I’ve reflected on why I took a trip to Chicago with the MHAction leadership team, and wanted to share those reflections and my personal story with everyone.

I was born and raised in Hartley, Iowa. My father was a truck drive and we moved around quite a bit, but I’ve always felt a deep personal connection to California. Now that I’m 63, I plan on living out my years in the Golden State.

I worked a variety of jobs my entire life, mostly in retail. For the last ten years, I’ve been working as a caregiver. I feel that caregiving for the elderly, especially those with significant health issues, is a vitally important and rewarding profession. Caregiving also seems to be a “calling” for my family. My mother and sister are also caregivers.

Given that we’ve all made modest wages as caregivers, we really needed to make sure that all of us could live in an affordable setting. We felt that moving into a manufactured home community provided us with the best option to do so.   We could own our own home, live in a community with others and still put food on the table and pay for our basic necessities. That’s when I decided to purchase a home in Royal Holiday, a community owned and operated by Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (ELS), located in Hemet, CA.

However, if I had known as much about ELS as I do today, I would have never moved into one of their housing communities. They have raised the rent so high that many people have been forced to move out. Right now, there are over 60 vacancies in our community alone. To make matters worse, ELS has put virtually zero money into maintenance. ELS’s infrastructure strategy seems to be to charge homeowners ground rent and put nothing back into the community. Our roads, sidewalks and waterlines are crumbling apart and breaking. It’s really a disgrace.

Some days I want to hand in my keys and walk away, but given that I am now drawing my income from what I can pull together from caregiving and a meager monthly Social Security check, I’ve decided to stay and fight for my right to live out my retirement affordably. And I want to get others involved.

This is exactly why I took a recent trip to Chicago with other manufactured home owners across the country. Our main goal was to build relationships with homeowners from a number of states and sharpen our skills to make large corporations like ELS more accountable to the needs of our community. Our time in Chicago focused on skill-building sessions that ranged from telling our stories effectively to social media training. We then put our training into immediate actions by attending an ELS shareholder meeting to share our concerns, and heading to Wells Fargo, a major ELS investor, to hold a protest (pictured above). We need investors like Wells to understand how their investment decisions are impacting our community and our way of life.

I returned from Chicago with renewed hope and vigor. I plan to put to use what I learned in Chicago to make sure that I and my community members, especially the seniors, can live out our lives in an affordable and safe manner. I truly believe that our country’s strength is grounded in our ability to work together and care for each other. We are stronger when we recognize we rise or fall united, and are weaker when greed insists we be left to fend for ourselves.

I am asking you today to reach out to other manufactured home owners that are affected by these issues to get involved in the campaign.   A very simple task you could ask your friends to do to get updates on the campaign is by ‘liking’ MHAction’s Facebook page.

Georgia Buckley and her husband William live in Salt Lake City, Utah. Several years ago, William had four strokes and a serious head injury, which turned their lives upside-down. The strokes affected everything about him, from his speech to his personality to his mental well-being.

“Basically, he had to get his life on track, and he almost had to grow up all over again,” Georgia said. Georgia said it was difficult dealing with all of the effects of her husband’s injury, but that she learned a lot. “I had to have a lot of patience, a lot of understanding,” she said.

William’s illness affected her family financially as well. When he got sick, he had to quit his job. Georgia had to get a part-time job, but even then, they couldn’t make their house payments and Georgia and William lost their home.

“We were lucky to even keep food on the table,” Georgia said. With Georgia’s help, William slowly recovered and was able to work again. They moved to a new city so he could take a job as the chief engineer of an apartment complex, but just a year later, his mother started to fall ill.

Georgia traveled 60 miles to and from her mother-in-law’s home several days a week to take her to doctor’s appointments, buy her groceries and cook her meals. As her health continued to degenerate, she became bed-ridden and relied on Georgia completely to feed and bathe her and help her to the restroom.

When William’s mother passed away, Georgia and William asked William’s father to come live with them. He was also in poor health and relied heavily on his son and daughter-in-law for day-to-day help. From helping him bathe and eat, to making sure he took his medicine, to changing his diapers and physically picking him up off the floor when he fell, Georgia became his full-time caregiver.

“It was a tough situation,” Georgia said, “especially because other members of the family didn’t know what to do or didn’t want to help. My husband looked at me and said, ‘We’ve got to do this.’ And we just did it because that’s the way we are.”

