Photo courtesy Kit Basom

I have never seen this slender child before, but there is no mistaking the meaning of his gesture. When I open the front door to his timid knock, he looks up and points toward his open mouth.

He is hungry.

And I can see from his unnaturally red hair that he is not eating enough protein. I invite him in, talking quietly in English. He seems to understand my tone, although not my words. I look a bit frantically around my ill-provisioned kitchen (I am no cook) and come up with some soy cheese, a few grapes, and an apple. They disappear in moments.

As my little visitor leaves, I resolve to find a way to have some portable protein on hand, something that won’t spoil and that my little neighbors would like eating.

A plan emerges, and on a sunny Saturday, I set up two tables in the yard and put burrito ingredients in a line along them. As kids walk by and glance curiously into the yard, I invite them into the Burrito Factory. The first station is for hand washing. Then come the tortillas, the refried beans (homemade by my friend Mary), the roasted chicken, the cheese, and finally the ziplock bags for storage in my freezer. Business picks up quickly. Kids are moving down the assembly line, helping the little ones with the tricky folding, and then running back to the start of the line.

When we are done, we carry our armloads of burritos inside and set them in the formerly empty freezer. I point to the microwave and make sure they understand that they can stop by anytime they want and ask me to heat up a burrito for them.

For over a year, the kids come by, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups, and ask for burritos. Some seem hungry for the food. Others seem hungry for something more intangible. And I am glad they can find some of each at my home.

Is there anything more affordable than mobile home living?  Is there a better and safer place for your children to live and play than in a mobile home park?  Is there a better place to form a neighborly and cooperative community than in a mobile home park?  So what is the problem?

The source of the difficulty has been that the residents of the park own their own homes but must rent the pads that their homes stand on from a landowner.  What occurs is a conflict of ownership.  Laws and ordinances that cover ordinary rental situations or ordinary home ownership do not apply to owners and residents of mobile homes.

In Colorado, the owner of the property on which the mobile home sits can evict a family almost without cause and within a few days.  He can sell the property to a developer without adequate notice, who can then change the use of the park, again, without notice.  And all of this can happen, usually forcing the residents to move and forfeit all of the equity in their homes—which can range between $15,000 and $80,000, the entire life savings of most of the residents.

The park owner can raise the pad rent without limit and without justification, relentlessly chewing up a retiree’s income. As the law now stands, the owner of the park must provide water and sewage utilities but can at the same time refuse the city and county access to “his/her” property to inspect those very utilities for quality and serviceability.   In short, landowners hold in their hands the health, living, safety, and life-savings of their residents. Ownership rights are grossly out of balance.

Surely, by now, everyone in Boulder has heard about the struggle of the Orchard Grove community to keep their mobile home park affordable and livable.  That struggle goes on.  Recently some residents have done some research and found that most states in the U.S. have stronger and more equitable laws about mobile home owner rights than Colorado does.

Many other states have spelled out detailed “First refusal” or “Purchase Opportunity” rights when their park is going up for sale.  Some also require the landlord to reimburse moving expenses up to the amount of home equity if the residents are forced to move.  We have met with legislators and heard some of our strong, but reasonable, opposition and come up with a new bill for Colorado that will advance justice and equity for mobile home residents and landowners alike.

The good news is that the bill has passed through the State Senate Judiciary Committee and will go on to the Senate floor the first week in April.  We will be meeting with our opposition and are now working cooperatively for a bill that will help residents as well as landowners achieve what we all desire:  secure, happy, and healthy lives for all mobile home residents—and landowners. Legislative contacts tell us that, after a few minor and helpful amendments, the law should pass the Senate and the House before the end of the session in May.

Healthy cooperation and sensitivity to everyone’s needs may win the day yet!

Thanks to the insight and encouragement of Boulder’s City Council, Colorado Senate Bill SB 10-156, to enhance the rights of mobile home owners and dwellers, is before the Senate Judiciary committee.  The hard work and determination of residents of Orchard Grove Mobile Home Park in Boulder to survive as a mobile home park and to make the city aware of the value of mobile homes as a form of affordable housing for low income residents brought to light the need to update the legislation of mobile home parks in Colorado.  The City of Boulder helped move this forward by linking Orchard Grove residents with State Senator Rollie Heath & State Rep. Dickie Lee Hullinghorst who have now introduced SB 10-156  in the Colorado legislature.

This will be a step forward for Colorado, but before we get too self congratulatory it is important to remember that many states are way ahead of us.  It is critical to pass SB 10-156 and there is much further to go if we want to meet the standards set forward by other states.   Richard C. Williams, Socio-economist/Faculty of Regis University and resident of Orchard Grove notes that, “Over thirty states have stronger provisions to protect the ownership rights of mobile home residents than does Colorado’s old and outdated law.” His nationwide research shows stronger provisions in many states including the following:

• 21 states require an eviction notice of 90 days or more for any reasons other than chronic nonpayment of rent.  A few states require the landlord to pay relocation costs in all cases, including non-payment of pad rent, if the resident owns their mobile home.
• 12 states require the landlord to compensate the home owner for the value of the home if the tenancy is terminated due to a change in use and the tenant is unable to move the home.
• 15 states require a full year’s notice period to home owners if there is intent to change use.
• More than 30 states allow regular inspection and regulation of private utilities in mobile home parks, usually through county and/or city access.

It is a bit heart rending to realize that Senate Bill 10-156 includes things that are basic rights for most Colorado residents:  the right to consistent delivery of utilities and water and the right to gather in open spaces in the park.  A future bill to build upon SB 10-156 could include:  1) limits on pad rents (which is not the same as ordinary rent control), a provision that more than 30 other states have in their current laws.  This provision would address the “conflict of ownership” issue that is similar to that of condo ownership on rented land; and 2) it could meet the nationwide tend towards resident owned trailer parks.   Seventeen states have specific laws providing residents with an “opportunity to buy” their mobile home park if the landlord decides to put the park up for sale.

Kudos to Boulder for bringing the issue of mobile home owners rights forward.  Let’s get this bill into law and then set about strengthening the situation for low income residents of Colorado who live in mobile home across the state.

To read the bill go to http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/policyadvisor and then click on “State and Federal Legislative Matters” on the left hand side of the page.

To support the bill call your State Senator and ask her/him to support it.  Better yet call all the members for the Colorado Senate and tell them you support this bill and ask them to vote for it.