The Vultures' Feast: Billionaires Devouring Mobile Homes

Did you know that approximately 22 million Americans live in mobile homes? Mobile homes have long been one of the most affordable types of dwelling but, because the homes are usually situated on rented land, mobile homeowners suffer from a unique type of housing precarity. Mobile homeowners are often low-income, with less access to infrastructure because trailer parks are situated outside of urban areas. Cue the vultures: While private equity and other real estate investors have long been in the mobile home market, there has been a dramatic uptick in the use of predatory practices designed to extract profit.  As more financial actors move into this space, these already-at-risk people are being priced out of one of the few types of affordable housing left in the country.Fredrik and Leilani sit down with Paul Bradley, President of Residence Owned Communities to discuss the ways mobile homeownership has changed in the last few decades and why, and how his organization has helped over 17,000 owners of manufactured homes in 17 states come together to buy their parks and escape the vultures.More information about the film A Decent Home can be found here.Learn more about Residence Owned Communities here.Listeners who are interested can join the I’M HOME (Innovations in Manufactured Homes) Network at the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy.  It’s a network of U.S. organizations and people interested in innovating in the mobile home sector.  Info and sign-up are here.Support the show