STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – Residents from manufactured home communities across the region came together on Sunday for a meeting about climbing costs and deteriorating living conditions.
The meeting follows Local 4 reporter Kyla Russell’s series of reports spotlighting some issues impacting the neighborhoods.
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Most recently, Local 4 covered an issue facing the Rudgate Manor neighborhood in Sterling Heights. The park has seen a near 85% increase in lot rent since the current owners took over, according to resident records.
When an estimated 20 million people live in mobile home parks across the nation, residents say the rising prices are difficult because a large portion is retired and on a fixed income.
On Sunday, residents took their concerns to local and state elected officials on both sides of the aisle.
“That’s a boon for us, because maybe there’s a chance that they will recognize that this is not a partisan issue,” Theo Gantos with Manufactured Housing Action said. He attended the meeting Sunday.
Gantos also highlighted the reality that many of the neighborhoods are owned by private equity companies.
“You only get that kind of investment and pay yourself a substantial amount of money, because they get paid for doing all of this, is by gouging,” Gantos said.
Neighbors say the two biggest items causing them issues are lot rent prices and the cleanliness of the water.
Lot rent is the price you pay just to have the home, that many residents own, actually on the land it sits on.
“A lot of these companies are coming in and buying these mobile home parks, raising the rents, and kicking people out and the residents really don’t have any way to be able to transact anything that’s going on,” Mike Whitty, the director of Mr. Mike’s Neighborhood and MobileHomeResident.com, said.
Additionally, residents say aging parts are leading to liquid that isn’t safe to be around. That’s why they are pushing for Senate Bill 46, which was introduced in 2025.
“It would basically say the people that already have the expertise, have the budget, have the power of doing every other kind of work, will do this too,” Gantos said.
“What is it like to be at a meeting like this and to hear some of these concerns really first hand?” Local 4’s Kyla Russell asked elected officials at the meeting.
“This is the core of public service,” Paul Gieleghem, the Clinton Township Supervisor, said. “This is what we all ran for office to do. To be able to advocate for people and help solve problems and hearing these problems firsthand is essential to developing solutions.”
Legislators say they walked away from the meeting with several deliverables and will work to sort out what issues fall into local versus state jurisdiction.