New Federal 'Bill of Rights' Mandates 60-Day Rent Hike Notice for Manufactured Home Residents with Federally Backed Loans

This new legislation, the Manufactured Housing Tenants Bill of Rights Act of 2025, is a big deal for the millions of people who own their manufactured homes but rent the land beneath them. Essentially, it creates a federal set of minimum protections for tenants in manufactured home communities—but only if those communities use specific types of federally-backed financing from agencies like the FHA, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac. Starting 180 days after the law passes, any owner seeking this financing must sign an agreement promising to put these specific tenant protections into their leases. This is a direct attempt to stabilize housing costs and security for a population often vulnerable to sudden, dramatic rent spikes and unfair evictions.

The Fine Print That Protects Your Pad

This bill cuts straight to the core issues facing manufactured home residents: lease stability and affordability. For communities covered by these new rules, leases must be for at least one year and automatically renew unless the landlord has a legitimate, pre-defined business reason not to. The big win here is the rent increase rule: if your landlord wants to raise your rent or add new fees, they must give you written notice at least 60 days in advance, along with a detailed explanation of why their operating costs went up (SEC. 3(b)(2)). If that increase is more than 5%, they have to add another 30 days of notice for every 2.5% increment above that threshold. This means no more waking up to a 30% rent increase notice taped to your door that takes effect in 30 days. For someone budgeting on a fixed income or managing a small business, this predictability is priceless.

Selling Your Home, Not Your Stability

Another major win addresses the issue of selling your home. Historically, if a park owner didn't like a potential buyer, they could force the homeowner to move the home off the lot, which often costs thousands or makes the sale impossible. This bill mandates that you have the right to sell your manufactured home in place without having to move it (SEC. 3(b)(4)). You can also sublease or assign your lot lease to the new buyer, provided that buyer meets the community’s reasonable application standards. If the community denies the buyer, they must provide a written, specific reason. This provision finally gives homeowners real equity and control over their biggest asset, preventing park owners from vetoing sales to artificially depress home values.

Penalties That Hit the Wallet

This bill doesn't just ask landlords nicely; it backs up these rights with serious financial teeth. If a landlord willfully or significantly violates these tenant protections, they can be barred from receiving any future federal housing assistance for at least two years. But the real kicker is the mandatory payment to the injured tenant. For example, if a landlord breaks the rent increase notice rule, they must pay back all the increased rent plus interest and an extra 25% (SEC. 3(d)(2)(B)). If they improperly terminate a lease, they owe the tenant six months of current rent (SEC. 3(d)(2)(A)). These aren't just wrist-slaps; these penalties are designed to be immediate, costly, and directly beneficial to the tenant who was wronged, making compliance the financially smarter choice for park owners.

The Cost of Doing Business and the Commission

For park owners and operators who rely on federal financing, this bill means new compliance costs and higher administrative overhead. They have to change their standard leases, track their operating costs more closely to justify rent increases, and face significant liability if they mess up. However, the bill also provides a carrot: lenders are encouraged to offer "covered pricing incentives"—discounts on loan costs—to borrowers who adopt protections better than the minimum standards set here (SEC. 3(c)). This creates a market incentive for good behavior.

Finally, the bill creates the Manufactured Home Community Lending Standards Commission, a temporary 16-member group tasked with developing even stronger consumer protection standards within one year. Crucially, this Commission includes a current or former manufactured home resident (SEC. 4(b)(3)). This is a smart move, ensuring that future standards are grounded in the realities of daily life in these communities. The whole thing has to be paid for using existing budgets at HUD and FHFA (SEC. 5), meaning these agencies will need to shuffle resources to enforce this new Bill of Rights.