Michigan took the lead on safe drinking water in the country following the Flint water crisis to require the replacement of lead pipes and cutting the use of dangerous forever chemicals years before the federal government did. There is however a blind spot on the part of the state regarding those who reside in the hundreds and thousands of its mobile home parks. The regulators claim they can do little to implement the laws on the unlicensed parks tops which number are estimated could be more than 100 in the state and owners are unable to supply safe water.
The situation is also aggravated by the fact that private equity firms have been purchasing parks in recent years and currently own approximately 1 out of every 6 parks in Michigan one of the highest rates in the nation based on the Private Equity Stakeholder Project which is an organization that campaigns against the said purchases. Authorities indicate that it is difficult to even communicate with such park owners to say nothing about making them observe the rules. As the private equity entered the field, according to state Sen. John Cherry, a Democrat who sponsored a bill aimed at stiffening law enforcement on the communities, the aim of these firms, seemingly, is to provide back to the investors the best absolute that can be done back with no concerns of providing less than warranted in service or resort to predatory activities or action which is unsafe to the residents. The state however does not even make efforts to trace unlicensed parks. And an industry spokeswoman noted that Michigan officials, as well as law enforcement can do more, should they wish.
Unusual sought after unlicensed mobile home park: At North Morris Estates where Theo Gantos has a home outside Flint, things turned so awful that the state denied the license to move forward as a park. Gantos said that the water frequently trickled out of the tap in low pressure because there was a lack of sufficient water through the wells that supply the park. There was a time when water was not of a good color. It may discolor clothes and damage the appliances. He put in a multi-stage filtering system so that he could use it. Local law enforcement then came in to investigate. In March, the owner admitted in a criminal case that she had run the park without a license, accepting to pay the fine, and to sell the park. That could have not been the case had Gantos not been so pugnacious. He had been year long fighting with Homes of America, a subsidiary of the out-of-state private equity firm, Alden Global Capital, which local prosecutors allegedly owns North Morris. That also meant making a public records request seeking emails on how officials were addressing the issues at his park, pressuring regulators to crack down on the rules and publicly going to media on what he views as a disturbing state of affairs in what he terms blight conditions. Gantos said these guys are uncaring regarding whether or not to follow the rules.
Spokesmen for North Morris and Homes of America including an attorney who represented the park at trials did not reply to messages requesting comment. LARA, which is known as the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs is the body with authority to inspect and investigate complaints in the licensed mobile home parks. The most common practice has been to seek criminal prosecution of unlicensed parks by the law enforcement.
Those are issues we take very seriously, said Eric Oswald, head of the drinking water and environmental health division of Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. He explained that they endeavor to collaborate with licensing authorities to make the water safe but the issue is that it is not resourced. The Michigan Manufactured Housing Association fought the law that was crafted last year claiming that it was an act of making mobile houses less expensive to purchase. The coalition claims that it endorses expansion of water protection to inside parks as stipulated in the current year legislation. It went through the state Senate at the end of June and currently lies with the GOP-controlled House.
