A new law signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs on Thursday will increase the amount available to Arizona mobile home owners who are being evicted.
The emergency clause puts the law into effect immediately to help residents of three Phoenix mobile home parks facing imminent eviction.
The move comes after months of organizing by mobile home park residents who claimed state support was inadequate. are pouring in, and trailer home owners are at risk of eviction.
“Motorhome residents are our neighbors and deserve adequate compensation if they are forced to leave their homes,” said Hobbs. said in a Twitter statement after she signed HB2381 to law.
The bill received bipartisan support in the Arizona legislature, passing the Senate unanimously on March 29 and the House of Representatives on March 30, 48-9.
This law changes the Arizona Department of Housing’s Mobile Home Relocation Fund. We provide financial assistance to mobile home owners who are forced to move or abandon their trailers.
New law raises the maximum amount an owner can collect when redevelopment forces them to move their mobile homes from $7,500 to $12,500 for single-lot mobile homes and to $12,500 for multiple-lot mobile homes. will be raised from $12,500 to $20,000. For those forced to abandon their homes, the new law provides compensation of up to $5,000 (starting at $1,875) for single-section mobile homes and up to Offers $8,000 in coverage (starting at $3,125).
Most homeowners in Phoenix’s three mobile home parks facing eviction have small single-section trailers that are too old to move.
Mobile Home Residents Win
Mobile home parks, a key source of affordable housing in Phoenix, are starting to dry up. Most mobile home park residents own trailers but do not own the land on which they live. This means property owners wanting to develop mobile home parks need only send longtime residents eviction notices.
This is what happened with the three mobile home parks in Phoenix. Las Casitas Park at 18th Street and Buckeye Road. Weldon Court near Osborne Road and his 16th Street.
Park residents — 123 families — have just a few weeks to find new homes. Weldon Court residents will face eviction on his May 1st, Periwinkle will face eviction on his May 28th, and Las Casitas residents will face his newly extended eviction date in mid-June. to face
Mobile home relocation can be difficult, if not impossible, for many owners. Trailers are often too old or unstable to move. Also, anyone who finds a way to move the trailer will have to find a new location, which can be difficult. Many mobile his home parks do not accept trailers over a certain age.
Sylvia Herrera, a longtime community organizer who has worked closely with residents of Periwinkle Park, Las Casitas Park and Weldon Court Park, said the new bill would be beneficial to Mobile Home Park residents. Herrera said her job now is to ensure that residents successfully apply and access Focus.
“We are in the process of getting all the various documents that people need to apply for,” she said.
Passage of the bill was a win for hundreds of mobile home park residents. After months of mobilizing and organizing against the eviction, we have not been able to stop the eviction.
On March 22, the Phoenix City Council failed to approve several measures to prevent the development of three mobile home parks facing eviction. Despite hours of emotional testimony from residents about how the relocation is impacting their lives.
One faction of the council supported the measures, but Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and a more conservative faction of the council rejected them. We chose to create a $2.5 million fund, but rather than going directly to park residents, the funds will go to nonprofit organizations that provide residential navigation assistance.
“Now is the time for Mayor Gallego and the Phoenix City Council to stop the destruction of affordable housing and the movement of mobile home residents,” Herrera said.
