JAY — When the Select Board meets this Monday, it may have enough information to move ahead on a request to limit rent increases on mobile home lots.
At its Nov. 24 meeting, the board asked Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere to consult with the town’s attorney on whether state law allows Jay to regulate such rent hikes.
“I’m hoping to have the information back from our attorney in time for the meeting (Monday),” LaFreniere said Wednesday. “It’s complicated because other municipalities that have acted have different forms of government, so we need to find out just what we can do as a town with a Select Board (and town meeting and manager) form of government.”
Last month, LaFreniere said Jay has two possible paths: a moratorium for a set period or an ordinance outlining rules for rent increases. Either option would require approval at the annual town meeting or at a special town meeting called by the board.
At least three Maine cities have enacted moratoriums on mobile home lot rent increases.
Waterville’s moratorium runs into April, while those in Saco and Sanford expire this month.
LaFreniere said it is unclear whether a town has the same authority as cities to freeze rents.
In Jay, six of the 26 people at the last board meeting told selectmen about hardships following Oct. 1 rent increases — the second hike this year and, in most cases, larger than the typical $20 to $40 first-of-the-year raises.
Those who spoke at the meeting live in three mobile home parks: Lambert Street, with 13 lots; Hidden Circle, with 37; and Pine Haven, with at least 53.
All three parks are owned by New Riverside Farms LLC of Holmes Beach, Florida.
Ben Adrian is listed as the general partner of New Riverside Farms. In a brief telephone conversation Thursday, he said he would return a call to explain the rent increases. He did not call back.
The Oct. 1 rent increases cut deeply into some homeowners’ incomes.
Tanya Dwyer, who lives at Hidden Circle, said her rent rose $50, to $325 a month — an increase of more than 18 percent. Her disability income is about $670 a month. She said she works part time, but the pay does not cover the higher rent.
Dwyer said her septic tank, part of the rented lot, has needed pumping twice. She said the new owners told her the next time it requires pumping she would be charged $600.
“I can’t move,” she told a rally at the Local 14 Solidarity Hall just before the Select Board meeting. “My home is too old to be mobile. I own my own home, I just don’t own the land it’s on.”
Debbie Dalot, who lives at Pine Haven, told the board her park has been sold several times and the rent rose each time. She said the October increase was the largest.
“If the rent keeps going up, we’re going to be homeless,” she said, “and the town of Jay doesn’t have a place for us.”
Robert Valles, who lives at Hidden Circle, told the board he is a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder and has been living on disability since losing his job at a nursery. He said he has no other income.
Joanne Gray, 82, said her rent at Lambert Street rose Oct. 1 by $50, to $325 a month. It was $210 in 2014, so it has increased about 65 percent in 11 years — roughly half of that this year.
“Our owner used to live in the park,” she said. “Since the new owners in Florida took over, all maintenance has stopped. Trees are hanging down over the houses.”
The Maine State Legislature enacted a law requiring owners to enter mediation with lot renters if a rent increase is more than 1 percent above the rise in the consumer price index. More than half of the renters must request mediation for it to occur. The law took effect two days after Jay residents were notified of their rent increases, so it will not help them.
Renters in several parks around the state said letters from out-of-state owners blamed the law for the increases because it requires park owners to pay the cost of mediation.
In some towns, such as Arundel, which has the same town meeting–select board–manager government as Jay, mobile home park residents have begun mediation with their California-based landlord. The Arundel Select Board has told residents it has no authority to freeze rents.
Under a new Maine law, mobile home owners have another option. According to the legislative summary, the law “gives a group of mobile home owners or a mobile home owners’ association the right of first refusal to purchase a mobile home park that the owner of the mobile home park intends to sell.”
Owners of homes in parks in Bangor, Brunswick and Monmouth have exercised that option. But success is not guaranteed.
Homeowners in Friendly Village Park in Gorham have tried three times to buy their park from its out-of-state owner, each time offering more than the $22 million list price. Their most recent offer was $27 million — 22 percent more than the list price. Each time, the owner rejected the bid and now says it will not consider less than $29 million.
The homeowners said they cannot raise that much more and have ended their effort to buy the park.
Sharp increases in mobile home lot rents may be a national trend. Legislatures in Illinois, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Vermont and Washington are considering moratoriums or rent stabilization.
Maine has a new law requiring the Office of Policy Innovation to draft a model ordinance that would allow municipalities to stabilize rent increases on mobile home lots. The bill was introduced by Rep. Cassie Julia, D-Waterville.
By the time the policy office returns to the Legislature for the 2026 session, it may be too late for the Jay park residents to roll back the hikes.
The next Select Board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 8, at the Town Office.
