Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Longmont, says she and Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, plan to sponsor legislation this spring to provide more protections to residents of mobile home parks, partly in response to complaints about park owners in Boulder.
Allegations surrounding a couple of park owners have risen to the level of the Boulder City Council. The council rezoned one park after the owner tried to sell the property for profit. Then he reportedly raised the rent.
In another case, the owner of another park built a fence across a bike path used to access the park, prompting City Council to consider declaring eminent domain on a portion of the property. The same owner was recently accused of refusing to allow Boulder Housing Partners access to his property to study the conditions that residents there face.
Hullinghorst says city officials have endorsed her proposal to enact more protections for mobile home residents. She told Boulder Weekly that the draft bill is still just a rough outline, and that she is meeting with several key players this week to refine it.
She says preliminary ideas include requiring park owners to keep their utilities up-to-date, similar to existing state law requiring the same of apartment building owners. Hullinghorst also says the bill would set a minimum amount of time for giving notice of eviction, so that park owners give residents ample time to find a new place to live.
She says she is considering including other forms of support for residents who are relocating, similar to accommodations offered to residents when an apartment building is going to be torn down, for instance.
“We’re just trying to create a more level playing field,” Heath told Boulder Weekly.
