Residents hopeful new structure will better enforce park standards; industry warns of lost expertise
Maine dissolved its nearly 50-year-old Manufactured Housing Board on July 29 and shifted its four-person staff and oversight duties to the Maine Office of Community Affairs, restructuring how the state regulates the manufactured housing industry. The move comes as out-of-state investors have been buying up mobile home parks and follows a report that found weaknesses in the state’s ability to handle resident complaints, according to the Associated Press.
The board, which had been responsible for upholding community standards and manufacturing quality for almost 50 years, held its last meeting in early June before being disbanded. Its staff was moved from the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation to the relatively new Office of Community Affairs, where it will continue investigating violations of state rules. The new regulatory structure, still being defined, will handle manufactured housing issues administratively rather than through an adjudicatory board that included industry representatives, the AP reported.
The restructuring comes after a recent state report that found deficiencies in the state’s ability to respond to complaints about the 480 mobile home parks registered in Maine. It also follows a growing number of park purchases by out-of-state investors, raising concerns about maintenance and tenant protections, the Associated Press said.
Residents and housing advocates, who see mobile homes as one of the last affordable housing options in the state, expressed hope that the move will create a more efficient way to address challenges, the AP reported. But some in the manufactured housing industry worry that eliminating the board will remove valuable industry knowledge from the regulatory process, the wire service said.