Pittsfield Mobile Home Park Requests 63% Rent IncreaseStaff Reports,
06:13PM / Tuesday, March 05, 2024 | |
 The owners of Lake Onota Village in Pittsfield are seeking rent increases over three years. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The owners of a Valentine Road mobile home park are seeking rent increases of around 63 percent.
The Mobile Home Rent Control Board on Thursday will tackle a request from M.H. Communities, the owners of Lake Onota Village, to raise lot rents that currently range between $330 and $380 per month to between $540 and $590 per month over three years.
This represents an over $200 increase per month, four times the last rent increase of $50 issued in 2012, according to documents filed with the board.
"Over the stretch of the eleven-plus years since its last rent adjustment, however, the multiplying costs of services now result in calculation of a fair rate of return of lot rent in the amount of $605.13 per month," attorney Jeffrey Lynch wrote on behalf of the owners.
MH is requesting to "close the gap between its current lot rent amounts" and the application's calculation of total allowable income per site per month. In year one, rents would increase to between $400 and $450 per month, in year two to between $470 and $520 per month, and year three to between $540 and $590 per month.
This represents around a $70 increase for each of the three years.
The assessed value of the 28.6-acre park is about $831,000. There are 131 units and the company takes in total of about $521,000 in rent per year, with residents paying between $3,960 and $4,560 annually.
A $21,000 expense for vacancies was cited and the owners have proposed a $14,500 capital project for mailbox lighting and electrical work.
The park reports that total expenditures are about $341,000, including about $79,000 in real estate taxes and about the same amount in water expenses. Expenditures also include nearly $52,000 for a management fee, over $33,000 for salaries and wages, and around $23,000 for trash removal.
Owners have calculated that the total allowable income from sites is over $951,000, which includes an over $108,000 rate of return on investment, about $502,000 income, and about $341,000 in expenditures.
Under this calculation, the total allowable yearly income per site is over $7,200, or $605 per month.
In 2012, the board voted to allow the park owners to increase rental rates for lots in the mobile home community by $50 per month, despite outspoken opposition by mobile homeowners.
M.H. Communities Ltd. came before the board in early 2011 seeking a $56 increase, which was eventually approved. This increase, however, was made void by the state in May 2011 when it was realized that the owners had failed to comply with an annual licensing requirement for about three decades.
Having rectified the licensing issue, the owners returned to the board this time for a $70 increase, citing rising operational costs and the increased tax burden for which they are responsible, and it was decreased to $50.
At the time, about 30 residents in attendance spoke adamantly against the increase, arguing that the rates were too high and put an unacceptable burden on them.
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