Background

In early 2016, the National Manufactured Home Owners Association (NMHOA) and All Parks Alliance for Change (APAC) teamed up to support mobile home owner organizing efforts in Fargo, North Dakota. No groups had existed in North Dakota that specifically advocated for the rights of manufactured home park residents, but ,within a few months of the first meeting in Fargo, residents had formed the Fargo Area Park Resident Association (FAPRA).

Fargo Area Park Resident Association (FAPRA)

The group is made up of manufactured home park residents in the Fargo area, and they’ve already accomplished much with the help of APAC and NMHOA:

• In the fall of 2016, residents were able to get the local public health department to do an inspection of their communities, pressuring the parks to make some much-needed changes.
• In early 2017, FAPRA proposed a bill to the North Dakota Legislative Branch that would have limited the reasons for which manufactured home park residents could get evicted. The bill didn’t pass, but it did raise awareness of the limitations of the laws pertaining to park residents in North Dakota.

North Dakota Mobile & Manufactured Home Park Handbook (2017)

Another accomplishment of FAPRA, APAC and NMHOA is the creation of a comprehensive guide to the relevant laws for manufactured home park residents in Fargo. The guide includes information from tenant landlord law, discrimination law, and the regulations for manufactured home parks in an easy-to-read and easy-to-reference (most of the information includes citations) format. An attorney from Legal Services of North Dakota assisted with the creation of the guide.