If you’re underwriting a mobile home park deal right now, you need to run one check before you even open the financials: What does this state’s legislative environment look like for lot rent increases?

Because in 2026, that question could be the difference between a cash-flowing asset and a slow-motion disaster.

The Rent Control Wave Nobody Saw Coming

Mobile home parks spent decades flying under the radar of housing regulators. Affordable housing advocates were focused on apartments. Mobile home park operators quietly grew their lot rents, filled their lots, and enjoyed the stability that came from tenants who literally couldn’t move.

That era is over.

In the past 24 months, a cascade of state-level legislation has specifically targeted manufactured housing communities:

Washington State now caps annual lot rent increases at 5%, with no increases permitted in the first year of tenancy. Operators must provide 90 days’ written notice before any increase. New Jersey tightened its cap to 3.5% in March 2026, and exceeding it requires documented justification and state approval. California municipalities — Ventura County, Santa Rosa, and others — have pegged increases to COLA, meaning operators in some markets can raise rents by less than 3% in years when inflation runs hot.

These aren’t fringe markets. They’re areas where active mobile home park portfolios exist, where operators made acquisition decisions based on projecting 6-8% annual rent growth, and where those projections now range from optimistic to illegal.

I’ve spoken with operators who bought parks in 2021-2022 at sub-6% cap rates, underwriting aggressive rent bumps to hit their return targets. Those operators are now squeezed between capped revenue and uncapped expenses — insurance up 25-40%, property taxes rising with assessed values, utility costs climbing. The math only works if you can grow the top line. Take that lever away and the investment thesis falls apart.

Why This Matters for Every Mobile Home Park Investor

Even if you don’t own parks in regulated states today, this trend should shape every acquisition decision you make from here forward.

Legislative risk is now a primary underwriting variable, not an afterthought. Ten years ago, you checked zoning and infrastructure. Today, you also need to evaluate:

• Does this state have active rent control legislation in committee?
• Are there ROFR (right of first refusal) laws that could delay a future sale by 90+ days?
• What’s the political trajectory of this state on tenant protection issues?
• Is this a purple state that could flip its housing policy with the next election?

We now include a full regulatory risk analysis in every deal we underwrite at Keel Team. It’s non-negotiable.

The Safe State Advantage

Not all states are moving in this direction. States like North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wisconsin have, as of August 2026, no statewide rent control legislation targeting manufactured housing communities. They also trend toward landlord-friendly property law frameworks, strong population growth, and affordable housing demand that supports occupancy.

This isn’t a coincidence — it’s a strategy. Operating in states where you can execute your business plan without legislative interference isn’t just a preference. It’s a competitive moat.

When we look at a park in North Carolina versus a comparable asset in Washington State, the NC park commands a higher price from us — not lower — because the risk-adjusted return is cleaner. We can model rent growth with confidence. We know what our lease terms are. We know the exit will be a straightforward transaction, not a 90-day ROFR window that costs us our buyer.

What Smart Operators Are Doing Right Now

The best operators I talk to are doing three things in response to the regulatory environment:

1. Mapping their portfolio’s legislative exposure. Every asset gets scored on the regulatory risk of its state and municipality. High-risk assets get prioritized for exit or defensive management — tighter expense control, no value-add capital deployment.

2. Concentrating future acquisitions in favorable states. Capital that used to spread across 10+ states is now concentrating in 4-5. The operators making the most aggressive offers on NC and TN parks right now aren’t just chasing growth markets — they’re deliberately avoiding regulatory risk.

3. Building legislative monitoring into their operations. Active bills in state legislatures get tracked like market comps. If your state has a bill in committee that could cap your rent increases, you need to know about it in Q1, not when it gets signed in Q3.

The Bottom Line

The mobile home park asset class remains compelling. National occupancy is near 94%. Demand for affordable housing isn’t going away. Supply constraints protect existing parks from new competition.

But the free lunch on rent growth is over in a growing number of markets. The operators who will win the next decade aren’t the ones who found the best-priced deal — they’re the ones who found the best-priced deal in the right regulatory environment.

Before you put a park under contract, run the legislative tape as hard as you run the financials. Your future self will thank you.

For a deeper look at how we evaluate deals from site to financials, check out the Keel Team Mobile Home Park Due Diligence Playbook.

Andrew Keel is the founder of Keel Team, a mobile home park acquisition and management company focused on the Southeast and Midwest. Keel Team has acquired and operates 50+ manufactured housing communities across multiple states.