stop excessive rent increases,” Platz said. “…The residents of Modern Manor deserve better.” Platz and other residents are calling for a two-year moratorium on rent increases for the lots.

Jessica Andino is the executive director of the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition. “They own their home as much as any other individual in the county, they just don’t own that land underneath…They rent it,” she said. “That means they are uniquely vulnerable to predatory practices of these out of state agencies.” A spokesperson from Havenpark Communities says the company has invested more than two MILLION dollars in upgrades at the parks it owns in Iowa and is committed to keeping them safe.

Havenpark owns 80 manufactured home communities in the United States. Bills to set some rules for mobile home parks, like a 90 day notice requirement for rent increases, have recently been introduced, but have never passed the Iowa legislature.