We, the undersigned, urgently call for enhanced protections and reforms for mobile (manufactured) home owners in British Columbia, with a particular focus on the elderly, who represent a significant portion of this population.

ISSUE: Mobile home owners, especially seniors, face substantial risks of being bullied by park owners due to a lack of education and knowledge. Many park managers and owners operate without a comprehensive legal framework, leading to potential exploitation and misinformation. This problem is against Human Rights and is exacerbated by the fact that 21% of seniors in BC lived in manufactured homes as of 2021, making this a critical issue for a vulnerable demographic.

KEY CONCERNS: 

LACK OF LEGAL FRAMEWORK: There is an urgent need for a clear legal framework that outlines the responsibilities of park managers and owners, ensuring they cannot exploit or mislead residents.

RENT ASSIGNMENT ISSUES: The current system for transferring rents between sellers and buyers of mobile homes is flawed. Often, this leads to frustration, failed sales, or unfair rent hikes imposed by park owners. The process needs reform to ensure that rents are assignable to buyers with clean credit histories and no criminal records, promoting a fair and transparent transaction process.

EQUITABLE REAL ESTATE VALUE BENEFITS: Mobile home owners contribute to the maintenance of park land and indirectly enhance its value raising the price of the land for the park owner. It is only fair that these mobile owners benefit from the increased property values as well by rent assignments. In addition many MHP managers are refusing to sign the mortgage papers creating a " cash only" type purchase.  Without the option of financing and cash sales only home owners are unable to actually get a fair market price for their property, as in these current economic times most people do not have large sums of money saved up. (It should be noted the manger is not in any way liable for payments signing the mortgage documents, but just merely just proves to the financer that you have authorization to live in the park and if you don't pay the rent, they will notify the financer.)

CALL TO ACTION:

MANDATORY EDUCATION: We urge the BC Seniors' Advocates, BCFSA, the BC Legislative Assembly, various government branches including the BC Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) to establish mandatory education courses for park managers and owners and enforce stricter rules and guidelines. These courses should cover relevant laws of BC and the responsibilities of park operators, similar to the requirements for other licensed Property Managers in the Province.

REVISED RENT ASSIGNMENT RULES: We call for a revision of the rules governing the "assignment of rents" to make them more inclusive yet discerning. The revised system should ensure that mobile home buyers with clean backgrounds can seamlessly take over the rental agreements, and protect sellers from unfair rent increases. Too often park owners are denying a purchasers assignments with no grounds for the refusal,  to only frustrate the sale, holding the seller and buyer hostage. It can take up to 3 months at RTB to dispute a rejection of an assignment for invalid reasons. The system needs to be fast-tracked for quick enforcement and penalties imposed on the Landlord for not following the rules.

A fair and secure housing and real estate market is vital for the well-being of BC's senior residents. We urge the relevant authorities to take immediate action to address these issues and protect the rights of mobile home owners.

NOTE: Google YouTube video by "Legal aid BC, Manufactured Home Parks" for more information about your rights!

Sign this petition to demand better protections for BC mobile and manufactured home owners. Leave comments below too afterwards if desired.