Bipartisan Package Targets Michigan Manufactured Housing Law Reform
Six bipartisan bills aim to modernize 40-year-old regulations governing manufactured housing parks across Michigan.
LANSING, MICHIGAN — A bipartisan group of state senators introduced six bills on April 29 to overhaul Michigan’s manufactured housing park regulations, marking the first major update to laws that have remained largely unchanged since 1987.
The legislative package addresses oversight and enforcement issues at manufactured housing parks across the state. Senator Joseph Bellino, a Monroe Republican, sponsored legislation requiring annual inspections, prohibiting excessive utility markups, and mandating one-year notice before parks can terminate tenancies for land use changes.
“For too long, the laws governing these communities have not kept up with the realities residents face on the ground, from water shutoffs and rising lot rents to their entire community being sold out from under them,” said Senator John Cherry, a Flint Democrat who led the package. “And while there’s no real recourse to hold bad actors accountable, responsible park owners have been undercut by unlicensed competitors who don’t play by the rules.”
New Licensing and Ownership Protections
The package includes bills that would establish a comprehensive licensing framework requiring disclosure of financial capacity, compliance history, and beneficial ownership information. The legislation also would create a resident right of first negotiation when park owners intend to sell their properties.
Cherry emphasized the bills would provide “finally giving residents the tools necessary to protect the homes they have worked their whole lives to own.”
Response to Growing Housing Concerns
The legislative effort addresses mounting concerns about manufactured housing communities, many of which were acquired by Wall Street investment companies following the 2008 financial crisis. These communities provide housing for thousands of Michigan residents who own their homes but rent the land beneath them.
The bills represent a significant bipartisan effort to modernize regulations that advocates say have failed to keep pace with changing ownership patterns and resident needs in the manufactured housing sector.
The legislation now moves through the Senate committee process as lawmakers work to address housing affordability and tenant protection issues across Michigan.
