Lot rents skyrocketing in central Florida

Rental fees for manufactured home lots in central Florida have been increasing at a startling rate lately, according to a recent article in Click Orlando.

Residents in Osceoloa, Volusia, and Lake counties have been reaching out to News 6 to complain about rising rents. They said that corporations have been buying mobile home parks and then quickly increasing rents.

One resident of Spanish Village, a 55+ community in Leesburg, said her lot rent for the past two years has been $480 per month. But it’s jumping soon to $850 per month. President of the Spanish Village HOA, Philip Roy, told News 6 that 32 out of 36 homes for sale are listed because the rent has reached unaffordable levels.

A secondary effect of those rent increases, said Roy, is that many people haven’t been able to sell their house because the rent is too high. “So people are actually losing their equity in their homes very quickly,” he said.

A law passed last year could help. The law, HB 613, allows home and park owners to enter mediation to resolve disputes.

For more information, check out the WTFS Tampa Bay story here.