Apr 26, 2026
Mobile home parks, also known as manufactured home communities, like Tennessee’s Smoky Palms North, serve as a peaceful and affordable housing option for Americans, particularly seniors on fixed incomes.
But increasingly, private equity firms and investment companies are spending billions to buy up these communities — a move that’s often followed by a rise in rent and a drop in quality of living.
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In mobile home parks, residents who own their houses still pay rent for the land beneath them. For residents of Smoky Palms North, the recent purchase of their community brought an immediate rent hike of more than 100%, with one 18-year resident telling Knoxville’s Local 6 News that her monthly rent went “from $275 to $650 (1).”
In a letter to residents, the new owner acknowledged the increase but claimed it “brings the rates closer to market levels, allowing us to maintain the community.” Still, for residents on fixed incomes, the excuse rings hollow.
“My check is only $900 a month,” resident Lois Brooks said of her income. “If they are wanting [rent] to go up, I can’t pay it.”
Mobile home horror stories after private investors take over
The situation in Smoky Palms North is a familiar one among the roughly 22 million Americans living in mobile home parks (2) — about a third of whom are disabled, retired or unable to work (3).
While exact figures on private ownership are unavailable, the nonprofit watchdog Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) reported that in 2020 and 2021, institutional investors accounted for 23% of all manufactured home purchases (4). The Government Accountability Office said the total reached $9.4 billion (5) in 2021 alone.
Mobile homes in the U.S. sell for a median price of $141,450, compared to $410,000 for a single-family home (6), making them an attractive option for those needing affordable housing.
That affordability is also what draws investors. Tristan Hunter of Keel Team Real Estate Investments, which specializes in manufactured housing communities, noted that investors eye mobile parks as a source of affordable housing and consistent profits with lower overhead, given rent is most often paid for the land rather than the homes themselves (7). He added that scarcity increases demand, as zoning restrictions and local opposition have stifled new development, leaving supply essentially fixed.
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But research shows that, when large investors buy mobile home parks, higher rents are only one of the many problems that follow. A report on parks (4) run by Homes of America, a subsidiary of Alden Global Capital, documented contaminated water, sewage leaks, structural issues and neglected amenities in the community (8).
Elsewhere, residents reported unaffordable rent hikes and eviction threats (9), deteriorating amenities, questionable drinking water (10) and infestations of roaches and mold (11) in investor-owned parks.
Gustavo Espinosa, a community organizer in Virginia, told the local NPR outlet that residents in these communities face “a very precarious position” because many invested their life savings in their homes (12). If a lease is changed or not renewed, he said, residents can be forced out and risk losing that investment unless they are able to sell.
President Trump, meanwhile, has promised to address private investors buying up single-family homes, saying in January, “People live in homes, not corporations (13).” But that pledge does not appear to extend to mobile home communities.
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Trump’s promise doesn’t cover mobile home communities
From the start, it was unclear whether Trump’s plan to target private equity homebuyers would include manufactured homes.
PESP executive director Jim Baker responded at the time by saying the issue “goes far beyond ownership of single-family homes,” and urged lawmakers to include buyouts of manufactured housing communities (14).
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The bipartisan 21st Century ROAD Act, which aims to limit private investors from scooping up homes, has passed the Senate and is now under debate in the House (15).
While the bill includes provisions to make it easier to build more manufactured home communities, it does not offer protections against investor buyouts like those applied to single-family homes (16).
As a result, residents and community organizers continue to push back against private investors on their own. Some have found support at the state level.
In New Hampshire, Senate Democrat Maggie Hassan ramped up an investigation into the purchases of mobile parks in her state (17), telling NBC that residents “deserve fair rent, safe living conditions, and the ability to protect themselves from mistreatment (18).”
“Corporate investment firms,” she added, “still have a responsibility to meet these basic standards for each and every one of their residents.”
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
WATE (1); Amerisave (2); Health in Partnership (3); Private Equity Stakeholder Project (4); U.S. Government Accountability Office (5); Realtor.com (6); Keel Team (7); Health in Partnership (8); The Washington Post (9); Around Osceola (10); WCJB (11); VPM (12); BBC (13); Private Equity Stakeholder Project (14); PBS (15); Institute for Family Policy (16); Senator Hassan (17); NBC News (18)
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Mike Crisolago is a Staff Reporter at Moneywise with more than 15 years of experience in the journalism industry as a writer, editor, content strategist and podcast host. His work has appeared in various Canadian print and digital publications including Zoomer magazine, Quill & Quire and Canadian Family, among others. He’s also served as a mentor to students in Centennial College’s journalism program.
