Colorado Legislation Protects Tenants in Mobile Home Parks

July 1, 2021  

Colorado Legislation Protects Tenants in Mobile Home Parks

The In Depth section on RBC takes a closer look at innovative state and local strategies, activities, and plans to mitigate the impacts of regulations on the development of affordable housing. Each In Depth article highlights a particular plan, ordinance, or strategy in the RBC database and elaborates on aspects such as the approval process, stakeholder participation, and the progress made in reducing regulatory barriers.

The most recent In Depth article highlights Colorado legislation protecting tenants in mobile home parks. A variety of economic, political, and social forces threaten the legal and financial stability of people living in mobile homes, and owners of mobile homes who rent lots in the state’s 900 mobile home parks are perhaps in the most vulnerable position. Park owners often experience financial difficulties that can best be cured by selling their property to new owners, who in recent years have often been private equity firms and corporate buyers. The Colorado general assembly has responded to the concerns of park owners and homeowners through three laws adopted in 2019 and 2020 that build on the state’s 1985 Mobile Home Park Act. The laws include strengthening tenant rights in lease agreements, eviction proceedings, and mobile home park rules. The legislation establishes the Mobile Home Park Act Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Program and provides new protections to mobile homeowners who are tenants in a park that is to be sold or changed to another use. A significant provision in the legislation is the opportunity for mobile homeowners to purchase a mobile home park when the park owner decides to sell the property.

Visit HUD User’s RBC In Depth page to learn more about the Colorado legislation and other plans and initiatives that state and local governments have enacted to reduce impediments to affordable housing.