Jess* is 79 years old and lives on a fixed income of $1,500 a month. She owns her mobile home and does what she can to maintain it, but the rent she pays for her space in the manufactured home park has doubled over three years and now consumes almost half her income. At the same time, park owners have fined her for failing to maintain the carport.
Thousands of mobile homeowners at parks across Washington are in similar situations, and in the last two years, their frustration reached a tipping point. Luckily, they have a recourse: the Washington Attorney General's Manufactured Home Dispute Resolution Program MHDRP. In 2023, park residents filed 731 complaints with the program, and in 2024, residents filed a record 850 complaints.
Many homeowners seeking help live in parks owned by Hurst & Son LLC, which has purchased parks across Washington. Northwest Justice Project attorney Sarah Glorian has represented mobile homeowners as they have challenged unfair park practices. “Manufactured home parks offer the last vestige of affordable homeownership for low- income people. As space rental costs continue to rise in these parks, this pathway to homeownership will disappear, and place current homeowners at growing risk of losing their homes," Glorian says.
Ultimately, Hurst & Son agreed to pay a record $5.5 million settlement in credits to mobile home park residents. This landmark reimbursement, distributed between September 2024 and January 2025, is a significant victory for mobile home parks tenants. With approximately 2,700 tenants statewide, refunds averaged about $2,000 per tenant, with some receiving over $10,000.
*Jess is a composite character based on several individuals.