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‘Residents at Portside at the Beaches, a manufactured home community owned by RHP Properties, are fighting against a lot rent increase,’ says News 4 Jax in Jacksonville, FL. Residents at a RHP Properties location called Portside at the Beaches were hit with a drastic lot rent increase in June 2024. Dylan Olson and others will reportedly have their site rent increased by as much as 30%. “I knew that it was gonna go up a little bit, but I thought it would be factored in, you know, 3 to 5 percent a year. I was definitely not expecting a $258 [monthly] increase,” Olson said. The notice stated that the reason for the increase was the “prevailing market rent” and the amount was “determined by the community owner.”
Part I
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MHLivingNews sent the following inquiry to RHP Properties.
| from: | L. A. Tony Kovach (for MHLivingNews.com) | ||
| to: | portside@rhp.com |
||
| date: | Jul 29, 2024, 7:00?AM | ||
| subject: | Anthony Lipari or Portside/RHP Properties Management, media outreach |
Anthony,
MHLivingNews has been in contact with Dylan Olson about the report linked here.
It is our understanding that Olson may have achieved the required number of signatures. It is also our understanding that Olson is seeking other lawful options to push back against the attempt to increase rents in such a surprisingly high rate in FL.
We are inviting you/RHP Properties to provide feedback on what News 4 Jax has reported and any reaction to Olson’s efforts for a planned report. Email it to my attention. Be aware that a follow up to any message you send may be requested to clarify statements.
Thank you.
L. A. “Tony”
L. A. “Tony” Kovach
Managing Member
LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC
DBAs:
MHLivingNews.com | MHProNews.com …
Connect on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach …”
There has not yet been an apparent reply from RHP Properties, but unlike another email to Lipari’s direct email address, the email above apparent was delivered.
In an email to Mobile and Manufactured Home Living News (MHLivingNews.com), Dylan Olson said in part the following. The spacing/typo is in the original message.
…I am close and mailing the petition Monday I am putting last efforts in today to get the signatures. I have to have majority of 530 people sign and I’m in the low high 400s. What other options are there incase I don’t make the correct amount? I’m just not trying to get evicted so I’m trying to follow all laws.
Thank you
Dylan Olson…”
According to News 4 Jax:
“I printed out 500 flyers and I went down the names of the list that the community gave me that got the same rent increases. And I handed out over 500 flyers and scheduled a meeting with the community,” Olson said.
Using state law, Olson figured out that he could petition the reasonableness of the increase in the lot rental amount. He just needed roughly 300 signatures from his neighbors to do it.
“Once we have the petition filled out, we get assigned a mediator and they will arrange a meeting with the owner of the community,” Olson said. “They’ll have to sit down and give us the reasons why the rent is going up when none of the conditions in the park have changed.”
Portside at the Beaches is owned by RHP Properties, the nation’s largest private owner and operator of manufactured home communities “providing affordable homes across America.”
“It’s such a huge corporation and you do the math, they’re already making multiple millions of dollars a year and it just seems like they’re, you know, taking from people that can’t afford it,” Olson said. …”
Part II – Additional Information with More MHLivingNews Analysis and Commentary
In no particular order of importance are the following additional facts, insights, evidence, and manufactured home industry expert analysis.
1) RHP Properties has been named as a defendant in cases that include Hajek and Sailer versus a group of defendants that involved RHP Properties that may shed light on the wording of that notice sent to residents.
From the national antitrust call action lawsuit, the Sailer case filing in the UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION Case No. 21-cv-14565, is the following. Note that RHP Properties is named among the defendants.
Plaintiffs Amber L. Sailer, Colleen Levins, Dennis Keith Radogna, Jr. and Amanda
Breanne Radogna (together, “Plaintiffs”), individually and on behalf of all others similarly
situated (the “Class,” as defined below), upon personal knowledge as to the facts pertaining to
themselves and upon information and belief as to all other matters, and based on the
investigation of counsel, bring this class action complaint to recover treble damages, injunctive
relief, and other relief as appropriate, based on Defendants’ Datacomp Appraisal Systems, Inc.
(“Datacomp”), Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (“ELS”), Hometown America Management,
L.L.C. (“Hometown America”), Lakeshore Communities, Inc. (“Lakeshore”), Sun Communities,
Inc. (“Sun Communities”), RHP Properties, Inc. (“RHP”), YES! Communities, Inc. (“YES!
Communities”), Inspire Communities, L.L.C. (“Inspire Communities”), Kingsley Management,
Corp. (“Kingsley”) and Cal-Am Properties, Inc.’s (“Cal-Am”) (together, “Defendants”), violations of federal antitrust
laws and common law.
2) The pleadings in the Sailer Case No. 21-cv-14565, stated the following.
