MARCH 15, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE D1
Park owner
has history
of bad-faith
dealings
GROUND
ZERO
Rising rents at Keizer
mobile home park are
one way residents are
feeling the squeeze of
rent burdens
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Editor’s note: Residents of Wildwood Mobile Villa
spoke with the Keizertimes, but requested that we
not use their names in out of concern of reprisal.
When it comes to growth in Keizer, spac-
es like Wildwood Mobile Villa are where the
rubber will hit the road. Residents fear that it’s
already happening.
“We used to fall into that low income [space].
It is not anymore,” said one resident of the se-
nior manufactured home community.
Since 2008, rent at the park located in north
Keizer skyrocketed from $395 to $675. The
new owner, Investment Property Group is in-
creasing it another $50 this May. [For more on
IPG and its owner, Brian Fitterer, see sidebar].
In addition to the rent increase, new residents
will shoulder the costs of sewer, water, garbage
and stormwater bills, all bills that were once in-
cluded in the space rental. According to a local
manufactured home sales agent, Wildwood is
now the most costly mobile home park in all
of Salem-Keizer.
“The fi rst thing I ask a client is if they’ve
checked into the rates here. It’s hard to fi nd cli-
ents who will stick with a purchase after they
fi nd out about the rent,” the sales agent said.
The increases in the cost to live in Wildwood
put residents between the proverbial rock and
hard place. Many own their homes, but the
spaces where they are located are owned and
rented out by IPG. They can attempt to sell
their homes, but there are already six others in
the park on the market with rental rates scaring
off buyers. Even if a willing buyer appears, they
can leverage the cost of rent over the price they
are will to pay for the home on it – even though
they are owned by two different entities.
The other option is moving the home to an-
other park, which exposes the fallacy of calling
manufactured homes “mobile homes.”
“The majority of houses in Wildwood are 40
years and older. If you found a space on private
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The owner of Wildwood
Mobile Villa is no stranger to
many residents of manufac-
tured home parks in Keizer
and Salem.
Irvine, Calif.-based Invest-
ment Property Group also
owns Briarwood Estates and
McNary Oaks Mobile Villa in
Keizer and fi ve others in Sa-
lem. Brian Fitterer is the prin-
cipal owner of IPG.
In 2005, the executive di-
rector of the Manufactured
Home Owners of Oregon
(MHOO), told Keizertimes
that Fitterer is “the poster boy
for why our organization ex-
ists.” MHOO fought for man-
ufactured home owners in the
state, but has since become the
Manufactured Housing Ore-
gon State Tenants Association
(MH/OSTA).
Keizertimes began looking
into Fitterer in 2004 when
he sent notices to two dozen
residents in Iris Village, anoth-
er manufactured home park
he owned at the time, notify-
ing them that they had three
months to come up with at
least $50,000 each to purchase
the land their manufactured
homes were sitting on or risk
having it sold out from under
them.
Fitterer took advantage of
changes put in place by the
Oregon Legislature in 2003
to allow manufactured home
Please see OWNER, Page D2
property some place else, most cities will not
“It is self-funded by the park owner and pro-
allow you to bring one in more than 10 years vides a 10 percent rent discount to any resident
old. The prejudice on manufactured homes is who is struggling to make ends meet. The dis-
very widespread,” said the sales agent.
count never has to be repaid and our residents
A resident said there are only about eight can continue to renew it annually if their fi -
homes that are less than
nancial situation does not
10 years old in the park.
improve,” Monte said.
Moving one to a new park
Monte said the ame-
would also cost at least
nities make Wildwood
$10,000 by most estimates.
“superior” to other parks
“The people can’t move
in the area and justify the
the homes and they are go-
high rental rate.
ing to take a beating when
“The prior owner in-
they shut this park,” said
vested over $700,000 in
one long-time resident.
new water lines, new side-
Amber Monte, presi-
walks and other improve-
dent of IPG, said the com-
ments for the community
pany has no plans to shut-
just before the sale oc-
ter the park.
— Wildwood resident curred,” Monte said.
One of the residents
“We are long term
Keizertimes talked to said
community operators and
there are no plans to close this community. In the largest part of those improvements went
fact, we’ve never closed a single community in into fi xing leaky water lines throughout the
our company history and have no plans to do so park that added to the owner’s expenses.
anywhere,” Monte said.
“That should have lowered the rent, but it
Fitterer also offers a discount for current res- increased,” he said.
idents struggling to pay the rent.
Please see ZERO, Page D2
“The people can’t
move the homes
and they are going
to take a beating
when they shut this
park.”