SABATTUS — For the last two decades or so, Suzanne Armstrong’s monthly rent on her mobile home’s lot at Begin Estates in Sabattus has risen by $10 or $12 a year.

But in the last few years, those increases have gotten steeper — and earlier this week she got notice of the steepest increase yet, with park owners planning to raise her monthly lot rent, now at $440, by $140 this October, an increase of almost 32%.

And she’s not alone. All lot rents there will be raised to $580, on top of a $40 increase implemented last December.

The park owners cite a number of reasons for the increase: rising costs in insurance, water/sewer testing, equipment repairs and town taxes. But the biggest culprit, they say, is the state Legislature for imposing rent control on Maine’s mobile home parks.

“Unfortunately, the lawmakers of Augusta did not listen to the small park owners and have now forced us to make this sizable increase years in advance by projecting our expenses years ahead of schedule,” the notice reads.

However, while a bill proposed this year did include caps on rent increases for manufactured homes, the final version of the bill passed into law did not.

Park owners did not respond to requests for comment.

NO RENT CONTROL

Two bills did pass in the latest legislative session. One outlines an application process for mobile home park owners that requires they provide more information about their ownership. Supporters of the law said it can be difficult to know who the parent company is when looking at what ownership information is available through the current application process.

The other new law gives residents the right to mediation if a rent increase is above the Consumer Price Index plus 1%. However, the law does not require park owners to comply with requests made by residents during mediation.

“All we are doing is saying, please, if you are going to increase your rent, you have to provide ample notice so people have a chance to process what’s going on, and you need to give them a chance to sit down with you and talk with you about any rent increase that’s above … that CPI plus one,” said Rep. Traci Gere, D-Kennebunkport, House chair of the Legislature’s Housing and Economic Development Committee.

Gere said the legislation “does not prohibit mobile home park landlords from increasing the rent.”

Residents in many Maine mobile home parks have grappled with private equity firms and large out-of-state companies purchasing their parks and implementing steep yearly rent increases, Gere said. It’s a phenomenon occurring across the country, according to national data.

Begin Estate resident Ellie Williams is concerned she might be the next displaced by rising rents, she said.

Williams and her husband live on a modest fixed income and have purposely kept their debts low, she said. But the steep increase in rent she now faces has her considering other options, such as moving to a subsidized housing unit, perhaps in Augusta, though she was told there is about a two-year wait for those apartments.

Even if she could move into income-based housing, new park rules make it difficult to sell her 1980s-era mobile home, she said. Because of its age, it would have to be moved off the park if sold, according to park rules, and it would be difficult for a buyer to get a mortgage for it.

Williams is doubtful she would be able to make any kind of meaningful profit off the sale of it despite the upkeep and extensive renovations she has invested in it over the years, she said.

In the meantime, she will buckle down on her expenses even more, possibly even selling the used car she just financed, she said.

‘IT’S JUST TAKING ADVANTAGE’

Resident Robert Frechette came home from camping Monday to find out his monthly rent is going to increase by $150. He struggles to understand the justification for such an increase when residents maintain their own driveways, yards and most utilities. Included in the rent is water, sewer and park road maintenance, costs that he acknowledges are also increasing.

“I mean, they’re complaining because everything is going up. Well, guess what? We’re paying a lot for everything, too,” he said. “You’re not alone.”

Armstrong agrees that the increase is unfair and seems targeted at a community of people that is typically made up of low- or fixed-income residents, she said. The 20-year Begin Estate resident has been rallying residents to call their representatives.

“It is just ridiculous,” she said. “I’ve gone around and talked to people, you know. I’m not a rabble-rouser, but it’s unfair.”

State Rep. Stephen Wood, a Sabattus Republican, said there was little he could do to help the mobile home park residents.

By Armstrong’s last estimate, there are 73 mobile homes in the park, many of which house residents who are elderly and living on fixed incomes, she said. To her and others she has spoken to, it feels like the park owners are trying to push older residents out of the park.

“It’s supposed to be more economical to live in a mobile home park,” she said. “It’s just taking advantage because these people know that these older people are stuck. They’re stuck. There’s not much they can do. They can’t sell their mobile home — they can sell it for a pittance”

Begin Estates resident Robert Zottoli understands that the park owners need to repair and make upgrades to the sewer and water systems. But he wonders if the steep rent increase goes too far, he said.

He moved to Begin Estates more than two years ago, selling his 19th-century home and opting for a more economical way of living that requires less upkeep, he said. Though the roughly $120 rent increase he faces is not expected to displace him, he will have to stretch his budget even thinner.

He understands that the park owners need to make improvements to the park, which requires increasing the rent, but feels the increases could take into consideration how much people in the park can afford, he said.

“I’m sure that the expenses have gone up for them, but by the same token … I don’t think that’s gone up for them 150 bucks a month. I think they could do it for far less,” he said.

After talking to one of the park owners, he understands that “she feels pretty strongly that she’s not going to be able to really operate the way she’d like to unless she gets (the rent increase). And I … really don’t feel it’s fair for me to pay it,” he said. “So it’s really like between a rock and a hard place, to tell you the truth.”