It should not come to a surprise to any of us that Maine is in the throes of a housing crisis. From Kittery to Bangor to Fort Kent, finding an affordable, decent home is hard — and it has been, for a long time.

While most of us believe everyone deserves a stable place to live our lives, that’s not what’s happening. Our state’s high rents are putting tens of thousands of Mainers at risk of homelessness, and unsurprisingly people with low incomes (primarily people who are working, older people and people with disabilities) bear the brunt of the high cost of housing.

This is where manufactured home communities (MHCs) come in. Often called “mobile home parks,” MHCs have long been a reliably inexpensive, naturally occurring housing option for a diverse array of people with low incomes, including young families, older people, veterans, people with disabilities and others. There are more than 600 MHCs in Maine, more than any other New England state. MHCs make up about 8% of our housing, and are in nearly every community in Maine.

You would think, given Maine’s already-existing shortage of tens of thousands of homes, that we would do all we can to protect affordable housing that has been serving Mainers for decades. But instead, in the past decade, MHC residents have increasingly been finding themselves at the mercy of out-of-state corporate real estate investors.

These investors have been quietly buying up MHCs at a rapid pace and now own one in five MHCs in Maine. And they’re profiting from them, by dramatically raising rents and fees.

MHC residents are uniquely vulnerable to rent gouging, because they rent their lots, while owning the homes on them. It’s not feasible for most people to move their homes, and when residents are pushed out by rent gouging, they can lose everything.

But the loss of MHCs as an affordable housing option wouldn’t just be disastrous for Maine’s thousands of MHC residents — it would be disastrous to our state’s housing supply.

As Maine works to close the gap between the housing we need and the housing we have by spending on new affordable housing, we as a state need to commit to preserving the affordable housing we already have, and keeping it affordable.

I introduced LD 1723, “An Act to Amend the Laws Governing Manufactured Housing Communities to Prevent Excessive Rent and Fees Increases,” because  all of us deserve the peace of mind that comes from knowing your home is secure and you can plan for the future.

LD 1723 would protect tens of thousands of Mainers from losing their homes by preventing the owners of MHCs from dramatically and suddenly raising the rent on residents.

It would also (among other things) require that when an MHC owner wants to raise the rent by any amount, they will have to let residents know in writing 90 days in advance and can’t raise rents more than once a year.

Rent gouging by the rich corporate owners of MHCs can lead to financial ruin for residents, and to devastation for the communities themselves. It is clear that if we don’t do something now, these affordable housing options will disappear. Many homeowners in these parks are one lot rent raise away from potentially losing a home that they own.

LD 1723 brings a needed balanced approach to protect people’s homes and preserve affordable housing options across our state. That’s why this bill is necessary — because no matter who we are, where we live, or how much money we have in the bank, we all deserve a place to call home.