(The Center Square) – Residents, lawmakers, and affordable housing advocates are pressing the Pennsylvania Senate to act on manufactured home community protections that have stalled in that chamber for one year.
Speakers at a recent press conference in Harrisburg criticized out-of-state investment and private equity firms, saying they are dramatically increasing lot rents while allowing services and upkeep to deteriorate – undermining one of the last truly affordable homeownership options available to many Pennsylvanians.
Chants of “Pass the bills!” were heard throughout the event, as residents filled the Capitol Media Center to standing-room-only capacity.
House Bill 1250, introduced by Rep. Liz Hanbidge, D-Blue Bell, passed the House in June 2025 by a vote of 144-59. And the Senate Urban Affairs & Housing Committee recently voted to advance Senate Bill 746, sponsored by Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Reading, which would give manufactured home residents the right of first refusal if their community is put up for sale.
Schwank’s Senate Bill 745, like HB 1250, would tie lot rent increases to the consumer price index, while allowing additional increases to cover extraordinary operating expenses or repairs. Both measures are awaiting Senate action.
Manufactured homeowners typically own their homes, but not the land beneath them. Supporters of the legislation say that leaves residents vulnerable to steep lot rent increases, especially as private equity firms and out-of-state corporations acquire their communities.
Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa said all members of his caucus stand ready to support the bills and “continue to call on our colleagues in the Republican caucus to join us in protecting all of you … our veterans, seniors, individuals with disabilities.”
Hanbidge said House Democrats and Republicans came together to pass her bill because housing affordability should never be a partisan issue. But somewhere along the way, she continued, the voices of Pennsylvania homeowners were drowned out by powerful corporate interests.
Hanbidge framed the issue as a choice for the Senate: protect seniors, veterans, and other residents trying to remain in the homes and communities they built, or side with private equity firms and corporate landlords treating housing as a commodity.
“Who are you here to represent?” she asked. “The people you represent, or the bad actors taking advantage of your constituents? Because every single day that this bill sits without action is another day Pennsylvania families live in fear of the next rent increase they cannot afford.”
While residents fear being priced out of their homes, property owners oppose the legislation because they view it as rent control, warning it could create financial pressures for community operators.
They also say the process to seek larger, above-inflation increases for required upgrades is cumbersome and would drive up costs that could ultimately be passed on to residents.
Vanessa Raymond-Garcia, senior policy analyst for Regional Housing Legal Services, pushed back on the characterization.
“This legislation gives homeowners something they currently lack – predictability in their housing costs, transparency in how increases are determined, and a fair process to challenge unreasonable increases,” she said
Bob Besecker, founder of the Coalition of Manufactured Home Communities of Pennsylvania, said the group has grown from 39 to 153 member communities since forming in 2022.
Besecker told The Center Square that more than 100 residents from manufactured home communities from across the commonwealth traveled to the Capitol to attend the press conference and meet with their senators afterwards.
Some majority-party senators talk about protecting the “free market concept,” and argue the market will self-correct, Besecker said. But that only works, he countered, if corporations behave themselves. “In this instance, corporations and private equity firms have no intention of behaving themselves,” he said.
“Current Pennsylvania laws,” he continued, “permit unlimited lot fee increases, and the corporations and private equity firms are lining up like pigs at the trough. Senators must exercise their police powers to pass the necessary legislation to put an end to it.”
“How many more homeowners need to lose their homes before the Pennsylvania Senate wakes up?” he asked. “Senators can protect private equity firms, or they can protect vulnerable residents. They can’t do both.”
Besecker said the changing ownership model and resulting lot fee increases have also affected home sales.
In his own community, he said, corporate ownership resulted in lot rent doubling over six years – from $400 to $800. He added that vacant homes are becoming more visible in communities where, in the past, they were quickly filled. Prospective buyers often walk away when they learn the current lot fee, making homes harder to sell and depressing their value, he said.
Gov. Josh Shapiro has vowed to sign the legislation if it reaches his desk, but because the current legislative session ends at year’s end, the bills will be considered dead without Senate action, and the process would have to start over.
