ATHOL – Hometown America, owner of the Miller’s Wood/River Bend manufactured home park, informed residents in late February their rents were being adjusted in order to comply with a ruling in a court case handed down in November of last year. In the case of Blake vs. Hometown America, the state Supreme Judicial Court said different rents could not be charged to different homeowners living in a given development.
Now a class action lawsuit against Hometown has been filed, not on behalf of those who will see — in some cases — a significant increase in rent, but on behalf of those whose rent will be decreased.
Residents of Miller’s River own their own home but rent the lots and cement slabs — or homesites — upon which they sit.
Earlier this year, Hometown America decided on a rate at the Athol park of $550 per month, meaning some homeowners will pay more, others will pay less.
The suit was filed in Worcester Superior Court by attorney Ethan Horowitz of the Lawrence-based Northeast Justice Center. Plaintiffs in the case are listed as Edwin Bartok and other residents of Miller’s Woods, and Barbara Lee and “similarly situated individuals” residing at the Oak Point development in Middleborough, another manufactured home park owned by Hometown America. Also listed as a plaintiff is the Manufactured Home Federation of Massachusetts.
The suit claims Hometown failed to abide by the state Manufactured Housing Act of 1973, which requires that costs associated with operating such a park “are born equally by all rent payers.”
It further states that Hometown adopted the practice of charging higher rents to newer residents, thus “driving up the cost of what is supposed to be affordable housing.”
The court filing claims that when Hometown acquired Miller’s Woods (2007) and Oak Park (2011), “the community’s former owner had set home-site rent based on a rent-payer’s date of entry into the community, such that the new rent-payers generally paid higher rents than existing rent-payers – despite the fact that all rent-payers leased similar home sites and received similar services in exchange for their rent.”
Hometown, it goes on to claim, continued the practice of charging higher rents to newer residents “even though it has acknowledged that all rent-payers in Miller Wood’s (and Oak Park) lease similar home sites and receive similar services.”
In addition, the suit charges Hometown with continuing to charge different rates to newer community members even after the SJC ruling in November 2020. The company, it says, took steps to ensure that residents of either development would remain unaware of the disparity in rents being charged.
Therefore, the suit demands that Hometown reimburse Bartok and Lee — as well as other current and former renters at Miller’s Woods and Oak Park –—for the overpayment in rents the company collected in alleged violation of state law. It seeks “consequential or multiple damages owed to them or the maximum amount of statutory damages provided or permitted by law.”
Since the suit was just filed, no court date has been scheduled for proceedings to get under way.
Contacted by the Athol Daily News, Horowitz declined an on-the-record interview at this time. Edwin Bartok has also declined to be interviewed.
In a statement released to the Athol Daily News, Hometown America co-CEO Stephen Braun said, “Hometown is disappointed this lawsuit has been filed. We do not believe it serves the best interests of the community, and it isn’t consistent with the perspective or desires of the majority of residents.
“This legal agenda is being pushed in large part by an outside organization — The Manufactured Home Federation of Massachusetts, Inc. — that has never paid a dime of rent at Miller’s Woods & River Bend and does not have to concern itself with the realities of what it takes to operate a community, as Hometown does.
“If successful, the lawsuit could be hugely destabilizing not just for these communities, but also for the long-term viability of the manufactured housing community model as an important component of affordable housing in Massachusetts. We think that is sad.”
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.