About the new program to help manufactured homeowners living on leased land "MHAP" - while any form of help for people who might be losing their homes is good news, it is very limited in the scope of who it will really help. The program is only available to people who have or are experiencing a financial problem due to an immediate change in their living situation. That can be a very small number.
The major problem with leased rents for the remaining 90 percent of us is the fact that there is no control on the ever-increasing lot rents that over the course of time are draining our financial resources to survive and live the affordable lifestyle we moved to these communities for. The problem can be resolved if the Legislature passes a rent stabilization bill that incorporates the average of the CPI-U over a three-year period as the standard allowable rate of increase.
The landowner can still get his profit margin and fair and acceptable lot rents increases can be worked into the family budget over the course of time, allowing the homeowner to continue living in his home and raising his family, or just living his affordable lifestyle that he has earned through hard work over his life span.
The big problem is still there. We should not be fooled into thinking this is an answer for most of us. While I am happy to see it for those who have immediate problems, it does nothing to help the rest of us who are subject to unreasonable rent increases on a continual basis.
Dixie Boucher
Lewes
