PHOENIX — More financial help is coming to those who own a manufactured home and are forced to move when a park closes, when rents increase by more than ten percent plus inflation, and when the park changes age requirements.
The new state budget adds a $10,000 increase to the Relocation Fund payout for manufactured and mobile homes. The fund is regularly paid into by mobile home owners through a mandatory fee and was boosted by a large one-time state investment a couple of years ago.
Starting September 12, when someone is forced to move their single-wide, the relocation fund will pay up to $22,500 to an approved contractor for the move. For those with a double-wide, the fund will pay up to $30,000.
In April, ABC15 uncovered through public records that the cost to relocate mobile homes often exceeded the state relocation payment by hundreds or thousands of dollars. This gap leads the vast majority of people who are forced to move to abandon their homes altogether.
The fund will also increase payments to people abandoning their homes by $4,000.
Jessica Meyers helps advocate for manufactured and mobile home owners in Mesa through AAMHO. She said the new relocation fund increase will help those on fixed or minimal incomes have more options when in a tough situation.
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“I’ve heard some people that have absolutely had to move, and they didn’t have that opportunity. I've also heard some people that wanted that opportunity, and it wasn’t cost-effective,” Meyers said. “Anything that we can do to improve the situation in the parks and give the aging population in these parks more options is better.”
The Arizona Department of Housing oversees the state’s relocation fund.
"The Office of Manufactured Housing at the Arizona Department of Housing welcomes the increased budget funding for mobile home relocation and abandonment to increase opportunity and security for many Arizonans. When parks close, residents face a difficult choice: Paying high relocation costs or abandoning homes too old to move,” Director Ruby Dhillon-Williams said in a statement. "These budget increases directly address this by helping families cover moving expenses and providing vital transition assistance to those forced to leave their homes."
The budget change also removes restrictions on how far someone can move, expanding from 100 miles to the entire state.
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