In addition to increasing monthly site fees, residents of private- and investor-owned manufactured home communities often face another looming threat – community closure. Ten years ago, Esther Sullivan, author of “Manufactured Insecurity: Mobile Home Parks and Americans’ Tenuous Right to Place,” moved into two communities facing shut down to study the sociological impacts on the homeowners who lived there. She joins Ownership Matters to tell us about her experiences in those two communities, shares some stories about the residents she stayed connected with, and tells us more about what she’s working on these days (like testifying to the Federal Housing Finance Authority in July) as an advocate for homeowners in manufactured home communities.
Episode 15: Talking Manufactured Insecurity With Author Esther Sullivan
ROC USA, started in 2008, works with homeowners in resident-owned communities.
0:24 Episode introduction
Hosts Paul Bradley and Mike Bullard introduce today’s guest, Esther Sullivan, the author of the book Manufactured Insecurity: Mobile Home Parks and Americans’ Tenuous Right To Place. Esther is a huge advocate for homeowners in manufactured home communities. As research for her book, she moved into two manufactured home communities that were closing to uncover the sociological effects the closures had on the homeowners. Esther is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research focuses on poverty, housing and inequality.
2:16 Esther introduces herself
When Esther was 12, her family moved from an Appalachian town to Miami. In college, she majored in English and didn’t come to social sciences until later in life.
4:10 – What drew Esther’s interest to manufactured housing?
Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath is what initially alerted Esther to the role of housing and housing security. She attended graduate school to study housing. She recalls a particular formative experience of seeing a housing community be erased and abandoned. The last 12 years of her research has aimed to get to the bottom of why and where these communities close and the after-effects.
7:00 – Esther describes the two communities she moved to during her research
There was no academic literature on mass evictions due to community housing closures, so Esther decided to do it herself. The various questions she had, such as how residents can try to salvage their home or find new housing, could only really be answered by being embedded into a community. She first moved into a 55+ park of 110 homes in south Florida for one year before the community was permanently closed. She describes it as a wonderful, safe, and neighborly community which made residents feel as if they lived in paradise. In Texas, the communities were primarily comprised of recent Latino immigrants and families. The closures affected many smaller communities within the Houston suburb.
14:30 – The role of cities in manufactured housing insecurity
In Esther’s research, she has found that cities are complicit with insecurity we see in manufactured housing communities. They are generally not protective of these communities in their jurisdiction, further contributing to these processes.
15:00 – What became of the evicted homeowners?
The impacts of these closures spread far beyond just the housing. Many residents have lived in these places for decades and have formed strong attachments to their communities. Aside from the severe emotional damage, there were also health impacts including high blood pressure and increased use of prescription drugs. Additionally, there were high economic costs.
17:40 – Were residents able to move their homes?
In Esther’s research, about ⅔ of these residents impacted by the closures were able to move their homes. However, this amounted to serious cost and some homes were severely damaged from the move. Many of those unable to move their homes were forced to rely on precarious housing in shelters. One former homeowner became homeless.
22:50 – What constitutes precarious housing?
Esther explains precarious housing refers to things such as: not having a lease, living with family, unhoused, motel living, etc. In many cases, living in a manufactured community and renting land can be a stable, long-term solution…until it’s not. Often, residents are the last to know that their situation is becoming unstable. The influx of corporate owned communities is a real danger to residents.
24:50 – How helpful are relocation funds?
Several states have put relocation funds into place to help homeowners amidst this situation. Esther has learned in her research that it is the structure of these funds which really matters. In Oregon, residents can get cash assistance proportional to the true costs of moving a home. In Florida, the funds did not cover the actual costs, and corporate communities offered to pay the difference should homeowners move into their communities. Those who accepted the offer saw their rents double and triple compared to their old parks. There are no relocation funds in Texas at all.
28:20 – What did Esther learn about relocation?
Ultimately, any type of improvements done to a home can make it more difficult and even impossible to move in the future. This came as a serious shock to residents who had cared for and invested in their homes.
29:44 – What has Esther been up to lately in her work?
Much of Esther’s work now is about translating her research findings to people. From local levels to state levels, she often informs legislatures on the logistics of manufactured homes. She has also turned her attention to the impacts of natural disasters have on manufactured housing.
32:50 – Esther’s findings on the structure of manufactured homes
Houston expected to see all kinds of damage to manufactured housing parks after the floods of Hurricane Harvey. However, because manufactured housing is naturally elevated 3 ft off the ground, the homes were protected.
36:00 – How Esther has funded her research
In the year leading up to moving into the manufactured housing community, Esther spent much of her time applying for grants to fund her research. Grants are crucial for social scientists to be able to do the work they do.
38:35 – The need for national legislation
It is Esther’s dream to have national legislation around manufactured housing to acknowledge its role within the affordable housing space. The top three most crucial elements of this law would be opportunity for resident purchase, longer notice periods to give residents time to organize, and more statewide homeowners’ associations.
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Thoughts? Questions? Stories? Send them to ownershipmatters@rocusa.org.