Georgia and William made their own sacrifices to become caregivers. William quit his job so that he could stay home with Georgia to help. Georgia was attending school for event-planning and interior design, but had to quit to become a caregiver.

Georgia admitted that she felt resentment toward other family members for not stepping up. “I was angry. I was angry with the rest of the family. But I’m glad that I was able to do that for my husband. I was able to step in, take charge and do what was needed to be done for him and for them.”

Georgia says if there were a Caregiver Credit, she would absolutely apply for it. Georgia and her family have sacrificed a great deal of time, energy and income in order to act as caregivers. “Caregiving is one of the toughest jobs I’ve ever had. It’s physical; it’s mental; it’s very emotional. It makes you a different person than what you are or who you ever thought you would be.”

Though both of her husband’s parents are now deceased, Georgia has not stopped taking care of others. She has begun helping her elderly neighbors across the street by taking them to doctor’s appointments, doing their grocery shopping and helping them around the house. “I’m there when they need me,” said Georgia. “I go over to help them probably four or five days a week.”

I am the reason Sam Zell is rich, but I’m not his stockbroker, and I’m not his business partner. I am one of the hundreds of thousands of people living in one of the 370 manufactured home communities operated by Equity LifeStyles Properties (ELS), where Zell is chairman of the board.

Barb and I have lived within 25 miles of Bath, Pennsylvania our entire lives. When we bought the manufactured home in July, four years ago, ELS was not the land owner at that time.  I’m the President and Barb is Treasurer of GVHA, our homeowners’ association. We believe in fairness and equality for everyone. That is what motivates us to volunteer more than full time to the association.

Barb has been on disability since the mid 1990’s; it would be disastrous if there were cuts to her SSD check or Medicare. I took early retirement so I could attend to her health problems. If Social Security or Medicare were cut, we’d have to choose between food and medical needs. Our medical costs, even after Medicare and other insurance coverage, are 20 to 25 percent of our income.

Given our fixed income and Barb’s health issues, we felt that the affordability and accessibility offered in manufactured home living suited us well. Of late, we’ve grown disillusioned given how hard it is to work with management & ELS.

Our homeowners association used to have a positive and productive working relationship with management for activity planning and complaint resolution. Then, a resident discussed an issue she was having with management – a $1,200 water bill – at an association meeting. She was taking the community owner to court to recover the $1200 she was forced to pay, and asked that some people come to support her. Four of us, my wife and I included, went with her. In retaliation, according to a statement management made and witnessed by a resident, management had their attorney sent us a letter saying that we were in violation of the guidelines for living in our community because association members passed out flyers to residents. This was a threat  of  possible eviction.

Management stated that we could not continue to have a working relationship if we allowed residents to discuss issues they are having with management. There is no way that I would allow management to dictate who may have the floor or what we can say at our meetings. Ever since that happened, management now refuses to meet with the Executive Board, and repeatedly refused to communicate with me.

Management refused any feasible way, like posting notices in the bulletin board above the mail stations or passing out flyers door to door, to communicate with residents. How were we supposed to function as a homeowners association? We feel that this is a basic violation of our First Amendment rights and PA statutes.

Management being impossible to work with is just the tip of the iceberg. Maintenance has gone downhill since ELS purchased Greenbriar Village in October 2011. It is impossible to get someone from upper management, beyond our park manager, to respond to us at all.

ELS  has made it extremely difficult for residents to sell their homes. We are paying as much as $600 a month for lot rent and we pay for water, garbage and sewage as well. We get no amenities. They have stolen the equity from our homes. There are people living on $1,100 a month who bought in good faith. More than one half of their income goes for lot rental and housing expenses. That’s unsustainable for people.

When ELS takes homes because the owners can’t afford the increased lot rent, and are unable to sell their homes because of the high lot rents, ELS takes the homes. They either sell the home and pocket the proceeds or they rent them out. According to the company guidelines, a homeowner is not allowed to rent his or her home. Why is it all right for ELS to rent their homes and not us? (This provides the opportunity for ELS to raise rents beyond the fair lot rental value.)

ELS now has the license and the incentive to take our homes. Is that their strategy, to kick out homeowners and replace us with renters?

We have to take a stand. What are they going to do? Take our worthless houses?

Watch our video “The Shadowbrook ELS Senior Community: A Dangerous Place to Live”

Barb and I have lived within 25 miles of Bath, Pennsylvania our entire lives. When we bought the manufactured home in July, four years ago, ELS had just become the owner of the land. ELS was not the land owner at that time. I’m the President and Barb is Treasurer of GVHA, our homeowners’ association. We believe in fairness and equality for everyone. That is what motivates us to volunteer more than full time to the association.

