FORT COLLINS, Colo. — As corporations buy mobile home communities in Colorado, vulnerable residents are struggling with rising lot rent, water contamination and raw sewage leaks.
Denver7 Investigates has learned the state program charged with regulating mobile home communities and investigating complaints has a years-long backlog in complaint investigations.
Now, residents in Fort Collins are taking matters into their own hands, trying to find solutions to Colorado's mobile home crisis.
Skyrocketing lot rent
In her quiet corner of the Aspen Mobile Home Community in Fort Collins, Jennifer Stoffels said she barely has enough water pressure to keep her small garden alive.
"You can't shower and water the plants at the same time," said Stoffels. "Ain't got no pressure at all."
The real pressure in her community, she said, is on lot rent.
"Just since the new ownership of the park two years ago, it's gone from $650 to $945," said Stoffels, reporting a 45% increase that she and many of her neighbors can't pay.
"It's just horribly high here now," said Lucy Martinez, an 85-year-old Aspen Mobile Home Community resident who said she can't afford the rent increase on her fixed income. "And they don't even care. They don't care about nothing."
But skyrocketing rent is just the start of the problems residents at Aspen and other Fort Collins manufactured home communities are experiencing.
Reported sewage leaks, water contamination
Denver7 Investigates sat down with a group of resident leaders in mobile home parks who are learning about their rights and ways to have their voices heard. The group was organized by Mi Voz, an advocacy and leadership program that is part of The Family Center.
"Underneath our trailer, we are hemorrhaging water and raw sewage," said Heather Womack, who also lives in the Aspen Mobile Home Community and is frustrated because of slow response times to frequent sewer issues. "It usually takes an average of three days from when I put in a request ... by the time they get someone there, it's already where I can no longer use my bathroom, my shower, my laundry."
Teresa, who asked to remain anonymous in fear of retaliation, lives in Hickory Village Mobile Home Park, where she said work on aging pipes has repeatedly contaminated the water. Outside the office, a boil water advisory had been posted recently.
"So, every time they do it, they contaminate water. And they do send out a notice, but sometimes the notice is late," she said. "They say they provide water, but it's a few bottles for a family of four. It's so frustrating."
Out-of-state corporations have bought many of the manufactured home communities in Fort Collins, and many residents report that reaching the right people to get a timely response is an ongoing challenge.
"They just roll all over us, and they don't want to hear," said Lula Harris, who lives in Timber Ridge Mobile Home Community. "We all need to just express our voice even if it's a little scary because that's the only way it's going to make a big change."
To make matters worse, these residents said they have learned they can't count on the state to help in a timely manner, either.
Colorado Mobile Home Park Oversight Program's complaint backlog
In 2019, Colorado lawmakers created the Mobile Home Park Oversight Program(MHPOP), where residents can file complaints against landlords. But through an open records request, Denver7 Investigates discovered a serious backlog.
Complaints that came in during 2020 took an average of 937 days, or two-and-a-half years, to close. To date, the state has closed 62% of complaints, ranging from allegations of failure to maintain water and sewer lines to retaliatory action by charging improper fees.
In the most recent annual report (FY 2022-2023), the program only issued two notices for violation in the 230 resolved complaints that year.
Community advocates said the delays and lack of action have a chilling effect on people considering filing complaints.
"I kind of feel like MHPOP is the judge, jury, and executioner of what we do, and the hope is that one day, they will just finally be caught up," said Samantha Stegner, a lifelong mobile home resident in Fort Collins who works as a Mi Voz program specialist. "I feel like we need to have a system that is capable of keeping up in real-time with the things that are going on."
While state regulators declined to be interviewed about the backlog, a spokesperson issued a statement saying the program has "work to do to eliminate the backlog of older complaints."
"MHPOP prioritizes complaints by the level of significance of the complaint, with a focus on public health and safety," the spokesperson wrote.
The state Mobile Home Park Oversight Program has taken steps to resolve the complaint backlog. According to a spokesperson, they have "hired temporary staff to help resolve older complaints by the end of this year; redirected internal staff’s job duties to focus on resolving complaints; and streamlined internal procedures to increase efficiencies, included, but not limited to reducing response time windows."
Corporate owners tout improvements, defend rent increases
Denver7 Investigates contacted several corporations that own or manage manufactured home communities in Fort Collins for comment.
Havenpark, the owners of Hickory Village, where water contamination is a concern, responded in a statement saying:
"We are committed to maintaining Hickory Village as a great place to live for current and future residents. As part of our efforts to improve the community's infrastructure, we have invested more than $800,000 in a multi-phase water distribution system replacement project. Last week, we installed a new water main line, which required the water to be turned off temporarily. We notified residents of the outage 5 days in advance of the planned shut off via text message and through paper notices. Bottled water was made available to all residents at our office and clubhouse while the water was shut off and during a precautionary boil advisory implemented after the water line lost pressure during installation.
"As of yesterday, the boil advisory has been lifted and this phase of the project is now complete. We regret the inconvenience this work has caused for our residents and aim to make our community improvement projects as smooth as possible. We encourage residents who have questions or concerns about the water improvement project, or any other feedback to share, to contact us at the office."
The spokesperson said Havenpark installed a new water main line and that the boil water advisory has since been lifted.
Still, resident leaders working with Mi Voz said water contamination is an ongoing issue across multiple mobile home communities. This year, resident leaders and Mi Voz have been working with Colorado State University's Colorado Water Center to bring water filters to several communities dealing with contaminated water.
Harmony Communities manages Aspen Mobile Home Community, where Jennifer Stoffels reported a 45% rate hike and Heather Womack has experienced frequent sewage leaks without a timely response.
A Harmony Communities spokesperson sent a statement from the park's owner, which did not address concerns about leaks but defended the rent increase, saying:
"We believed we are offering a fair rental rate. Has anyone conducted a rent study to compare rates with other parks in the area? We would genuinely appreciate knowing if our rates are aligned with the market, as we aim to provide good value. Lower rents often correlate with lower quality, we've invested nearly $300,000 in park improvements, including removing blight and repairing infrastructure. The changes to the neighborhood have been significant, and we hope residents would agree. We are always open to feedback on how we can improve, and we follow all state laws, providing all required notices. Regarding communication, we have not been aware of any specific language concerns but since our National language is English, that is how we communicate."
Finding their own solutions
Stoffels said she is not impressed by the improvements.
"They paved the road when they first bought the park two years ago," she said. "That's it."
Stoffels and other residents are now organizing with Mi Voz and other nonprofits such as Thistle to try to buy the park and run it themselves.
"We just need to stabilize the rents," Stoffels said. "For what we're paying in rent, it's ridiculous, you know? If we bought the park, we would have control over that because we would be able to fix some of these problems and not have to worry about it being at the mercy of somebody else."
Other local nonprofits are focused on stopping foreclosures in mobile home parks. Genie Ruiz with the Community Economic Defense Project said as rent goes up, elderly residents on fixed incomes can't keep up.
"What happens is that they cannot sell the home, they cannot move it, and they lose all their assets," Ruiz said. "And that's the part that is breaking my heart. And that's why I love what I'm doing right now because I want to help them, and so we can empower people with knowledge."
Mobile home residents can sign up for free virtual legal information sessions and other resources through this link.
From passing out water filters to fighting foreclosures to organizing efforts to buy the communities they live in, mobile home residents in Fort Collins, frustrated with slow responses from landlords and the state, are now trying to improve their living conditions themselves, fully aware it's a David vs. Goliath fight.
Mi Voz is holding a "Meet Mi Voz" presentation at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Atzlan Center to show residents how to get involved and have their voices heard.
