Residents Hold Meeting Over New Lease Concerns

Concerns over a problematic lease sparked a community-organized meeting at the Morrisons Cove Memorial Park Banquet Hall last Thursday evening.

Residents of Spring Manor and Stone Manor Mobile Home Parks gathered to address errors, vague language, and what they described as unreasonable demands in the document.

The lease, distributed only to tenants with internet access and email addresses, contained inaccuracies, including misidentifying the parks as being in Erie County, referencing campground maintenance despite no campgrounds existing in the parks, and citing the Upper Bern Township tax collector, a position located in Berks County.

The tenants in attendance stated there was also a part of the lease that said a criminal conviction would result in eviction, which raised their concerns for minor or misdemeanor convictions.

For the community of retired and low-income residents, the lease's financial stipulations, such as late fees, were particularly burdensome.

"If you don't have the rent paid by the first, it's an extra $100," said Phyllis Colledge, a Spring Manor resident and meeting co-organizer.

At the start of the meeting, co-organizer Mark Fiddes asked the crowd if any representatives from Regal Communities, the company that owns the parks, were present.

There were no Regal representatives at the meeting.

Fiddes said he did invite a representative from Regal via email on Jan. 9 and received a response from Jacob Mikelberg of Regal Communities on Jan. 10 expressing willingness to address questions.

Mikelberg responded to Fiddes, saying that if there are any errors they would be happy to fix them. He also said they would be happy to talk with anyone needing help with their lease.

Fiddes told the group that they had retained an attorney to review the lease.

"Our attorney is almost done reviewing the lease, line by line, and will provide information in the next couple of days," he said.

State Rep. Scott Barger, attended the meeting to offer his support and the resources of his office.

"Anytime that you find yourself interacting with the state government, we're a great call to make to ensure you're talking to the right people," Barger said.

Colledge said she was frustrated with other local politicians. When she sought help from various Blair County representatives, she was told there was nothing they could do.

"We've got to get this lawyer paid for, and we've got to take them to court," Colledge said. "This is ridiculous. I can't afford the rent that they want and all these extras."

Although their attorney had advised tenants not to sign the lease, some residents had already done so out of fear of losing their homes.

"There's a lot in this lease that doesn't make a lot of sense to us," Colledge said.

A local real estate agent with 36 years of experience addressed the meeting, emphasizing that it was not legal to require someone to sign a lease they do not understand.

The agent explained that Regal Communities' only recourse would be to evict tenants to enforce the lease and that until then, the old lease would continue on a month-to-month basis.

The agent encouraged tenants to remain unified and avoid signing the lease until its terms were more favorable.

"Right now, this lease, there are so many errors in it and it is so ambiguous and not specific to these parks, this lease would be thrown out in court," the agent said. For those who had already signed, the agent reassured them that there was no immediate cause for alarm.

The tenants resolved to reconvene once the attorney completed the review and provided guidance on how to proceed.

Sherry Nyahay, a resident of Spring Manor for almost 25 years, said living in the mobile home park was great when Gene Henry owned it.

"You couldn't have asked for anything better," she said. "If you wanted something done, you would call him and it was done immediately."

Henry sold the property in 2020, the year before he passed.

Then Mobile Realty took over, and immediately raised the rent from $220 a month to $255, Nyahay said.

Mobile continued to raise the rent for the mobile home properties every year after that.

Now under Regal, the rent is $445, and it is supposed to go up again to $485 on February 3.

"That is a big jump," she said.

Many of the residents that attend are senior citizens who are on limited incomes.

"What mobile home owners are not considering, is that if they are spending a lot of money on rent, they don't have money to do maintenance," Nyahay said.

"The park was nice but it has gone downhill over the years because people can't afford to do the maintenance," she said.

Elaine Dick, who has lived in the Spring Manor park for about seven years, said not knowing what Regal was doing was the most concerning thing.