Pennsylvania's 1976 Mobile Home Community Law: Your Rights Today

Before asking what a new bill would add, it is worth knowing what the existing law already covers. Most Pennsylvania residents have rights they never use.

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Key points

  • The 1976 act and the Manufactured Home Community Rights Act govern PA communities today.
  • You already have notice, fee disclosure, eviction procedure and the right to sell your home.
  • The existing law does not cap rent increases or give residents a right to buy the land.
  • Where a lease conflicts with the statute, the statute controls.

What the bill does

House Bill 1250 amends the 1976 act that sets out the rights and duties of manufactured home community owners and lessees. Alongside the rent and community-sale provisions it adds recognition of resident associations and their right to organize and hold group meetings.

That association language is not decoration. A right of first refusal on a community sale is unusable without an organized body able to make an offer, so the two provisions work together.

What the existing law already gives you

Written notice requirements. A Pennsylvania community owner has to follow defined notice procedures for rent increases, rule changes and termination — the timing is set in law and in your lease, not at the operator's convenience.

Disclosure of fees. Charges have to be identified rather than appearing as unexplained additions to a bill.

Eviction procedure and grounds. A resident cannot be removed from a Pennsylvania community without cause and process; self-help removal is not permitted.

The right to sell your home. A community can apply reasonable approval criteria to your buyer as a new tenant, but the framework does not let an operator simply refuse to let you sell.

Rules that apply consistently. Selective enforcement of community rules against one resident is a recognizable problem, and documenting it matters.

What it does not give you

No limit on the amount of a rent increase. This is the gap the pending bills target, and it is the single most consequential omission for owners.

No right to buy the land. Absent the proposed right of first refusal, a community can be sold without residents having any opportunity to match the offer.

No guaranteed standard for roads, water or sewer upkeep beyond general habitability and any local ordinances.

How to use your rights in practice

Read your lease alongside the statute rather than instead of it. Where a lease clause conflicts with the law, the law controls — and leases with unenforceable clauses are common.

Put every request and dispute in writing, dated, and keep copies. Almost every protection in the 1976 framework depends on being able to show what was said and when.

If your buyer is being refused, ask for the refusal and its stated reason in writing. Reasonable tenant screening is one thing; a blanket refusal to approve any buyer is another.

Our vocabulary page defines the terms you will hit in these documents, including park approval, notice, arrears and title transfer.

Common questions

Can a Pennsylvania mobile home park stop me from selling my home?

A community can apply reasonable approval criteria to your buyer as a prospective tenant, but Pennsylvania's community law framework does not allow an operator to simply prevent you from selling. Ask for any refusal and its reason in writing.

What law governs mobile home parks in Pennsylvania?

Primarily the 1976 act setting out the rights and duties of manufactured home community owners and lessees, together with the Manufactured Home Community Rights Act. House Bill 1250 would amend that framework.

Work out your own number

The mobile home value calculator prices lot rent, build year, size and condition separately, so you can see which factor is moving your range. Unfamiliar wording is defined in the mobile home vocabulary, and past sellers describe how the process went in our Pennsylvania reviews.

More PA updates

Original reporting: Pennsylvania General Assembly (bill text). This page is our own independent analysis for Pennsylvania mobile home owners and is not affiliated with the publisher. Nothing here is legal advice.