The Lewiston City Council will vote Tuesday on a proposed ordinance to limit mobile home park lot rent increases, part of a growing effort by residents across Maine to protect their homes from rising rents and corporate ownership.
The ordinance would cap annual lot rent increases at the rate of inflation or 5%, whichever is lower. Park owners could seek larger increases to cover major improvements.
Lewiston has 10 mobile home parks with 571 lots, more than 400 of which are owned by California-based private equity firm BoaVida Group. Residents have been organizing since January, successfully pushing the city to adopt and extend temporary moratoriums on rent increases while a permanent ordinance was developed.
“Their mission is to maximize profits for their investors,” said John Geary, a resident of Fox Run mobile home park, which BoaVida purchased earlier this year. “When that’s your mission, you don’t have much regard for what is fair and what people can pay.”
The proposal comes as mobile home park residents in communities across Maine push for similar protections. In Farmington, voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to approve a citizen-initiated ordinance capping annual lot rent increases at 3%.
Norway residents also brought forward a proposal this month to limit annual increases to inflation plus 1%, with a maximum of 5%, after organizing against rising rents at a park owned by Michigan-based Sun Communities. The push for local protections follows state legislation passed in 2025 requiring advance notice of lot rent increases and establishing a mediation process, but stopping short of imposing firm statewide caps.
In Lewiston, residents say the ordinance would help ensure that people who own their mobile homes can afford to remain in them, rather than being priced out by rising rents on the land beneath their houses.
“These mobile homes are our homes,” said Kathie Wing, another Fox Run resident. “I’ve worked my whole life for this. I prided myself on making sure my kids had everything they needed without having to depend on state aid. To these landlord companies, we’re just a number. They just want our money, no matter where it comes from.
“Residents across several towns in Maine are putting forth efforts like this,” Wing added. “There is absolutely momentum behind us. The only way to keep the rents affordable is for us to show up.”
The Lewiston City Council is scheduled to take its first vote on the ordinance Tuesday, Oct. 20.
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