When residents of manufactured home parks scattered throughout Greater Minnesota encounter threats to their housing, they often turn to HPP for help. Residents of Northern Terrace MH Park in Ely found themselves faced with the closure of their park at Christmas time based on very short notice. HPP sued on their behalf and obtained a court order ruling that the park closure notice violated state law. The result has been an indefinite extension of the park closing, giving residents the time to plan for the future.
In the case of Edgetown MH Park in Elbow Lake, the town’s hospital purchased the MH Park in order to close it and turn it into a parking lot for the hospital. When contacted by the residents, HPP discovered that the hospital was negotiating move-out arrangements with the residents which not only violated state law but which also deprived the residents of the significant financial payments due them under the federal Uniform Relocation Act. Despite knowledge of these requirements, neither the hospital nor the federal Rural Development Agency funding the hospital’s acquisition had taken any steps to provide residents their relocation rights and payments. As of this writing, HPP is working to ensure residents get all that they are entitled to under state and federal law.
In addition to direct actions to block illegal park closings, HPP also continues to provide a wide variety of assistance on financial, tax and legal issues to park residents and the community organizations working with them.