The Maine Legislature has defeated a temporary moratorium on certain mobile home park sales.
The measure was intended to help the more than 300 residents of Friendly Village Mobile Home Park in Gorham, who are trying to purchase their community.
But the moratorium failed to receive a two-thirds majority needed for immediate enactment, and it died in the Legislature.
The outcome is disappointing, said Nora Gosselin with the non-profit Cooperative Development Institute, which is helping the Friendly Village residents organize.
State lawmakers did pass other measures that will make it easier for resident cooperatives to purchase their mobile home parks. But they won't go into effect until the fall.
"The laws are so responsive, will do so much good, and also there is a sting that Friendly Village is not going to be able to benefit from them," Gosselin said.
Under one measure passed by the Legislature, Maine resident cooperatives that match or exceed the sale price of their mobile home park would receive a right of first refusal, even if they can't come up with a cash offer like their corporate competitors.
Another measure will require certain corporate buyers to pay a transfer fee for each mobile home lot purchased through a park sale. The collected fees would go toward a statewide fund that will help mobile home residents finance the purchase of their communities.
"Having them acknowledge that if you're going to come in and do business in Maine and run communities, you should invest in Maine," said Gosselin, who believes the law could be the first of its kind in New England — maybe the country.
Both bills must be signed by Gov. Janet Mills into law. She could also veto them or allow them to become law without her signature, but the Mills administration has advocated for additional protections for mobile home residents this year. And housing advocates have viewed the measures as tools to support Maine residents amid growing interest from corporate, out-of-state real estate investors.
In the meantime, Gosselin said the Friendly Village residents are waiting to see if their offer to purchase the park has been accepted by the current owners. The residents are competing against a Wyoming-based investor, which has offered $22 million to purchase Friendly Village as part of a larger deal that includes seven other parks in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
