Gov. Janet Mills proposed creating a $5 million fund to help residents of manufactured home parks purchase their communities when they go up for sale, as part of proposed state budget changes. The fund will help to protect residents from being pushed out of their homes or having their rents increase to unaffordable levels when a park changes ownership.
CDI’s New England Resident-Owned Communities (NEROC) Program, in partnership with Genesis Community Loan Fund, has been in talks with the Governor’s Office for several weeks to advocate for these funds, including CDI’s Executive Director Pam Zagorski who will be testifying on Monday, on behalf of NEROC, to support the budget allocation.
Thanks to Maine’s new Offer to Purchase law, since December, residents of four manufactured home parks in Maine – totaling more than 1,000 households – have been notified by their park’s owner of an intent to sell, according to the Governor’s office. CDI’s NEROC Program’s advocacy helped organize residents and legislators to create the Offer to Purchase law that went into effect in October 2023.
Under the Offer to Purchase law, once residents learn of the park owner’s intent to sell, they have 60 days to make a purchase offer and 90 days to secure financing after the signing of the purchase and sale agreement.
Gov. Mills’ proposed fund will provide low or no-interest financing to entities, such as resident cooperatives, to complement other financing options to support manufactured home park purchases in Maine.
Read the governor’s full announcement here: https://www.maine.gov/governor/mills/news/governor-mills-proposes-budget-change-package-investments-housing-child-care-nursing-homes
Please reach out to us for more information:
Pat Schwebler, Co-Program Director of CDI’s NEROC Program: pschwebler@cdi.coop
Nora Gosselin, NEROC’s Market and Acquisition Specialist: ngosselin@cdi.coop
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