Are you developing a story about a recent resident purchase, trends, challenges or solutions related to the manufactured housing industry? Or researching a speech, white paper or similar project? Our expert staff and Network of affiliates provide technical assistance to more than 275 resident owned communities nationwide, making ROC USA® the national leader in resident ownership. Here, we offer quick facts about ROC USA, ROC USA® Capital and ROC USA® Network, a glossary of industry terms, media contacts, sources to interview, stories and visuals ready to share, and articles about ROCs and the manufactured housing industry.
For all media inquiries
email Mike Bullard or call (603) 513-2827.
On the go? Download our one-page media fact sheet.
ABOUT ROC USA
ROC USA Quick Facts
Founded: May, 2008 by three non-profits: New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, Prosperity Now, and Capital Impact Partners with sponsorship from NeighborWorks® America.
Mission: To make quality resident ownership viable nationwide and to expand economic opportunities for homeowners in manufactured (mobile) home communities.
ROC USA® Capital: ROC USA Capital is a U.S. Treasury certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). ROC USA Capital only lends to resident-owned communities that work with a Certified Technical Assistance Provider in ROC USA Network. These loans can be for community purchases, refinances, or community renovation projects, as well as a forgivable pre-development loan for communities considering resident ownership.
ROC USA® Network: ROC USA Network is a group of 12 regional non-profit affiliates that provide coaching and expertise to resident groups through the entire community purchase process and beyond. These technical assistance providers help resident groups assess a community purchase opportunity, work through the purchase, and successfully manage the resident-owned community for years to come. Network affiliates operate in 20 states.
Communities Converted to Resident Ownership: 287
Member Households Served: 19,710
Largest ROC: 430 homes, Halifax Mobile Home Estates Association, Halifax, Massachusetts
First ROC: Meredith Center Cooperative, Meredith, N.H. – purchased June 1, 1984
Newest ROC: Coopertiva Nueva Union, Leadville, Colo. – purchased December 31, 2021
ROCs financed by ROC USA Capital: 94 ($291 million)
Resident Ownership Basics
In a resident-owned community, homeowners form a non-profit business called a cooperative. Each household is a Member of the cooperative, which owns the land and manages the business that is the community. Members continue to own their own homes individually and an equal share of the land beneath the entire neighborhood.
In resident-owned communities:
- The cooperative purchases the community and operates it in a limited-equity structure.
- The Members elect a Board of Directors to run the community.
- Decisions are made democratically – each household has one vote.
- Profits from monthly site fees are reinvested into the community.
Watch this 77-second video that helps explain resident ownership.
Preferred Terminology
Common terms like trailer park, trailers, parks and mobile homes are outdated and stigmatic for the people who live there. Instead, please use the following terms:
- Manufactured home community
- Manufactured homes (or simply ‘homes’)
- Homeowners
Instead of using the term rent, use monthly site fee, especially when referring to Resident Owned Communities.
MEDIA coverage OF RESIDENT OWNED COMMUNITIES
No landlord: Mobile home community finds stability in self-government
DURANGO, COLO. – One sunny, cold morning last January, John Egan joined fellow mobile home park residents on a neighbor’s front porch. They needed to organize. But how?
Star Tribune: Fridley storm shelter doubles as learning hub and literacy center
FRIDLEY, Minn. – Natividad Seefeld could not believe it when she answered the phone and the caller told her he wanted to start a library at the Park Plaza Cooperative, a small manufactured home park just off Hwy.
KUNC: Hickory Village Mobile Home Park Is For Sale, And Its Residents Are Making A Bid
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Residents of Hickory Village Mobile Home Park in Fort Collins have long voiced concerns over infrastructure problems in their community. Now that the park is for sale, they’re vying for a chance to own
Colorado Sun: A new Colorado law gave them an opportunity to buy their mobile home park. They took it.
Boulder, Colo. – Earlier this week, Michael Peirce fielded a final flurry of emails wrapping up the exacting, detailed process of purchasing the Sans Souci mobile home park in Boulder County. The president of the Sans Souci Cooperative
Manufactured Housing Industry News
Denver Post: These Colorado mobile home residents tried twice to buy their park. Will the third time be the charm?
GOLDEN – When Ken Erwin first heard about efforts this past summer among his fellow homeowners to purchase their Golden mobile home park, he counted himself skeptical. Golden Hills’ new cooperative members weren’t business people, he thought. They
NPR: Why Are Investors Buying Up Mobile Home Parks And Evicting Residents?
For millions, owning a home in a mobile home park is an affordable housing option. But some companies are buying up parks, raising fees and evicting people. And the government is helping them do it.
Southerly Magazine: N.C. mobile home park residents forced to uproot their home, lives during eviction crisis
For more than half of his life, 38-year-old Santos Sevilla has lived in Wellington Park, a neighborhood of mobile homes in Wake Forest, N.C. He moved in at age 16 with his older brother, who bought the trailer
Planet Money: Mobile Home Parked
Mobile homes account for a lot of affordable housing. They can cost less than half of what other homes go for, and there are nearly 3 million households living in mobile home parks across the country. But even
OUR EXPERTS
The ROC USA Staff and members of the Board of Directors are experts and innovators in the manufactured housing space. If you are interested in interviewing someone listed below, please contact Mike Bullard.
Paul Bradley
President
Paul Bradley founded ROC USA in 2008 with three LLC Members, a national sponsor, and nine Network affiliates. Paul has more than 30 years of experience in community organizing, training, project management and financing in the resident-owned community market niche.
Michael Sloss
Managing Director,
ROC USA® Capital
Michael Sloss is responsible for directing all of ROC USA® Capital’s key business functions, including: capitalization, loan origination and closing, loan servicing and portfolio management. Michael has presided over ROC USA Capital since 2008 and is responsible for all lending, capital raising and portfolio management activities.
BRAND KIT
ROC USA logos are available for download as jpegs. If you would like a different version, please contact Mike Bullard.
PHOTOS
ROC USA is pleased to offer this collection of stock photos for your use. Please credit ROC USA when using. Information about each photo is available in greater detail by hovering over the photo.
