Manufactured Housing Cooperative Development

Promoting Affordable Home Ownership

Houselessness and rising housing costs continue to be issues of great importance in Oregon, where a lack of affordable housing permeates every corner of the state. Compounding this problem is the fact that developers are quick to snatch up available real estate for high prices, including manufactured housing parks, putting housing out of reach of those who need it most.

MHCDC works with residents of manufactured home communities to purchase and transform them into resident-owned cooperatives that are affordable and self-governed. CASA staff provide ongoing technical assistance to residents so they can govern their communities using standards and resources from ROC USA, a nonprofit social venture that aims to scale resident ownership of manufactured home communities across the United States.

What is a Resident Owned Community?

Manufactured housing is the largest source of unsubsidized, affordable housing in the United States. In Oregon, there are nearly 140,000 manufactured housing units. This number is only expected to grow as factory-built housing gains popularity due to cost efficiency, fast construction times, and environmental benefits. Many of these units are located in investor-owned mobile home parks or manufactured home communities. As these parks change ownership or are increasingly sold to developers, rents increase significantly and residents who are already in financial distress may face homelessness.

There is a proven and nationally recognized solution to preserving this affordable housing solution: resident owned communities (ROCs). For the last 15 years, CASA of Oregon has helped manufactured park residents acquire their MHCs and adopt this model. At the end of 2024, an estimated 1,920 households and 3,532 individuals in Oregon will reside in 28 ROCs.

ROCs allow residents to form a nonprofit to govern their community collectively. Effectively a small business, a ROC affords residents the opportunity to own the land and lease space back to their neighbors. A board elected by the residents of the co-op assures daily operations of the park run smoothly. This model of collective ownership not only prevents displacement of residents from affordable housing: It allows residents to exercise democratic principles while preserving affordable housing units in perpetuity.

CASA of Oregon (CASA) has the financial resources and expertise to help your residents buy your community when you are ready to sell. Our experienced staff will help residents determine a fair market price based on current rents and cap rates for the area, in order to make you a competitive offer. In addition, owners who sell to resident-owned cooperatives may be able to take advantage of an Oregon capital gains tax exemption.

Drawing on over 30 years of housing and facilities development experience, CASA carries out all of the steps necessary to make this a simple and easy process, including:

• Organizing residents and preparing them to purchase the community cooperatively.
• Negotiating the terms of the sale on behalf of the cooperative.
• Conducting the required due diligence.
• Securing the financing for purchase.