On Tuesday, April 21, Minnesota Senate Democrats approved a partisan “Manufactured Home Residents Bill of Rights” that would make numerous changes to the operations of manufactured home parks. This legislation, Senate File 2691, contains a controversial provision requiring lot rent increases to “be reasonable” and capped at 3% of the rent per month in the prior year.
During the floor debate, Sen. Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls) criticized the legislation for imposing strict rent control. “This legislation is another example of a Democrat policy that ultimately harms the people it is meant to help and makes housing less stable and less affordable,” said Dahms. “The reality is, if we’re going to point fingers, we have to point them at us. It’s called rules, regulations, taxes, inflation, and raising energy and insurance costs. (Democrat) legislators are the ones who have driven those costs, nobody else.”
This legislation restricts property rights and risks reducing the quality of services for residents. Manufactured home parks often have aging private infrastructure, such as roads, water systems, and storm shelters, that require significant investment to maintain. Limiting rent increases may make it harder for park owners to fund necessary improvements, and even when increases are allowed for health and safety reasons, the added costs and legal risk may still discourage needed upgrades.
