UPPER TOWNSHIP – Legislation that would limit rent hikes might be the answer for township mobile home park residents who are now facing a steep rent increase come June 1.
That’s what members of the Osprey Cove Mobile Home Park community were told by their two Assembly representatives at a recent meeting with the park’s owners held to discuss an upcoming 30% increase in their lot rents.
First District Assemblymen Antwan McClellan and Erik Simonsen are co-sponsors of a bipartisan bill approved by the Assembly and awaiting final action by the Senate. The Assembly-approved measure would set a 2% increase limit in a 12-month period; the companion bill in the Senate sets the cap at 3%, Simonsen said.
However, the new owners of the mobile home park, father and son David and George Branton, said at the meeting that they don’t believe 3% is a workable number for them. They also said 10% would not be enough; however, they were more amenable to talks starting at 15%, half the proposed increase.
If the legislation is signed by Gov. Phil Murphy before June 1, the amount of the increase might become a moot point. Simonsen said the hope was that the legislation would be signed before the increase went into effect.
The residents of the 110 units at Osprey Cove had received a written notice of the increase, which would bring their lot rents up to $925 per month. They also were given new leases to sign and advised that not signing the new lease would be tacit agreement with the lease and its conditions.
Residents said their current leases indicate their lot rents would only increase by 2.5%, or the consumer price index.
The owners balked at that number, and indicated instead their openness to starting talks at 15%.
“I would like to find common ground,” David Branton said. He said he would prefer not to go to court and spend money on legal fees.
The Brantons said there are expenses associated with maintaining a mobile or manufactured home community that have to be addressed. David Branton referred to a mobile home community in Upper Township, Pine Hill, which had raised the issue of double-digit rent increases in 2023.
He said that the average lot rent there is about $100 more than at Osprey Cove, and that Pine Hill doesn’t have a pool or clubhouse.
But one resident at the meeting said he didn’t care to hear what was being done at another mobile home park. Residents also complained about services such as landscaping and snow removal at Osprey Cove.
Greg Heffron, who raised the issue of the 30% increase at the April 28 Upper Township Committee meeting, said he did not want to see landscaping become “the issue.” He said, and was echoed by others in the room, that the increase in rent for people on fixed incomes was the main problem.
One resident said that the total rents at $925 would gross more than $1.2 million. Branton responded that the residents would be surprised to learn how little was left after expenses, including property taxes. He said anytime a property is sold the assessment is increased. He also cited the ever-increasing cost of services.
In response to some of the lower rent figures suggested by residents, George Branton said there was “no way” they could agree to an amount such as 10%.
The parties agreed that discussions would continue with a smaller group representing the Osprey Cove residents.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
