HUDSON, FL (WFTS) — Many people choose manufactured or mobile homes because they can offer a more affordable path to homeownership. But for those who own their homes while renting the land underneath them, rising lot rents are creating new financial pressures.
Harry Moniz has lived in the Club Wildwood mobile home community in Hudson for about four years.
He enjoys spending time tinkering with his model trains on his patio. What he doesn't enjoy is watching the cost of living in his community continue to climb.
“Every year it goes up. In the contract it says they have a ceiling of 6%,” he told Tampa Bay 28.
When Moniz moved into the community, he says his lot rent was about $675 a month. Today, he pays $850, and he says another increase will soon push that amount close to $900.
For Moniz and some of his neighbors, those increases can force difficult decisions.
“There’s a lot of good people here, and they are all tight," he said. "You know you’ve gotta decide if you are going to buy food? Am I going to get my medication? What’s it going to be? You gotta pay your rent.”
Residents across Tampa Bay report similar concerns.
After Tampa Bay 28 reported last month on a Zephyrhills man struggling with rising lot rent, several viewers contacted us with similar stories.
Pasco County
New law could help mobile home residents struggling with rising lot rent costs
Linda, who lives in Pinellas County, wrote that she is on disability and a fixed income.
Another woman told Tampa Bay 28 that her sister's lot rent has climbed to $760 a month. She believes rising rents are slowly driving seniors out of mobile home communities.
We also heard from people in Manatee County, Lakeland and Clearwater who expressed similar concerns about the increasing cost of renting the land underneath homes they own.
Andrew Rumbach, an urban planner who has spent years researching manufactured housing with the Urban Institute, says one factor changing the industry is investment firms purchasing mobile home parks.
“Not all private equity is bad. Some private equity has upgraded these parks, but in many instances there’s a more predatory kind of investment where they are looking to maximize their profit,” Rumbach said.
Earlier this year, bills were introduced in both the Florida House and Senate that would have required mobile home park owners to justify certain rent increases.
Neither bill made it out of committee. Sponsors have said they plan to pursue protections again in future legislative sessions.
Rumbach says some other states have taken different approaches to rising lot rents.
“Places like New York have started to take bigger steps toward protecting people by actually putting caps on the amount of increases year over year," he said. "I understand why the park owners say that’s unreasonable and can put them out of business, but it’s such a tough fight. It’s such a tough conversation.”
Sun Communities owns Club Wildwood.
Information published on the company's website acknowledges that rent increases can affect residents' long-term financial planning.
Sun Communities advises residents to budget for potential increases, understand their legal rights and carefully review their lease agreements.
For Moniz, however, the question is how much longer he can afford the increases while remaining in the community he now considers home.
“I got a lot of friends here," he said. "I don’t want to leave. But what are you going to do?”
Share Your Story with Erik
For more than 15 years, Erik Waxler has called Pasco County home. He’s dedicated to helping his neighbors from New Port Richey to Dade City solve problems and celebrating those who help others. Share your ideas and tips with Erik below.
.
'My heart breaks': Woman describes helping injured students after deadly school bus crash in Polk County
A woman on her way to work Monday morning found herself helping injured Winter Haven High School students after a school bus crash that killed two people.
