‘I won’t be here. I’ll leave’; Puyallup mobile homeowners up in arms over steep rent hikes

Concerns over sharp rent hikes for residents of Puyallup mobile home park

Mobile home owners in Puyallup are demanding answers after the park's new management raised some rents by 50% or more.

PUYALLUP, Wash. - Puyallup mobile homeowners are faced with a difficult choice after property owners jacked up rent over 50%.

Pierce County records show back in March 2007, Cottonwood Mobile Home Park was sold for $2.5 million. This past July, Hurst & Sons LLC acquired the property for a little over $7 million.

"The property sold for almost triple what it was in the last sale almost 16 years ago," said Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer, Mike Lonergan. "They’re basically renting the land underneath their mobile home and that’s where investors are saying there’s an opportunity—‘Values are going up, so we can charge more rent.’"

Recovering cancer patient Allen Marler is among the current residents that refuse to tolerate this rate hike.

"That dog's not going to fly. I won’t be here. I’ll leave," said Marler. "Three of these coaches here are leaving mine, the next one and the next one down."

Marler lives with his wife in a camper, so he can pick up his home and relocate. His neighbor across the street, Maria Morales does not have that option. She purchased the mobile home and has lived at the property since 2013. The mother of four says her mobile home can not be moved.

"Since everything’s going up high with food and gas it is going to be a little pricey," said Morales.

Responding to the mounting criticism Hurst & Sons LLC sent a statement to FOX 13:

"Many of Washington’s mobile home parks are at a crossroads. Aging communities with expiring infrastructure and rising costs are becoming a burden to the original owners. The simple answer would be to sell the community but often rezoning the land for a higher use is more profitable. This has resulted in a net loss of communities across our state – and homeowners without a place to call home."

"While our aim is to preserve mobile home parks, Hurst and Son is not a low-income housing provider. At the same time, we want our communities to be mixed income and we don’t want improvements to displace anyone."