Barb has been on disability since the mid 1990’s; it would be disastrous if there were cuts to her SSD check or Medicare. I took early retirement so I could attend to her health problems. If Social Security or Medicare were cut, we’d have to choose between food and medical needs in order to survive: our budget is that tight right now. Our medical costs, even after Medicare and other insurance coverage, is 20 to 25 percent of our income.

Given our fixed income and Barb’s health issues, we felt that the affordability and accessibility offered in manufactured home living suited us well. Of late, we’ve grown disillusioned given how hard it is to work with management and ELS.

Our homeowners association used to have a positive and productive working relationship with management for activity planning and complaint resolution. Then, a resident discussed an issue she was having with management – a $1,200 water bill – at an association meeting. She was being taken to court and asked that some people come to support her. Four of us, my wife and I included, went with her. In retaliation, management had their attorney send us a letter saying that we were in violation of the guidelines for living in our community because we passed out flyers. We’ve seen these letters used as an eviction threat.Management stated that we could not continue to have a working relationship if we allowed residents to discuss issues they are having with management. There is no way that I would allow management to dictate who may have the floor or what we can say at our meetings. Ever since that happened, management has refused to meet with the executive board of the homeowners association.

Management refused any feasible way, like posting notices at the mail station or passing out flyers door to door, to communicate with residents. How were we supposed to function as a homeowners association?

Management being impossible to work with is just the tip of the iceberg. Maintenance has gone downhill since ELS purchased Greenbriar Village in October 2011. It is impossible to get someone from upper management, beyond our park manager, to respond to us at all.

ELS has made it extremely difficult for residents to sell their homes. We are paying as much as $586 a month for lot rent and we pay for water, garbage and sewage as well. They have stolen the equity from our homes. There are people living on $1,100 a month who bought in good faith. More than one half of their income goes for lot rental and housing expenses. That’s unsustainable.

When ELS takes homes because the owners can’t afford the increased lot rent, and are unable to sell their homes because of the high lot rents, ELS takes the homes. They either sell the home and pocket the proceeds or they rent them out. According to the company guidelines, a homeowner is not allowed to rent his or her home. Why is it all right for ELS to rent their homes and not us? (This provides the opportunity for ELS to raise rents beyond the fair lot rental value.)

ELS now has the license and the incentive to take our homes. Is that their strategy, to kick out homeowners and replace us with renters?

We have to take a stand. What are they going to do? Take our worthless houses?

I worked in commercial real estate for over thirty years. I sold my condo in Manassas, Virginia because I needed a more accessible place to live due to mobility issues. I felt that living in a manufactured home on one floor was a wonderful solution.

I’ll be 65 in six years. I’ll no longer receive the job-based disability that I get along with Social Security Disability (SSDI). My monthly take home will be cut in half. Right now, my lot rent is one half of my Social Security check. I’m not sure how I will pay for medication, lot rental, utilities, and food and other necessities, but it’ll take a lot of sacrifice and creativity.

When I chose Meadows of Chantilly, I thought I had found my solution. I love my house and my garden. However, I’ve grown more and more concerned about how ELS is managing our community whose population includes senior citizens, people with disabilities, and veterans, many of whom are on fixed incomes for whom this community is no longer affordable. There are no rent controls so the lot rents are raised and if people can’t pay, they are told either remove your home from the property or the house is taken by ELS. It is unconscionable that they charge $945 a month for a piece of dirt that is 30 by 60 feet, not including the driveway.

ELS’s management style is rooted in intimidation, harassment, and threats. They send notices with great frequency for everything: fix this, fix that, you need a new roof, replace your shingles, etc. the list is as endless as the letters. They drive around the development looking for things so they can harass homeowners. There are clauses in our leases that violate Virginia law. They assess fines when people don’t fix what they are told to fix. The fines are illegal but so many residents, particularly the elderly and undocumented immigrants, are afraid to fight. If rent is not paid on time the first letter threatens eviction: a violation of law.

People in the park have turned over their house titles for free. A lot of these homeowners were so intimidated and overwhelmed, that they felt their only choice was to simply walk away from their investment. The goal seems to be to get rid of homeowners.

