IAM Local S6 Members Organizing Mobile Home Park Residents

For the past several weeks IAM Union Local S6 members Doug Hall and John Cabral have been organizing mobile park home residents to fight exploitative corporate owners and stabilize lot rents. Throughout the state, private equity firms and other large out-of-state investors have been buying up family-owned mobile home parks, deferring routine maintenance and increasing fees on the land beneath the homes. The campaign is being organized by the Maine Labor Climate Council, which has organized several mobile home parks to go to their local select boards and city councils to request rent moratoriums and rent stabilization ordinances. Hall and Cabral have been canvassing mobile home parks in Richmond, Dresden, Randolph, Pittston and Wiscasset.

“It’s been going really well. I would say 80 to 90 percent of the people we talk to are interested in getting involved,” said Cabral. “Even residents who say their landlord treats them well have expressed interest in attending town meetings to support their trailer park brothers and sisters over on the other side of town in winning rent stabilization ordinances.”

The pair of organizers have also met a number of union shipbuilders who live in the parks. Hall noted that residents at locally owned parks are generally satisfied with the way they are being treated. Residents in parks owned by out-of-state landlords often have the most concerns about lot fee increases.

“The majority of the residents we’ve met say they’re being treated alright, but they see how residents of other mobile home parks are being treated and support what we’re doing,” said Hall. “We’re having a meeting with residents of Dresden and Richmond tonight who are considering going to their local select boards with rent moratorium proposals.”

Cabral said a lot of the residents they have visited have expressed fear that their parks could end up being bought up by companies like the Legacy Communities LLC-owned Bay Bridge Estate in nearby Brunswick. A recent survey found that mobile home park residents, particularly at Bay Bridge Estate, face unique financial pressures through compounding fees. The town commissioned the study after hearing concerns from park residents about high lot fees and a lack of services. Bay Bridge Estates residents complained that the company now charges fees for additional adults or long-term guests, including for children once they turn 18. Residents also complained about high utility fees, especially after experiencing frequent water outages and having to hook up to the municipal water system as a result.

The report found that lot rents are $835 per month at Bay Bridge Estates compared to about $600 a month at other local parks. The study also found Bay Bridge Estates had the highest vacancy rates in town. About 78 percent of Bay Bridge Estate residents reported difficulty paying bills, 86 percent reported being worried about rent increases and 89 percent said they have had to cut back on other expenses to afford housing. By contrast, the report found that residents at Blueberry Fields Cooperative, a resident-owned community, reported the least amount of financial stress out of the three parks surveyed.

“The residents we’ve spoken to say they want to get ahead of the curve so what happened at Bay Bridge doesn't happen to them,” said Cabral.

He said the road conditions at one of the parks he visited, were “just horrible.” At another park they visited the owner simply divides the water bill for the entire park evenly among the residents, so a single person pays the same as a large household that uses much more water. Cabral encourages other union members to get involved to support these efforts and prevent further exploitation of park residents, many of whom are on fixed incomes.

“We need to put these greedy corporations and greedy investment groups in their place and make sure everybody in the state of Maine can live happy and secure lives."