Cranberry Township mobile home park residents place faith in legislation, hope for relief in lot rent increases
Since Oak Springs mobile home park in Cranberry Township was handed over to new management nearly two years ago, the remaining residents say rising costs at the 55-plus community have forced many of their former neighbors to seek new homes.
Those who have stayed are now putting their faith in proposed state legislation to improve their standard of living — House Bill 1250, which would tie any increases in lot rent at manufactured home communities to the consumer price index as a measure of inflation.
Letters acquired by the Butler Eagle indicate the lot rent at Oak Springs spiked from $480 per month in January 2024 to $720 per month in March 2025.
When the Florida-based COARE Communities took control of the mobile home park, residents were shocked to learn, effective February 2024, their lot rent had increased from $480 to $630 per month.
A letter sent in late November 2023, noted the hike in rent and indicated the new management would begin charging the residents separately for trash pickup and water, which were once included with lot rent. A $10 “early pay discount” for rent paid before the first of the month was also removed.
Since then, all of those costs have increased even further. A letter sent in January 2025 offered a 30-day notice to residents of another spike in lot rent. The cost increased to $720 a month effective March 2025.
That letter also said trash service fees would be charged pro rata.
“We had a great deal at $480 and didn’t know it,” said Oak Springs resident Dave Bindewald.
He and other residents like Linda Carranza said the rising costs and unpredictable monthly costs have those who have stayed following the first rate hike considering whether they’ll leave or brace for future potential increases.
“This has forced many to sell and move,” said Carranza. “Others are making difficult decisions concerning their future.”
Oak Springs residents are far from alone in their situation, according to Bob Besecker who leads the Pennsylvania Coalition of Manufactured Home Communities — a group of residents from 92 communities across the state, including Oak Springs. The Coalition promotes legislation aimed at limiting exorbitant cost-of-living increases.
“In times past, manufactured home communities were usually owned by local people,” Besecker said. “Those mom-and-pop operations knew the people that were living in their community and usually had a really good relationship with them, and they didn’t abuse their ability to raise lot rent. In the last five years, private equity firms have seen the ability to buy these communities as a regular cash cow.”
Besecker, a resident of Berks County, pins much of the blame for the increases on a loophole in Act 261 of 1976, also known as the Manufactured Home Community Rights Act — the legislation which outlines the rights of mobile home owners in Pennsylvania.
“Unfortunately, it does not place any restrictions whatsoever on the amount of the yearly lot rent increase that the operators can charge,” Besecker said. “If they want to raise the lot rent by $200 a month, they can do that.”
Residents of Oak Springs and other communities represented by the Coalition are hopeful House Bill 1250, sponsored by Rep. Liz Hanbidge, D-Montgomery, would provide for lesser increases in rent.
It would amend the Manufactured Home Community Rights Act, tying allowable increases in lot rent at manufactured home communities to the consumer price index. It would also provide for resident associations, group meetings and disclosure of fees.
“This would help the elderly, veterans and the disabled who are on a fixed income,” Carranza said. “There are provisions in the bill for the (property) owners to appeal to the state for a greater increase if there are unforeseen circumstances. This would protect them, too.”
On June 10, the bill passed the House by a vote of 144-59, and will now head to the state Senate for a vote.
Butler County’s state House delegation, all Republican, was split on the matter — Marci Mustello and Aaron Bernstine voted in favor of the legislation, while Tim Bonner and Stephenie Scialabba voted against it.
“I support free enterprise and strongly encourage the ownership of these types of residential parks to improve infrastructure, facilities and aesthetics,” Mustello told the Butler Eagle. “However, there must be consideration given for the ability of existing residents, many of whom are older or lower-income households, to absorb dramatic increases in lot rent or other fees. … We are witnessing a trend throughout our region where ownership of these parks is being transferred from locals to larger conglomerates, many of whom are based outside of our area.
“While this is bound to bring some change, we should be mindful about not upending populations too.”
Conversely, Bonner voted “no” because he believes the bill would hurt property owners’ rights as owners and that any attempt at artificial price controls would be harmful to American free enterprise.
“Our economic system is based upon private property rights,” Bonner said. “The less government is involved in rent or price controls, the better our economy has functioned. We had rent controls in previous presidential administrations and, in my judgment, they were an abysmal failure.”
Scialabba concurred with Bonner in voting “no” on Bill 1250.
“I would have voted ‘yes’ if they defined ‘manufactured community,’” Scialabba said. “It was missing a key definition.”
As prices go up at Oak Springs, residents say the property owner’s maintenance at the Cranberry Township mobile home park is decreasing.
“People can’t walk their dogs anymore in the common areas because the grass is probably 18 inches high,” Carranza said.
According to Bindewald, he’s picked up tasks like changing light bulbs at the mobile home park himself.
“I am the ‘light bulb guy’ right now,” Bindewald said. “I will go and try to work on light bulbs that the older ladies just can’t reach and don’t know how to change. We’d been used to having the maintenance people come and fix them.”
Carranza corroborated Bindewald’s experience with maintenance and said talking to management face-to-face about their issues is challenging.
“The community manager is not on the premises. We do have her telephone number. We do have her email address, but I don’t even know what she really looks like,” Carranza said. “This is the fourth community manager we’ve had.”
Once highly sought-after for its affordability, she said the recent developments have forced some longtime residents to leave the mobile home park. She said she fears the trend will continue without change.
“My mom’s lived here for 30 years,” Carranza said. “(She says) there are more homes for sale now than there have ever been.”
Management of COARE Communities, which is based in Miami, did not respond to a request for comment.
