With scattered talk off and on about the possibility of their MHC being sold or closed, the 200 residents of Easton Mobile Home Park in Easton, Mass., long at odds with owner Morgan Management, LLC, have now definitely learned Easton is for sale, according to wicked local. Following Morgan’s acquisition of the community in 2003 and spiking the rent, homeowners won a court-ordered rental freeze in 2005, but when it expired Aug. 2011 Morgan raised rents 33 percent. Two years ago the town filed a home rule petition with the state legislature to establish a rent control board, similar to ones in nearby towns, but it did not pass. Morgan notified some residents they can form a cooperative to buy the community. While the roads deteriorate, members of the homeowners association intend to meet with Morgan, town officials, and the Mass. Federation of Manufactured Housing to get a grasp on the situation. A 1993 state law requires MHC owners to pay for relocation costs if they close a community. In a story MHProNews posted here Feb. 11, 2012, Morgan is closing its Spruces Mobile Home Park in Williamstown, Mass., in the northwest corner of the state, for which the town is paying $600,000. Town officials there say the community is prone to flooding because of its proximity to the Hoosic River; residents say the owner installed too small of a drainage system.
