Maine moves to strengthen mobile home park oversight

Maine is in the process of adjusting how it regulates the manufactured housing industry and helps support residents of mobile home parks. The changes come as a growing number of communities across the state have been purchased by out-of-state investors and follow a report that found deficiencies in the state’s ability to respond to complaints. The Maine Manufactured Housing Board, which has been responsible for upholding mobile home park community standards and manufacturing quality for almost 50 years, had its last meeting in early June and was dissolved on July 29.

Its four-person staff has been moved out of the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation and placed under the relatively new Maine Office of Community Affairs, where it will continue investigating violations of state rules. While the new regulatory structure has yet to be fully defined, issues related to manufactured housing and the 480 mobile home parks registered with the state will be handled administratively within the office, rather than by an adjudicatory board that includes people in the manufactured housing industry. Mobile home residents and housing advocates are hopeful the move will create a more efficient way to address challenges related to mobile homes, seen as one of the last affordable housing options in the state.

But some who work in manufactured housing worry that cutting the board from the regulatory structure will mean losing industry knowledge. The board was established to ensure manufactured homes, better known as mobile homes, were safe and sanitary. It was responsible for setting and enforcing standards for construction and installation; overseeing licensing for housing manufacturers and mobile home parks; regulating warranties; investigating complaints; and inspecting parks for compliance with electrical, cleanliness and lot standards.

The nine-person board, appointed by the governor, was required by statute to include three members of the public, including a mobile home park resident, two manufactured home dealers, a mobile home park owner and a home builder, along with a professional engineer and a code enforcement officer. Staff consisted of an executive director, two housing inspectors and a secretary. A report from the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future published last December found its oversight lacking, and manufactured home owners …