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SPRINGFIELD -- They say they're not "trailer trash" or "freeloaders," and they resent being called that.

What mobile home owners say they are, however, is being taken advantage of -- and they came to the capital Tuesday to urge lawmakers to do something about it.

"People are being priced right out of their homes," said Katie Swierenga, who lives in Tri Star Estates in Bourbonnais. "What I've seen is disgusting."

Manufactured home owners buy their houses just as other home owners do. But mobile home owners also pay rent on their land, and they say many landlords are raising lot rents unjustifiably.

They are hoping the state will create some sort of a position to investigate and regulate mobile home communities.

"Right now we have no system to make them accountable," said Jim Webb, who lives in High Cliff Estates in Milan.

Webb's lot rent has jumped from $160 a month seven years ago to $235 a month now, he said, noting he thinks the community is getting fewer services. "And there's nothing to stop them," he said.

Some landlords, however, defend themselves. "Actually, we haven't raised rents enough...We try to keep our rents low," said High Cliff Estates Manager Darrell Dahlen, noting that it's difficult to pay for improvements without raising the lot rents. "We have a really nice park."

But some manufactured home owners disagree. When lot rents are raised, they say, many mobile home owners face little choice but to pay the higher fees. It costs $4,000 to $6,000 to move a home, according to the Mobile Home Owners Association of Illinois.

On top of the cost, home owners say, is the fear factor.

Mobile home community management will say, "If you don't like it, move. We'll make life hell for you," according to Terry Nelson, MHOAI president.

So homeowners, many of them elderly people, are too afraid to fight, they say.

But they're not all politically savvy people, and asking for help is new to many of the homeowners who came to Springfield to tell their stories. "I've never been a politically motivated person," Swierenga said. "This is not my cup of tea. It has to be now."

"We don't want anything special," Webb said. "All we want is to be treated equally."

About 300,000 Illinoisans live in about 2,000 mobile home communities throughout the state, according to the Mobile Home Owners Association of Illinois. About 60 percent of those residents are elderly people on fixed incomes, the association says.