PETERSBURG – In recent times, residents of mobile home or manufactured home communities have appealed to municipal governments to help them fend off double-digit lot rent increases.
At the Monday, April 28, Upper Township Committee meeting, residents of Osprey Cove Mobile Home Park told the committee the management was raising their lot rent 30%. Osprey Cove is a 110-unit, 55-and-over community on Route 9 in Ocean View.
Resident Greg Heffron told the Herald that the large increase came after the property was acquired by a new owner, David Branton.
Heffron said at the meeting that the increase comes as a blow to the people who hoped to retire in what was once considered an affordable mode of housing.
“Some people can’t sustain the increase,” Heffron said.
He said his rent was being raised to $925, which works out to an increase of 30%.
“Is the committee aware of the increase? Is the committee aware of any caps?” Heffron asked.
He said rent increases at Osprey Cove were regular, but previously were more reasonable than the 30% proposed.
Committeeman Tyler Casaccio asked Heffron if he had a breakdown of his rent increases, but he did not have them at the time. Speaking to the Herald on April 29, Heffron said he and his wife bought their unit in August 2019, when the lot rent was $560 per month.
The lot rent has increased each year since 2021. On May 1, 2021, the Heffrons’ rent increased by 3% to $576 per month; on May 1, 2022, the rent went up 4% to $600; on June 1, 2023, the rent increased by 7% to $639, and on June 1, 2024, the rent jumped by 12% to $714.
According to a letter the Heffrons received dated April 25, the rent will increase $211 to make it an even $925 per month. Their rent hikes average out to more than 11% a year over the five years, or a total 56% increase between 2021 and 2025.
“My initial concern was over the large increase, but we have also had increases every year,” Heffron said. “This last one seems like a money grab. What’s to stop him?”
The dozen or so residents of Osprey Cove who attended the meeting are hoping for legislation to control the increases. Changes to municipal codes have been suggested and even considered by some municipalities, but none has taken action over the last two years.
In 2023, the issue of rent control for mobile home parks was raised in Upper, Middle and Lower townships. Upper considered the idea after residents of the Pine Hill mobile home park complained of unreasonable lot rent increases. The township committee took no action on the matter.
The Lower Township Council heard from residents of the Shawcrest Mobile Home Community, but determined it did not have a role in what it considered a landlord/tenant dispute. A lawsuit was filed on Dec. 31, 2024, demanding that the property owner, Legacy Property Management, show cause for raising the rent 42% over three years.
Superior Court Judge James Pickering ruled that the case could remain in the Law Division, rather than be heard in Landlord/ Tenant Court. The case is still waiting to go to trial.
Middle Township, which has had a rent control ordinance for mobile home parks, tweaked its ordinance in December 2023 when the ordinance was restructured to limit lot rent increases to 3.5% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
Mobile home park residents are hoping that a bill that has been passed by the Legislature, A3361, which restricts annual rent increases to 3% over a 12-month period, will be signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, who has not yet done so.
Joseph Feola, another Osprey Cove resident, would like to see the bill enacted. He moved in five years ago, when his unit was only six months old, and he has seen all the rent increases that Heffron mentioned. He said he is looking at a similar increase, also bringing his rent to $925. Feola worries about some of his neighbors, who are struggling on Social Security.
“I hope the legislation will bring relief next year,” he said. “Many of us are on fixed incomes, and I understand costs going up, but give us a percentage we can live with.”
Feola said there is one resident who is only receiving $1,300 per month in Social Security. Heffron said there is a woman, maybe the same person, who might have to leave when the rent increase comes through. He said she moved in when the lot rent was $560 per month and she could afford it.
Heffron said the leases when some of the residents moved in had a clause saying there was a 2.5% cap on “HOA” fees. But he said there is no actual homeowners association.
“That was removed from subsequent leases,” he said.
Heffron, a retired Air Force master sergeant, said and his wife received a Notice to Quit, meaning their prior lease was being terminated and a new lease, along with new rules at the higher lot rent rate, should be signed by June 1. He said the letter stated that if the owner remains in possession of the rental property without signing the lease it will be taken as their accepting the lease.
At the end of the meeting, Casaccio gave his card to Heffron so they could discuss the matter at a later date.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
