City Council Offers Resolution in Support of Manufactured Housing Residents

At its meeting on Feb. 13, 2024, the North Liberty City Council unanimously pass a resolution in support of manufactured home residents organizing, calling for fixes to state law, fairness in lot rents and increases, and to allow local entities to peruse local solutions.

Resolution in Support of Manufactured Housing Park Residents

WHEREAS, residents of manufactured housing parks in our community have alerted City of North Liberty staff and elected officials to alarming increases in their lot rent, coupled with reductions and deficiencies in park maintenance, and

WHEREAS, residents of manufactured housing parks in our community have protested the relative lack of protections available to them under state law, including eviction without cause; and

WHEREAS, the City Council of North Liberty recognizes that our community’s housing costs have outpaced local incomes, and that manufactured homes have traditionally been of vital importance as one of the most affordable sources of safe, decent housing; and

WHEREAS, the City Council of North Liberty recognizes that residents of manufactured housing parks support our economy and community, provide many of the services and work that our local economy needs to thrive; and

WHEREAS, the City Council of North Liberty recognizes that to ensure fairness across our City and our state, leaders at all levels of government and throughout the community need to work together to guarantee residents of manufactured home parks stability, safety, and security.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORTH LIBERTY, IOWA, AS FOLLOWS:

We see and hear manufactured housing park residents as they speak out on the unfairness that has become a part of their lives and threatens their homes; and

We offer gratitude to manufactured housing park residents for the work they do to organize and speak out, often despite concerns about how such action might also threaten their ability to stay in their homes; and

We add the voice of the City of North Liberty to the calls for the owners of manufactured housing parks in and around our community to reduce the amount and frequency of rent increases, restore park maintenance and other services to park residents that they previously relied upon; and

We add the voice of the City of North Liberty to the calls for State elected officials to fix state laws to address the unfairness that makes so many of our residents vulnerable to unscrupulous practices; and

We call upon state lawmakers to restore the ability of local communities to exercise home rule and remove barriers to the enactment of local ordinances that would accomplish the above list of goals; and

We support ongoing efforts by local governments to pursue ways to improve the safety and stability of residents in manufactured housing parks.