Why? ELS figured out, and I hate to think this is what ELS originally set out to do, there is more money in renting both lot and house than lot alone. Originally, renting was not allowed. Currently there are 50 homes in our community of 500 lots rented by ELS.Even with those issues, I feel it’s very important to invest in my neighbors and my community overall. My mother taught me to center my own personal values on our Christian faith, and that I strive to live my life as an example to God. I think ELS as a company can learn quite a bit from those values.

Had I known more about ELS before I moved in, I would not have purchased a home in this community.

I’m 78 years old. I served in the U.S. Army for five years, am married to Grace with whom I had six children, worked as an electrical contractor in New York State, and moved to Camelot Meadows in 1999. I collect an annuity of $8,767 annually and receive $20,446 each year in Social Security payments. Grace gets $8,926 from Social Security making our yearly income around $35,000. We really liked the area and Camelot Meadows’ affordability was one of the reasons we moved here. Our monthly lot payment was $250 which included water. It has more than doubled to $591, and no longer includes water.

We have beautiful trees in Camelot Meadow planted by ELS. The problem is that ELS doesn’t maintain the very trees they planted. Homeowners, like me, are being forced to take care of their trees.

In Delaware that is against the law. Community owners are required to maintain, care for and remove, if necessary, trees on any lot, including common areas, if the tree is at least 25 feet in height, or has a main stem/trunk larger than six inches in diameter.

I had asked ELS to trim some of their trees that had weakened limbs around our property. ELS refused. One day a large branch came down and hit my car causing $1,800 in damages to a door, a mirror, and the hood. When I called the community manager about what happened, the manager said that it was an “Act of God,” but that they would be willing to pay my $200 deductible if I agreed not to sue them.

The way ELS operates is unbelievable to me. I’m paying more in rent every year, and getting less for it. And, they still don’t take care of the trees as they are legally required to do.

My name is Robert Black. I was raised in Nebraska and Minnesota. I visited friends in Hacienda Village over several winters and after having a stroke, I realized I would have problems navigating the steps in my home up north so I came to New Port Richey to live year round.

I retired from GE in 2008 with a pension to help me out, but if not for Social Security, I would not be able to live here. I have paid into Social Security since I was 16 years old; it is an earned benefit, not an entitlement. If  Social Security and Medicare were reduced, my problems would multiply.

I come from a small town community and was raised to believe in honesty, working for what you get, the golden rule of treating others the way you want to be treated, and respect. In my adult years, I dedicated myself to many civic concerns including becoming involved in housing issues that affected low income and minority people.

Here at Hacienda Village housing is still a concern, but it is now affecting me. We have gone nearly a year without a full time manager and have a new regional manager as well. Our community is advertised as having gates and yet they are always open.

One of the issues we face at Hacienda Village occurs when a homeowner passes. Oftentimes, their sons or daughters have no interest in keeping the home and sell it directly to ELS. ELS then turns around and rents the home. The problem is that homeowners have to follow rules on upkeep while ELS is derelict in keeping their rentals clean and in good repair. This double standard has a negative effect on homeowners and the community at large.

These are our homes. I want to be proud of where I live. Hacienda Village used to be a premiere community, but not now.

I wish ELS would live up to its mission statement that reads, “Our mission is to operate high quality site-set housing communities responsibly and ethically. To share an absolute passion for excellence and resident satisfaction at every level. To empower every employee to take initiative and be a creative agent of change. To set and meet aggressive goals that benefit our residents, employees and shareholders.”

As told by her daughter Barbara…

My parents bought their home for $60,000 and moved into the De Anza community to live out their retirement. They were really pleased at first with their choice…they loved their neighbors, and the equity in their home actually increased in the first two years.

After my father passed away, things began to unravel. ELS began to raise the rents over and over again. It was becoming next to impossible to continue to live there. She was relying on Social Security and a small amount of retirement savings.

Two years after my father passed away, my mom had a fall that resulted in very significant mobility issues. She continued to live in De Anza Santa Cruz for one year, but since Medicare didn’t cover her home care that she now required, her retirement savings disappeared.

My mom’s only option was to sell her home. She put it on the market. Home seekers were unwilling to purchase her home, no matter how low she went because of the ever increasing rents that De Anza was charging. I didn’t want to inherit the property for that same reason. My mom was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

My mother fell behind on her rent. De Anza threatened to sue if she didn’t sign the home over to ELS. She was forced to walk away with only a box of chocolates offered by an ELS office worker.