By KATHY DOBBINS, Special to the Gazette

Maine’s manufactured‑home communities are facing pressures that many towns and cities can no longer afford to ignore. When municipalities choose not to adopt basic resident‑protection measures—such as rent‑stabilization ordinances or guardrails on pass‑through utility charges—the consequences fall directly onto residents and, ultimately, onto local taxpayers.

Across the state, residents are experiencing steep, repeated increases in lot rents and fees with no protections in place. These are not luxury communities; they are some of the last remaining sources of naturally affordable housing in Maine. When costs rise faster than wages or fixed incomes, families are pushed into impossible choices month after month.

Without local action, towns should expect to see more residents advocating publicly for relief and more households turning to General Assistance simply because their money no longer goes as far as it used to. This is not speculation—it is a predictable outcome of inaction.

We all understand that mobile home parks are a business, and businesses make money. But when the profits generated from Maine residents do not stay in Maine, that becomes a direct problem for our communities.

If these equity firms were locally owned—if the revenue from lot rents circulated back into our local economy, our infrastructure, and our tax base—this conversation would look very different. Instead, we are watching the opposite happen.

Take Saco as a clear example.

Blue Haven Mobile Home Park’s majority ownership is held by the BRT Charitable Foundation, a California‑based nonprofit with tax‑exempt status. They do not pay state or federal taxes, and their reported donations and contributions are made entirely in California. Nothing we have seen indicates that any portion of the profits generated from Saco residents are being reinvested here in Maine.

When out‑of‑state equity firms extract revenue from Maine communities without reinvesting in local infrastructure, services, or the residents who generate that revenue, the burden shifts directly onto municipalities.

Local taxpayers end up subsidizing the gaps—whether through increased General Assistance requests, strained social services, or the long‑term costs of deferred infrastructure maintenance inside these parks.

Nothing we have seen indicates that any portion of the profits generated from Saco residents are being reinvested here in Maine

This is not just a housing issue. It is an economic leakage issue, a municipal budget issue, and a community stability issue. Maine towns and cities have a choice: put reasonable protections in place now or continue absorbing the financial and social consequences later.

Residents are already feeling the strain. Without action, municipalities will feel it next.

Kathy Dobbins, president

Blue Haven Committee, Saco

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