Check out the expansive coverage of the situation facing residents in Raleigh’s Homestead Village Mobile Home Park in this week’s Independent Weekly. The story, “Paradise Lost: Mobile Home Park Residents Caught in a Catch-22″ is another example of the crisis of park closure that plagues many communities in the country.

Bob Geary, a writer with plenty of experience covering planning board and development issues, visits with Claudia Shows, the Estradas, the Bryants, and the Webbs. His story explains the concrete problems facing these households. He then links their plight to more systemic troubles that corrupt the sustainability of homeownership for residents of mobile home parks.

This story came about, in part, due to the power of blogging. Mr. Geary noticed the story while researching for issues on BlueNC. It was a diary entry about the situation at Homestead Village that (more…)

North Carolina’s H1700, a bill to reward park owners to sell to residents and non-profits, shifted directions today.

The bill came before the House with language that would have provided a tax credit equivalent to seven percent of the gain made by owners.  That gain would have been usable against tax liabilities for up to three years.

Two changes took place.  First, Paul Stam (R-Apex) pointed out that the bill would do nothing for owners who sell their park at little gain or even at a loss.  In many instances, park owners face that exact dilemma.  With stagnant wages in many rural counties, cash flows at parks have leveled off.  Often times, people that would have bought a home and put it in a park could, until recently, qualify for a mortgage through a subprime arrangement.

With that in mind, Stam asked for staff to consider an amendment.

Secondly, staff from Revenue considered changing the language on the incentive from a tax credit to a deduction.

The bill may be heard on Monday in the House.  It could still pass the House and make it across to the Senate this year.