In 1984, California passed a law to help residents of the state's 4,500 mobile home parks, which house some of the state's most vulnerable residents, fix their parks.
The law, paid into by the residents themselves, helped only one of the parks for the last 10 years.
But in 2021, a single loan application was approved from a fund worth $33.5 million, the state's Housing and Community Development Department confirmed to CalMatters.
Yet the need among poor residents is greater than ever, as living conditions at parks slump, chances of corporate ownership steepen, and alternative affordable housing options vanish.
So, in 2022, the Legislature revamped the loan program, which is now known as the Manufactured Housing Opportunity &Direct Program, or MORE.
"When we're thinking of all the needs of parks and residents, it's easy to assume it was meant to do it all," says Sasha Hauswald, assistant deputy director at the housing department.
During a conversion to resident ownership, residents can turn the lots into condominiums they buy individually, or create a non-profit cooperative that owns the land and issues shares to participating residents.
Housing experts say resident ownership is one of the best ways to remedy poor habitability and economic conditions at mobile home parks, which house some
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