North Dakota Resident Organizing



Background

In early 2016, within a few months of their first meeting, Fargo residents formed the Fargo Area Park Resident Association (FAPRA). In 2019, Fargo and Bismarck residents, with some outreach to Grand Forks residents, started forming the North Dakota Manufactured Home Owners Association (NMHOA), although the process has been slowed by the pandemic. Prior to these efforts, no groups had existed in North Dakota that specifically advocated for the rights of manufactured home park residents. The organizations began with support from the National Manufactured Home Owners Association (NMHOA) and All Parks Alliance for Change (APAC), the association from Minnesota's park residents.

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 despite limited resources, with some assistance from APAC and NMHOA:

  • In 2016, residents from several mobile home parks meet to form the Fargo Area Park Resident Association (FAPRA), an organization that brings together people from throughout the city to work on the shared concerns of park residents.
  • FAPRA established monthly meetings to discuss ways of improving life in Fargo’s mobile home parks and takes actions in between meetings to promote both responsible home ownership and responsible park management.
  • Since 2016, FAPRA has worked with Fargo Cass Public Health to inspect the city’s parks and enforce corrections to some of the most obvious problems facing Fargo area parks, including potholes.
  • In 2017, FAPRA worked with Fargo-area state legislators to introduce a bill that would limit the reasons for eviction from a mobile home park to only those that represent good cause.
  • In 2017, FAPRA worked with Legal Services of North Dakota, All Parks Alliance for Change (APAC), and the National Manufactured Home Owners Association (NMHOA) to draft a legal rights handbook that explains in plain English the state laws that apply to mobile homes, mobile home parks, and tenant-landlord laws related to renting a lot.
  • In 2018, FAPRA met with city and county officials to discuss resident concerns. The discussions included a city commissioner, the police department, and the county sheriff’s office.
  • In 2019, FAPRA worked with Fargo-area state legislators to introduce two bills that would protect residents from eviction without good cause, non-renewal of their leases without cause, unfair utility billing practices, park liens placed on residents’ homes, and retaliation for filing a complaint or exercising their legal rights.


North Dakota Manufactured Home Owners Association (NDMHOA)

NDMHOA is the statewide organization for manufactured (mobile) home park residents. The North Dakota Department of Health licenses 400 park communities throughout the state. The organization represents one out of every 10 households in the state. We are long-time, self-sufficient home owners. Since 2019, residents have, with the help of APAC and NMHOA, have begun to make progress for residents, including:

  • In 2019, residents from several mobile home parks met to form the North Dakota Manufactured Home Owners Association (MDMHOA), an organization that brings together people from throughout the state to work on the shared concerns of park residents.
  • NDMHOA established monthly meetings to discuss ways of improving life in the state’s mobile home parks and takes actions in between meetings to promote both responsible home ownership and responsible park management.
  • NDMHOA organized legal rights workshops, in conjunction with Legal Services of North Dakota, to educate residents about their rights and respond to actions being taken by Havenpark Capital.
  • In 2021, NDMHOA worked with state legislators to introduce two bills that would protect residents from eviction without good cause, non-renewal of their leases without cause, park liens placed on residents’ homes, and retaliation for filing a complaint or exercising their legal rights.


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.


Click the LINK below for a PDF version of the guide.

North Dakota Mobile & Manufactured Home Park Handbook (2017) (pdf)

AttachmentSize
NDMHOA - Resident Meeting, 9-26-22.pdf594.9 KB
NDMHOA - Resident Meeting, 10-10-22.pdf1.31 MB