The debate in the Oregon House on Wednesday over whether to cap rent increases on manufactured homes fell along familiar dividing lines; Republicans called for fewer regulations and a focus on housing supply, while Democrats cautioned the measure was necessary to keep vulnerable seniors housed.

Democrats won.

Rep. Pam Marsh, a Democrat from Ashland and an architect of the bill, House Bill 3054, said when she first ran for office her legislative district had the most manufactured homes in the state. Then the 2020 Almeda fire tore through the Rogue Valley, wiping out 1,500 manufactured homes in the span of a day.

The measure, she said, was crafted to help “Oregonians in our (manufactured) parks grow old in the homes and neighborhoods that provide comfort and support.”

Oregon has about 62,000 manufactured homes and more than 1,000 manufactured home parks throughout the state, Marsh said on the House floor. Residents often own their own home and pay rent to the landowner on which their home sits. They are often fixed to the site and therefore more vulnerable if rent is increased, since it’s costly to move their home.

“Unlike other renters, a manufactured home resident cannot pick up and move when the rents escalate,” Marsh said on the House floor. “Their only choice is to slash other expenditures in the household budget or to sell or even abandon the home.”

Similar debates are being waged nationwide, as investors have been scooping up manufactured homes and raising rents.

“These out-of-state corporate entities have little interest in the parks other than to exploit residents for as much profit as possible,” Marsh said.

Oregon and Washington are preparing for fights over rent increases in manufactured home parks

The measure does try to account for local owners, the Democratic lawmaker noted. The bill lowers the allowable annual rent increase on manufactured home parks and marinas to 6%. That doesn’t apply to parks and marinas with 30 or fewer spaces, exempting them from the cap.

The measure also only applies to park residents who own their homes, if a person is renting the cap does not apply. It would also allow park owners who have more than 30 spaces to increase the rent by 12% to account for major infrastructure updates.

The current limit that can be charged is about 10%.

Republicans showed up to the House floor prepared to fight.

“It seems like this body is passing bills that make housing more expensive and then we see expensive housing,” said Republican Ed Diehl, of Scio. “Then we say, ‘Oh we need to respond to that.’” And so we do rate caps. It’s like we are in this housing doom loop.”

Diehl said he wants to see vulnerable seniors remain in their manufactured homes, but the solution, he said, is to build more houses, not add more constraints.

It was a refrain echoed by many Republicans.

“If our goal is to help those at the very lowest income levels, especially in manufactured home parks, there are better ways to do it. We can offer tax credits or targeted subsidies to park owners who voluntarily keep rents lower for those residents,” Diehl said. “That’s a solution that helps those in need without disrupting the broader housing market.”

House Bill 3054 now heads to the state Senate for consideration.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/04/16/oregon-vote-rent-increases-manufactured-homes/