The Courier News :: News :: House overrides veto = of Munson mobile-home bill

Members of the state House on Tuesday overrode the=20 governor's veto of a bill that would give residents of = certain=20 mobile-home parks a way to challenge rent increases.

The bill now goes to the Senate, which is expected = to take=20 it up this month.

Rep. Ruth Munson, R-Elgin, sponsored House Bill = 5377 in=20 response to complaints by residents about steep rent = increases=20 at Willow Lake Estates in Elgin.

The measure passed both houses of the General = Assembly=20 earlier this year, but Gov. Rod Blagojevich vetoed it. = In a=20 brief statement explaining his decision, Blagojevich = noted the=20 bill applies only to publicly traded companies and = said that=20 any legislation addressing mobile-home park leases = "should=20 apply uniformly to all Illinois mobile-home parks."

Willow Lake Estates residents live in what many = people=20 would call mobile homes but are more accurately termed = manufactured homes. Although they can be moved, the = homes are=20 not mere trailers, and transporting them is expensive. = Residents have said in the past that rents in the park = have in=20 some cases been set high enough that they cannot = afford to=20 stay, cannot afford to move their home to another park = and=20 cannot find buyers.

Munson has said she believes the park's owner --=20 Chicago-based Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc., = formerly known=20 as Manufactured Home Communities Inc. -- wants = residents to=20 leave so it can replace their homes with larger, more=20 expensive ones for which people would be willing to = pay higher=20 rents.

It took two calls to get the bill passed Tuesday, = according=20 to Munson. The legislation garnered 69 votes the first = time,=20 falling just shy of the three-fifths majority it = needed, but=20 earned 75 votes the second time, enough for passage.

"There were many lobbyists hired to kill the bill, = and we=20 just worked it," Munson said. "I think in the end, you = know,=20 my colleagues understand the need to protect senior = citizens."

The bill would give tenants who object to a rent = increase=20 the right to initiate a binding appraisal process in = which the=20 tenant and park owner would settle on a licensed = appraiser who=20 would determine the fair market rent for the property = "based=20 on the existing leases of other tenants in the same = mobile=20 home park."

Among other things, it also would require park = owners to=20 offer leases lasting at least two years and would = prevent park=20 owners from increasing rents or imposing fees to = reflect the=20 cost of fines or fees imposed on them by a court or = government=20 regulator.=20