Residents in an Essex mobile home community say they feel “trapped” living in the Hidden Creek mobile home community, after they say large increases to land lease and maintenance fees are scaring off potential buyers.
Facing the loss of her home and inching toward bankruptcy, Sarah Battersby says she had to surrender her mobile home in McGregor to the bank after being unable to sell it since September.
“Me and my kids, we built this home together and it feels strange not being able to just go in,” she told CBC standing outside her former home, trying to withhold her tears. “It’s just really upsetting. It’s sad and has taken quite a toll on me.”
The single mother of two bought her modular home in April 2022, leasing the lot it is on for about $675 a month. Following health conditions and long-term disability, when Battersby went to sell last fall she said the lot rent went up to $895 and that potential mobile homeowners were looking at a new maintenance fee of $140 a month.
Battersby said a total of $1,088 for such a small area of what “is supposed to be affordable housing just doesn’t make any sense.”
“My realtor had people calling and just hanging up as soon as they heard the amount of land rent because no one can afford it,” she said.
Consequently, she lowered her asking price “several times” from $219,900 to $149,000 before eventually surrendering it to the bank in July.
“I have health issues and I’ve had to use the food bank as well.”
‘Where’s the money going?’
Battersby and others CBC spoke with in the community say they feel the park is not properly maintained, with crooked pavement, potholes in the road and unkept grass, despite their maintenance fees.
“Where is the money going? Because it doesn’t seem like they’re putting it back into the park where it should be going,” Battersby said.
Another resident Reg Major, who has lived there since 2018, said many in the community are worried.
“We do not walk on the sidewalk here. We walk on the roads because it’s a tripping hazard… the roads are nothing but potholes and sidewalks are uneven,” Major said.
Hidden Creek is run by SunPark Communities, the manufactured housing division of Toronto-based Firm Capital Properties, a private equity real estate firm.
The company said they strictly adhere to the rules and regulations outlined in the Residential Tenancies Act of Ontario.
‘Not responsible for the maintenance’: Firm Capital
In an emailed statement, Michael Phillips, the asset manager for SunPark Hidden Creek Residences Corp, said all maintenance responsibilities fall under the purview of the condo corporation, Essex Vacant Land Condominium Corp. No. 163.
“For absolute clarity, Sunpark Hidden Creek Residences Corp. is not responsible for the maintenance of the common area grounds,” he said.
But Major said he and others haven’t heard of that condo corporation.
Referring to Battersby’ case, the company said her asking price “does not reflect that housing has declined by no less than 20 per cent.”
Some of the residents noted that while their homes were at one time mobile, they’re now more modular because they can’t be moved.
‘We are basically trapped in our homes’
Major said there are 240 deeded residents who own their land and 242 who, like him, lease their land. He said many of those 242 who have been trying to sell their mobile homes have been struggling with the lot rent increases.
“I’m trapped. I can’t sell the place. It won’t sell,” he said.
“When we pass on and my daughter takes possession, she’s gonna be stuck with the hell, instead of being stuck with a benefit.”
He has approached the Essex County council on this issue and said attempts to get the Premier’s office involved have fallen on deaf ears.
He urged the province to introduce some kind of control to help the situation, and asked the landlord to be understanding of the low-income residents’ situations.
“I don’t see how I’m going to get out of here. We’re trapped. We are basically trapped in our homes.”
‘Ontario-wide problem’: Essex mayor
Sherry Bondy, mayor in the town of Essex, said they have been noticing for a year now that home sales in their land-leased properties are not happening as fast as they used to.
“It’s not unreasonable to have the land rent go up a little bit between home sales. But when it’s going up so much, that’s when there’s cause for concern,” she said.
She said the Town of Essex held public meetings earlier this year to hear from residents at Viscount Estates on Victoria Avenue in Essex Centre and Hidden Creek Residences in McGregor. Together, the communities have about 875 homes.
She said about 100 people at each community raised concerns similar to Battersby and Major around increasing maintenance costs and cutbacks in services.
“Because right now if you’re buying, you’re in a lose-lose position. And if you’re selling, you’re in a lose-lose position,” she said.
“My feeling would be that this is happening in all of Essex County, all of Ontario, probably all of Canada, anywhere corporations can raise money, they’re likely going to do so.”
MPP Anthony Leardi sent notices to residents explaining what residents should do to address the situation.
Leardi advises that residents who sell their homes can ask the landlord to sign an “assignment of tenancy,” which transfers the current lease to the new homeowners, avoiding the increase sought by the mobile home parks’ owners.
The company says that all landlords reserve the rights to buy a home and set rents accordingly.
‘Vacancy control critical’
Yaroslava Avila Montenegro is the executive director of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations
She says rent increases for mobile home lots upon tenant departure are legal — because Ontario does not have vacancy control laws in its Residential Tenancies Act (RTA).
Vacancy control limits the increase a landlord can apply to a property when it becomes vacant between tenants.
“If there were vacancy control legislation involved in the RTA, then the landlord would not have the right to … increase the rent as soon as they sold their homes,” she said.
“It does help in maintaining the social cohesion of that community.”
Another solution, she said, for Essex mobile homeowners is to transfer their lease to a potential buyer to save on the rent increase.
“We need action at the provincial level to be able to help stop the housing and rental crisis from exploding.”
