Manufactured Home Parks

Minnesota Manufactured Home Relocation Trust Fund

If a homeowner is required to relocate due to the closure or conversion of a manufactured home park, the homeowner may be entitled to payment from the Minnesota Manufactured Home Relocation Trust Fund. Any such payment is equal to the actual relocation costs for relocating the manufactured home to a new location within a 50-mile radius, up to a maximum of $7,000 for a single-section and $12,500 for a multi-section manufactured home.¹³⁷

Relocation costs include the reasonable cost of taking down, moving, and setting up the manufactured home, including equipment rental, utility connection and disconnection charges, minor repairs, modifications necessary for transportation of the home, necessary moving permits and insurance, and moving costs for certain appurtenances.

Among other eligibility requirements, manufactured homeowners who rent lots in a manufactured home park must make an annual $15 payment to the park owner when due each year. These payments must then be deposited by the park owner into the Minnesota Manufactured Home Relocation Trust Fund.¹³⁸

A manufactured homeowner is not entitled to recover from the Minnesota Manufactured Home Relocation Trust Fund if this annual $15 payment is not made.¹³⁹ In order to recover from the Minnesota Manufactured Home Relocation Trust Fund, a manufactured homeowner must submit the following materials:¹⁴⁰

1. A copy of the closure statement;
2. A copy of the contract with the moving contractor for relocation costs;
3. A statement and supporting materials for any other permissible relocation costs;
4. A statement certifying that certain exceptions to recovery do not apply;
5. A statement from park owner that the lot rental is current and the manufactured homeowner made the annual $15 payments when due; and
6. A statement from the county certifying that personal property taxes for the manufactured home are paid through the end of that year.

Copies of these materials must be provided to a neutral third party appointed at the public hearing, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and the park owner.¹⁴¹ If an application for relocation expenses is approved, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency must pay the moving contractor directly in two payments, one for 50 percent of the contract price at the time the contract is signed, and the remaining 50 percent upon completion of the relocation and approval by the manufactured homeowner. A check is made payable to the manufactured homeowner for any other approved relocation costs.¹⁴²

If an owner cannot relocate the manufactured home due to its age or condition, or if there are no parks willing or able to accept the manufactured home within the 25-mile radius, the manufactured homeowner may still be eligible for recovery. The law allows the owner to tender title of the manufactured home to the park owner and collect an amount to be determined by an independent appraiser, up to a maximum of $8,000 for a single-section, and $14,500 for a multisection manufactured home. The minimum that can be reimbursed under the fund is $2,000 for a single-section and $4,000 for a multisection manufactured home.¹⁴³