Longmont mobile home park residents race to buy property after owners announce sale

Residents of a Longmont mobile home park are scrambling to find a way to buy their community after learning the owners intend to sell the property. Current residents are now raising concerns about potential rent increases and the loss of affordable housing.

Daniel Crowley is one of about 100 people residents estimate that live at Mountain View Mobile Home Community who received a letter last month notifying them of the planned sale. Now, he's worried a new owner could raise rents beyond what residents can afford.

"We can't afford any more than what we're paying right now, and they're talking about keeping raising rent," Crowley said, "Most of the people here are seniors. They're retired on Social Security of $1,000 a month. Now, if you got a spacer raised up to $1,000 a month, that means the people have to decide, 'Do we eat, or do we pay the space rent?'" 

For another resident John Bolton, the park was supposed to be a place where he could stay for the rest of his life.

"I felt like I had a budget that was going to last me," Bolton said. "And with rents like this... my savings is being depleted... we are losing our independence. So that's a very emotional state, you know, for people our age."

Beyond the financial concerns, residents worry a sale could break apart a community they've come to rely on.

"It's, you know, shoveling a neighbor's sidewalk. It's taking somebody to a doctor's appointment. You know, it's getting together as a community now to try to save our park," Bolton said.

Now residents are organizing an effort to purchase Mountain View Mobile Home Community themselves, a process Colorado law allows them to pursue before the property can be sold to another buyer.

But with the owners seeking $17 million, residents are concerned about whether they can secure enough money to make an offer.

They're looking for outside help, including from the City of Longmont, affordable housing organizations and potential lenders. In 2019, the City of Longmont says it supported a similar effort from a local mobile home community in which it provided a $300,000 no-interest loan and continue to look at what options could be possible monetarily and otherwise in this case.

"We're trying to figure out the timelines, the need, the financial need that they would have to be able to make that purchase. But we're certainly working with them to see what options are out there," Longmont Director of Housing & Community Investment Molly O'Donnell said.

O'Donnell said those discussions include potential resources through Boulder County and organizations focused on affordable housing.

For residents, the effort is a race against the clock and an attempt to protect both their homes and the community they've built.

"It's a huge, huge endeavor," Bolton said. "Let's find out what kind of support we have in the community."

CBS Colorado reached out to the park's owners but did not immediately hear back.

Under Colorado law, residents have until mid-January to make an offer to purchase the property. If they do not, the park can be sold to another buyer.