To make an offer, mobile home residents must meet certain legal requirements under the 2020 law, House Bill 1201. They must form an association of homeowners, secure binding finance commitments, and submit a purchase and sale agreement to the landlord.<\/p>\n
It was a daunting task, Egan said. The resident group did not know the questions to ask or the steps to take.<\/p>\n
Most other residents supported the idea but didn\u2019t bet on success. The biggest challenge was the price. At the beginning of the process, residents understood the going rate to be about $13.9 million. They declined to share the final selling price because of contractual obligations.<\/p>\n
The La Plata County Assessor\u2019s Office said the 2020 assessed value of the mobile home park was about $8.2 million. Strive Communities, the current corporate owner, bought the park for about $9 million in 2018.<\/p>\n
There was also another potential buyer, a company in the process of taking over Strive\u2019s multi-state assets including River View.<\/p>\n
Coral Smith, a River View resident of three years, said she used to tell other residents: \u201cIf we don\u2019t try, we\u2019re never going to succeed or fail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Within days of receiving the sale notice, Hinkle contacted Thistle, a Boulder County housing nonprofit, for help.<\/p>\n
The nonprofit is certified by ROC USA to help mobile home residents become resident-owned communities. It provides guidance and bundles together financing for residents seeking ownership. That move was critical to their success, residents said.<\/p>\n
By January, about a month into their 90 days, River View residents formed a cooperative, required by Thistle to include at least 75% of River View\u2019s approximately 116 households. More than 80% joined, Egan said. The resident group, mostly retirees, stepped into leadership roles on the board.<\/p>\n
The residents adopted a set of interim bylaws, using a template provided by Thistle, and got a federal tax EIN. Thistle helped them secure financing from local and national lenders through ROC Capital, a community development financial institution that exclusively lends to similar communities seeking ownership.<\/p>\n
By late February, with about a month left before their deadline, they were ready to submit an offer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will say, it was incredibly important to us to accommodate the residents\u2019 wishes,\u201d said Jayson Lipsey, Strive\u2019s chief operating officer. \u201cThey\u2019ve truly just done a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n
One last step: a vote among the Animas View MHP Co-op members. They needed 80% of the co-op to approve any sale agreement. On March 20, the co-op held a party with lawn chairs and pizza to take the vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the defining moment. That was what we\u2019ve been working for since day one,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt was the longest 10 minutes ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
The agreement passed with 90% support, board members said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a really cool moment. \u2026 I got to announce the results, and I said, \u2018looks like y\u2019all just bought a trailer park.\u2019 Everybody just exploded,\u201d Egan said.<\/p>\n
River View is the first community that has successfully pursued ownership with Thistle\u2019s help under the new law, said Andy Kadlec, the nonprofit\u2019s program director.<\/p>\n \u201cI was so proud and happy for this group. We\u2019re only here to help \u2013 it\u2019s really a success for the community,\u201d Kadlec said.<\/p>\n Since 2018, Thistle has helped four other Colorado mobile home communities go under contract for ownership, three of which have already closed. More communities want information, and local governments are reaching out to preserve a diversity of housing stock in their areas, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOther than housing preservation, it\u2019s kind of shifting the structure of power,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re empowering them to have control over their housing destiny.\u201d<\/p>\n River View residents expect to close on the deal in June, but challenges remain.<\/p>\n Residents currently pay about $708 per month in lot rent to Strive, but when they take ownership, they anticipate increasing their rent to about $850. That\u2019s the \u201cworst-case\u201d scenario.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard,\u201d said Dan Hunt, a retired property manager and the co-op\u2019s operations manager. \u201cThere\u2019s some people that think they\u2019re going to have to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n The board has set a goal to ensure 100% of current residents have the financial support necessary to remain in the park after the transition and rent increase.<\/p>\n They have another 90 days to come up with additional funding, like grants for site improvements or loan financing, to bring down ownership costs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe point of this is to stabilize rents. If we do have a rent bump, it should stay stable for 10 years or so,\u201d said Karen Pontius, a retired air traffic controller and the co-op\u2019s secretary.<\/p>\n That would not have been the case if corporate ownership continued, she said. The park was family-owned until 2015 when MHP Funds bought it. Since then, the rent has increased about 102%, from about $350, Pontius said.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a new trend at River View: people coming together to help each other out. Some residents have volunteered to contribute to a community rental assistance program, Egan said.<\/p>\n Others have volunteered to do maintenance tasks, to start on grounds beautification projects or to help others fix up the exterior of their homes.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore now, we were just a bunch of people who lived in a mobile home park,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of a sudden we have a community here. \u2026 We know each other\u2019s names.\u201d<\/p>\n Their advice to other residents in mobile home parks: get to know your neighbors, even before a park goes up for sale. For owners: get to know the 2020 law.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t waste a single moment. Stay the course, and just do your darnedest,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n