Together, park residents triumph

By Eileen Piekarz, RCAC rural development specialist – housing

In Olympia, Washington, Hidden Village Park residents rallied together to preserve their homes and their community.

With assistance from Columbia Legal Services (CLS), Northwest Cooperative Development Center (NWCDC) and Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) the residents formed a cooperative to purchase and operate their manufactured home community. In September 2008, their dreams came true and the community was converted to a resident-owned cooperative.

It all began in November 2007 when Hidden Village Park (formerly College Street Mobile Home Park) residents were advised that they had one year to purchase their lots for $95,000 each or move out. The park owner was planning to convert their rental lots to condominium lots.

This news came as a surprise because the 20-space community was fairly new. It was developed in 2000 and all of the residents had placed new homes on the lots between 2000 and 2006. Most of the low-income homeowners also had mortgage payments that put additional debt to buy a lot out of reach.

Residents take action

The residents reached out to Columbia Legal Services (CLS) which helped them to incorporate as the Hidden Village Owners' Association. RCAC and NWCDC heard of the residents’ situation through a story published in The Olympian.

RCAC was in a position to assist, not only because of its affordable housing development expertise, but also because RCAC had developed a program to assist manufactured home community residents convert their communities to resident-owned cooperatives. RCAC secured a grant from the MSC Fund of the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) in 2007 to work on manufactured housing cooperatives in rural communities that serve senior citizens, and HiddenVillage residents qualified for this assistance.

In addition to grant support, CDF connected RCAC to a New Hampshire Community Loan Fund initiative known as ROC USA™. RCAC became a Certified Technical Assistance Provider (CTAP) in the ROC USA Network which was launched in May 2008. As a CTAP, RCAC is assisting manufactured home communities in the rural West with seed money from the Corporation for Enterprise Development. CDF also introduced RCAC to other nonprofit organizations that work with cooperatives and/or manufactured housing communities. These introductions included CLS and NWCDC which set the stage for the organizations to work together on the Hidden Village project.

In short order, CLS, RCAC and NWCDC helped the Hidden Village Owners' Association members explore their options. At a Hidden Village community meeting, the three agencies presented what appeared to be the best option – a resident-owned, limited equity cooperative, which would purchase and operate the community. After deliberation, the homeowners voted to take the chance.

Newly formed co-op goes to work

Months of hard work followed to put together a purchase offer, contact potential lenders and apply for financing. The homeowners met regularly to make decisions about their cooperative, which included setting the membership buy-in price for the cooperative at $500 per household. After conducting an income survey of existing residents, the homeowners pledged that 65 percent of the lots would be restricted to low- and very-low income homeowners for 40 years or more. This allowed them to supplement a bank mortgage with low-interest state and county financing for affordable housing.

The Hidden Village Board and CLS attorneys worked long hours to develop bylaws for the cooperative that would empower the members and protect the community. The board also negotiated a contract with Manufactured Housing Community Preservationists to assist the co-op with property management. Other homeowners volunteered their time to revise and update the community rules.

CLS provided legal expertise and a pro bono real estate specialist; NWCDC assisted with homeowner meetings and funding applications; and RCAC provided development guidance, assembled funding applications and coordinated the work of the technical assistance providers, lenders and other consultants.   

In the end, everyone benefits; co-op members kept their homes and preserved their community, the prior community owner received a market price for the park, and the state and county are assured affordable lots for low-income manufactured homeowners.

Sale is complete but work is not

When the sale was complete and the celebration was over, the work was not. Since closing, NWCDC has provided training to the board and co-op members on their roles and responsibilities; and new board members were elected to carry the co-op into the future. In addition, the board is working with the property management advisor to put management systems into place and begin needed repairs. The co-op also is developing two additional sites to serve very-low income prospective homeowners.

With perseverance and determination Hidden Village homeowners created a stronger community and what promises to be a stable future. “There is no way to adequately express our appreciation for the help provided by Eileen Piekarz of RCAC, Ishbel Dickens and Andrew Kashyap from CLS, and Ben Dryfoos-Guss from NWDCD,” said Marjorie Neff, Hidden Village Owners' Association president. “Without their knowledge, expertise and ability to pull it all together, we would all be living somewhere besides our wonderful place, Hidden Village. We have truly built a community and look out for one another. We will continue to grow and learn as a community and perhaps be some help to others in a similar situation. A million thanks!"

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