Episodio 16: Proyectos de infraestructura y refinanciamiento en Cranberry Village
Fundada en el 2008, ROC USA trabaja con propietarios de casas en comunidades de residentes propietarios.
0:10 Introducción del episodio
Los anfitriones Paul Bradley y Mike Bullard comienzan el episodio de una vez anunciando a la invitada de hoy, Brenda Bakal. Brenda es la presidenta de la junta de la Asociación de Residentes Cranberry Village en Carver, Massachusetts. Cranberry Village es una encantadora comunidad de residentes propietarios para personas de cincuenta y cinco años en adelante, y recientemente emprendió un par de proyectos importantes: refinanciamiento y el inicio de un proyecto de
reemplazo de la infraestructura del agua de 4.4 millones de dólares. Brenda y su esposo se mudaron a la comunidad un par de años después de que fue adquirida por los residentes, y hoy nos acompaña en el podcast para hablarnos de lo que le atrajo de la comunidad, lo que la motivó a postularse a la presidencia de la cooperativa, ¡y más!
1:03 Más contexto introductorio
Pero antes de comenzar la entrevista, Paul y Mike quieren proporcionar más información de contexto sobre Cranberry Village y sobre Brenda. Cranberry Village fue parte de un acuerdo entre dos comunidades que, en su momento, fue la compra más cara financiada por ROC USA. Este requirió visitas de algunas de las personas más importantes de ROC USA para hacer que los propietarios pudieran confiar en la viabilidad del trato y que no era demasiado bueno para ser verdad; ROC USA ha trabajado de cerca con la comunidad durante esta transición, así como también a través de cambios importantes desde entonces. Brenda, como propietaria de pequeño negocio jubilada, se mudó a Cranberry Village en el 2015. Ella estaba familiarizada con las comunidades de residentes propietarios y buscaba específicamente mudarse a una cuando salió a buscar casa.
2:04 Brenda nos habla sobre ella misma y la comunidad
Brenda da más detalles, explicando que se mudó de vuelta a su nativo Massachusetts desde Pensilvania, ya que había visto los beneficios que sus padres sacaron de vivir en una comunidad de casas móviles de residentes propietarios. Brenda quería asequibilidad y estar libre de un arrendador, y encontró exactamente lo que estaba buscando en Cranberry Village. Esta le ofrece a ella y a sus compañeros residentes una sensación de control sobre sus propios destinos. Ellos invierten en su comunidad, tienen voz y voto sobre los gastos y reglas, y pueden hacer trabajo voluntario que sea significativo para ellos. Además, tienen la oportunidad de crear conexiones importantes dentro del parque de 280 casas.
9:02 Hitos y motivación
En los últimos años han habido algunos hitos importantes en Cranberry Village. Uno está relacionado a la infraestructura, ya que la cooperativa eliminó unos 2,000 árboles a fin de brindar una mejor protección contra las tormentas. Con tantas cosas que están sucediendo, tenía sentido que Brenda considerara postularse para presidenta, ya que es una persona muy práctica, a la que le fascina saber lo que está pasando, y sabía que sería mejor involucrarse que quejarse desde afuera. Brenda tocó a la puerta de miembros de la comunidad, construyó una plataforma basada en sus preocupaciones, y desde su elección ha luchado para hacer que las operaciones de la junta sean transparentes.
15:43 Un proyecto de refinanciamiento
Cambiando de tema hacia otro hito importante de la comunidad, Paul y Mike quieren escuchar más sobre el proyecto de refinanciación del Cranberry Village. Brenda explica que la comunidad decidió trabajar en tres objetivos: acabar con su segunda hipoteca (lo cual tenía un componente de participación del arrendador), explorar la posibilitad de obtener un préstamo para la construcción, y mantener el alquiler igual o al menos con un aumento mínimo. Han logrado cumplir sus objetivos, han puesto en marcha planes para completar un cambio importante en la infraestructura del agua mientras sólo aumentan el alquiler por 20 dólares, y han aumentado considerablemente el valor total de su comunidad. La comunidad ha demostrado flexibilidad y cuidado para los residentes individuales, trabajando de maneras únicas durante la pandemia de COVID-19, respetando los acuerdos con personas mayores de 79 y 89 años y tratando de manejar los costos.
25:09 Asume la Función de Mantenimiento
Entrando en más detalle sobre el proyecto de infraestructura del agua, Brenda, Paul y Mike hablan de los pasos que estuvieron involucrados desde escoger un ingeniero para el proyecto, a ejecutar los estudios preliminares y encontrar a un contratista para completar el plan final, hasta trabajar para conseguir el financiamiento necesario. Había muchas partes en movimiento, y la comunidad completa tenía que darle seguimiento al progreso y aprobar el proyecto. ROC USA ha estado ayudando a la comunidad con el refinanciamiento y Paul y Mike están orgullosos de estar involucrados con una comunidad que ha demostrado (de manera muy impresionante) porqué las comunidades de residentes propietarias son beneficiosas y las cosas maravillosas que pueden lograr.
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