I. NATURE OF THE ACTION
1. This action arises from Defendants’ conspiracy to fix, raise, maintain, and/or
stabilize manufactured home lot rental prices. Manufactured, or mobile, homes have long been
one of the country’s most affordable housing options, particularly for people who do not receive
government aid. According to federal data, about 20 million Americans live in manufactured
homes, which make up about 6% of U.S. residences. And in 2022, nearly one-third of the 10.5
million adults living in manufactured homes were over the age of 60. The effect of Defendants’
conspiracy has been devasting to manufactured home residents. These individuals—whose
median annual household income is approximately $35,000—are being overcharged for what
used to be affordable housing. The consequence is that two of society’s most vulnerable
groups—the elderly and low-income earners—face considerable financial pressures. Some
residents are facing evictions.
…
3. Defendants are Datacomp—the nation’s largest provider of manufactured and
mobile home data—and several large owners of manufactured home communities that use
Datacomp’s reports to coordinate their prices by sharing non-public, competitively sensitive
information about manufactured home lot rental prices, among other things, throughout the
United States.”
3) The pleadings state that the defendants, including RHP Properties, are using what is called JLT Market Reports produced by Datacomp.
Quoting the Sailer pleadings (bold emphasis added).
7. In recent years, manufactured home lot rents paid by manufactured home
residents have increased significantly. For example, manufactured home lot rental prices
increased by approximately 2.3% per year between 2010 and 2018, which is approximately in
line with the average annual inflation of 1.8% during this period. However, consistent with
Plaintiffs’ conspiracy allegations, manufactured home lot rental prices increased at a
significantly higher rate between 2019 and 2021—9.1% per year (while inflation was only 3%).
The Manufactured Home Community Defendants could never have demanded these rental price
increases unilaterally. To implement the increases, they needed to conspire. They did this by
exchanging non-public, competitively sensitive information through Datacomp’s JLT Market
Reports. In the words of Ross Partrich, CEO of Defendant RHP: “We find the JLT Market
Reports to be . . . extremely helpful for rent increases across our portfolio throughout the
country.”
4) Per source deemed reliable, RHP Properties and several of the other defendants, including Datacomp, are members of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and its National Communities Council (NCC). Again, quoting the Sailer pleadings:
8. The exchange of non-public, competitively sensitive information through
Datacomp’s JLT Market Reports allowed Defendants to carry out a price fixing conspiracy to
artificially inflate manufactured home lot rents in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and
common law. The exchange of information through the JLT Market Reports is also separately
unlawful under Section 1 of the Sherman Act as an unlawful information exchange. The
supracompetitively-inflated manufactured home lot rent increases would not have been possible
but for the conduct described herein.”
There are federal as well as state antitrust laws that prohibit price fixing and other antitrust violations. It is possible that the residents Dylan Olson is organizing at RHP’s Portside community could approach state or federal officials and ask that a probe of RHP Properties be launched for apparent antitrust violations.
5) Reuters reported that the defendants in the antitrust cases, including RHP Properties deny the price fixing allegations. However, the allegations and media-fueled concerns driven by complaints not unlike Olson’s and his fellow residents continue.
6) Attorneys interested in the defense of residents like Olson and others that are the “victims” of “predatory” community operators may make the argument that even if RHP has modified its market research, that may imply that the prior method of using Datacomp/JLT Reports obtained information was in fact illicit or in violation of state/federal antitrust laws.
7) Per the Sailer pleadings:
10. If Defendants are permitted to continue their anticompetitive scheme, Plaintiffs
and members of the Class will continue to pay supracompetitive rents for manufactured home
lots. Plaintiffs bring this action to seek damages and permanently enjoin Defendants’ ongoing
efforts to coordinate their prices by sharing competitively sensitive information for manufactured
home lots.”
That seems to fit the scenario alleged by Olson. As of 9:03 AM ET, there is no response from RHP or Portside to MHLivingNews’ inquiry.
8) There are several purportedly predatory tactics being deployed by firms that are routinely connected to the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and/or an MHI linked state association, such as the FMHA. MHLivingNews plans to monitor and report as deemed warranted.
Other linked reports that follow reflect various aspects of what should be an affordable lifestyle that is being turned on its head by predatory firms.
9) There are reasons to believe that the majority of independently owned manufactured home community operators are not predators. Those looking to buy a new or preowned manufactured home in a land lease should do their homework to make sure what kind of track record a company has. Reports like those linked below may be useful for those seeking affordable housing, rather than unaffordable housing. The consolidators of manufactured housing are often arguably in the predatory category, or as Olson said: “It’s such a huge corporation and you do the math, they’re already making multiple millions of dollars a year and it just seems like they’re, you know, taking from people that can’t afford it.” ###
Mobile Home and Manufactured Home Living News explores the good, bad, and ugly realities that keep the most proven form of affordable home ownership under-appreciated and misunderstood. MHLivingNews provides third-party research and other resource collections and reports not found on other sites. We also provide thought provoking analysis that are designed to open minds and hearts. This is the widely acknowledged best source for authentic news on mobile and manufactured home living, as well as the policies that impact this segment of housing that provides 22 million Americans with good, surprisingly appealing living.
We lay out the facts and insights that others can’t or won’t do. That’s what makes our sister site and this location the runaway leaders for authentic information about affordable housing in general, the politics behind the problems, and manufactured homes specifically. That’s a wrap on this installment of “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHLivingNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Recent and Related Reports:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.
