Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

                                                                  APPROVED                  CHAPTER
                                                                  JUNE 20, 2025                  399
                                                                 BY GOVERNOR               PUBLIC LAW
                                  STATE OF MAINE
                                           _____
                           IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
                        TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
                                           _____
                                 H.P. 1150 - L.D. 1723
An Act to Amend the Laws Governing Manufactured Housing Communities
              to Prevent Excessive Rent and Fees Increases
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
    Sec. 1. 10 MRSA §9093, sub-§2, as repealed and replaced by PL 2023, c. 594, §1
and affected by §13, is amended to read:
    2. Increases or changes. The mobile home park owner or operator shall give at least
30 days' written notice to all tenants before changing any rules, except that any notice of
an increase in rent or fees must be consistent with the notice requirements for residential
estates in section 9093-B and in Title 14, sections 6015 and section 6016.
    Sec. 2. 10 MRSA §9093-B is enacted to read:
§9093-B. Manufactured housing community increase in lot rent and fees
    1. Lot rent and fees; notice requirement. An owner of a manufactured housing
community shall provide notice of an increase in lot rent or fees no less than 90 days before
the effective date of the increase to the owner of a manufactured home in the community.
    2. Notice contents. The notice under subsection 1 must include:
    A. The name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the owner of the
    manufactured housing community;
    B. The amount of the increase in rent or fees, in dollars, and the type of fee increased;
    C. The average lot rent and fees by the type of fee, as a dollar amount, for a
    manufactured housing community with equivalent services and amenities in the area
    at the time of the notice;
    D. The average lot rent, calculated pursuant to paragraph C, increased by 1% above
    the Consumer Price Index for the Northeast Region, or its successor index, as published
    by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor
    agency, in dollar amounts, referred to in this section as "the allowed lot rent increase";
    E. The average fee for each type of fee, calculated pursuant to paragraph C, increased
    by 1% above the Consumer Price Index for the Northeast Region, or its successor
                                    Page 1 - 132LR0849(03)
    index, as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
    Statistics or its successor agency, in dollar amounts, referred to in this section as "the
    allowed fee increase"; and
    F. A statement of the manufactured home owner's right to request mediation and the
    requirements to make a request.
     3. Request for mediation. If the dollar amount of the proposed lot rent increase is
above the allowed lot rent increase or the dollar amount of the proposed fee increase is
above the allowed fee increase for the type of fee increased, owners of manufactured homes
in the housing community may request the proposed lot rent or fee increase be subject to
mediation, if:
    A. A number of owners representing 51% or more of the households in the community
    sign a written request for mediation; and
    B. The written request is mailed, by certified mail, to the owner of the manufactured
    housing community within 90 days of the date of the notice required by subsection 1.
     4. Mediation. Within 15 days of the date of the notice under subsection 3, paragraph
B, the parties shall mutually select an independent 3rd-party mediator to facilitate the
discussion of the proposed lot rent or fee increase. Within 30 days of the date the request
for mediation was mailed under subsection 3, the parties shall meet with the mediator for
the purpose of attempting to resolve the dispute. The owner of the manufactured housing
community shall pay all costs for the mediator and the mediation. If the owner of the
manufactured housing community acts in bad faith with respect to the request for mediation
or the mediation process, the lot rent or fee increase may not take effect for at least 6 months
from the date the request for mediation is mailed under subsection 3. Failure of the owner
of the manufactured housing community, or the owner's authorized representative, to
participate in mediation, is an example of bad faith.
   For purposes of this section, "manufactured housing community" has the same
meaning as in section 9081, subsection 2, except that in this section "manufactured housing
community" includes a mobile home park.
                                     Page 2 - 132LR0849(03)
Statutes affected: 
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 399: 10.9093