Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell has issued an updated Guide to Manufactured Housing Community Law (“Guide”), which provides guidance to owners, operators, and residents of manufactured housing communities regarding state laws and regulations governing manufactured housing, including the Manufactured Housing Act (“Act”) and the Attorney General’s Manufactured Housing Community Regulations (“AG’s Regulations”). The updated 2024 Guide provides additional clarifications and explanations on a range of key manufactured housing issues that the Attorney General’s Office (“AGO”) has commonly encountered since the Guide was last updated in 2017.
AG Campbell announced the release of the updated Guide earlier , while visiting a manufactured housing community in Taunton, where she met with residents and toured the community.
“As the cost of housing continues to rise in Massachusetts, manufactured housing offers sustainable and affordable housing options for some of our most vulnerable communities, including elders and low-income individuals,” said AG Campbell. “I am proud to release this updated Guide, which includes additional clarifications that will enable residents, along with community and legal services organizations, to better understand the law, navigate common issues, and thrive in their communities.”
Because of the nature of manufactured housing communities, in which residents often own their home but rent the lot on which their home sits from a respective community owner, residents and owners may be confronted with unique legal issues. Furthermore, community owners issue their own rules to govern their individual manufactured housing communities.
Accordingly, the Guide assists residents and community owners in understanding manufactured housing laws and regulations to help them avoid common disputes, resolve those that do occur, and, when necessary, take steps to enforce their legal rights. The Guide is regularly used by community-based and legal services organizations, along with residents of manufactured housing communities, to understand and advocate for residents’ rights.
Amongst several other changes, the updated 2024 edition of the Guide includes the following changes and clarifications:
- Clarifies that community owners may not deny tenancy applications based on a single factor, such as credit score or income level, when there is other reasonable evidence of a prospective tenant’s ability to pay rent
- Informs community owners that they must charge new residents entering their community the same rent as residents already living in the community so long as the new residents have similar lot sizes and receive the same services as those already living in the community
- Clarifies the responsibilities of community owners for the upkeep of permanent elements in the community and on homesites
- Clarifies when residents or community owners are responsible for paying for electricity, heating fuel, water, and any other utilities, and maintaining the systems that provide such utilities
- Clarifies the process that community owners must follow to discontinue the use of a manufactured housing community
- Provides additional information about rent control boards
The recent 2024 updates to the Guide were handled by the AG’s Consumer Protection Division, which includes the AG’s Manufactured Housing Unit.
The AG’s Office has the authority to enforce the Manufactured Housing Act and, along with the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (“EOHLC”), reviews all rules issued by owners of manufactured housing communities. The AG’s Manufactured Housing Unit also regularly provides assistance, resources, and information to residents and owners of manufactured housing communities.
Individuals may visit the AG’s website to learn more about manufactured housing laws and regulations or send any questions related to manufactured housing to MHU@mass.gov. The AG’s answers to frequently asked questions related to manufactured housing communities may be viewed here.
Residents who believe they may have experienced violations of state manufactured housing laws may file a consumer complaint with the AG’s Office, which offers a voluntary assistance program to attempt to resolve disputes.
The updated Guide is AG Campbell’s latest effort to promote, protect, and advance housing-related rights and opportunities for all across the Commonwealth. Just this past week, AG Campbell announced the Director of the Office’s newly established Housing Affordability Unit. The AG’s Office also regularly hosts community engagement and education efforts to provide resources and information to residents regarding their housing-related rights.
Statements of Support:
Ed Augustus, Secretary, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
"I commend Attorney General Campbell and her office for updating this important guide that addresses common issues that our agencies have observed since the last edition was published in 2017. The Commonwealth's manufactured housing laws preserve and protect important rights and responsibilities of both residents and operators of manufactured housing communities. These updates will help resolve challenges that residents and operators would otherwise continue facing. EOHLC looks forward to continuing our longstanding and productive relationship with the Attorney General’s Office to review rules issued by community operators and to help residents and operators understand their rights and responsibilities."
Jacob Love, Staff Attorney, Lawyers for Civil Rights
“The announcement marks yet another milestone in the Attorney General's campaign to protect Massachusetts tenants. And it couldn't have come at a better time. Across the Commonwealth, elderly and low-income residents of manufactured housing communities are feeling the financial squeeze of the affordable housing crisis. This newly updated Guide provides those residents with an invaluable overview of their rights and a roadmap for preserving them. Lawyers for Civil Rights applauds Attorney General Campbell for her leadership in supporting this especially vulnerable—and often overlooked—segment of the community. It will go a long way toward keeping folks in their homes.”
Ethan Horowitz, Managing Director, Northeast Justice Center
“The Attorney General’s Guide is an indispensable resource for manufactured housing community residents and the advocates who support them. The laws of the Commonwealth provide substantial consumer protections to manufactured homeowners because of their precarious economic position – that is, with their most valuable assets fixed (generally immobile) to someone else’s land. But these protections can only benefit manufactured homeowners or other manufactured housing community residents if they understand and are able to enforce their rights.”
Sandra Overlock, President, The Manufactured Home Federation of MA, Inc.
“The Manufactured Home Federation of MA, Inc. (MFM) is looking forward to Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell's updated explanation of the terminology in The Attorney General's Guide to Manufactured Housing Community Law. This is welcomed by the MFM as we receive several calls with questions regarding Manufactured Housing Communities. With approximately 247 manufactured home communities in the state, manufactured housing is often unrecognized by the public. Manufactured housing is affordable housing and is a vital source of housing in the state. Because of our unique situation of living in a community owned by a corporation and residents renting the land but owning their homes, it is important that The Attorney General's Guide provide residents and owners with guidelines on the laws. We look forward with our continued relationship with the Attorney General's Manufactured Housing Unit in the Consumer Protection Division.”
Ethan Mascoop, Chair, Massachusetts Manufactured Homes Commission
“Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s updated guide to the Manufactured Housing Community Law will be a welcomed addition of resources providing current and accessible information for all residents and owners of the approximately 247 manufactured home communities throughout Massachusetts. These communities, often unrecognized and unseen by the general public, are located throughout the Commonwealth in urban, suburban and rural cities and towns, and provide a critical source of unsubsidized affordable housing for a diverse population of all ages. Massachusetts law provides residents of manufactured homes vital protections and places important responsibilities on park owners and buyers due to the unique issues of living in or owning a manufactured home community. The Massachusetts Manufactured Homes Commission looks forward to continuing its work with the Attorney General and the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities in ensuring safe, habitable, affordable and fair housing for all residents of manufactured homes communities throughout the Commonwealth.”
Pam Zagorski, Executive Director, Cooperative Development Institute
"Massachusetts manufactured home communities provide affordable housing to more than 20,000 low to moderate income households. The Guide to Manufactured Housing Community Law provides them the peace of mind that they can live in a community where they are treated fairly. The Cooperative Development Institute has helped residents in 30 manufactured home communities across Massachusetts, representing 3,600 individual homes, to purchase and become resident owners of the communities where they live. We have witnessed firsthand the importance of a clear process for residents to exercise their right of first refusal when their communities go up for sale. We appreciate that the Attorney General's Office has listened to the concerns of residents when they updated this guide."
Paul Halfmann, Manager, Halfmann Public Health Consulting, LLC
“For local health consultants, such as Halfmann Public Health Consulting, the AG’s Guide to Manufactured Housing Community Law has served as a valuable tool to understand the rights and responsibilities of both residents and community owners, ensuring safer and healthier manufactured housing communities. I applaud the AG’s Office for updating the Guide to better meet the needs of local health and these communities, empowering them to better navigate complex legal issues.”
Original source can be found here.