Attorney General Curtis Hill announced on December 8, 2020 that his office finalized a settlement with the company whose actions in 2019 forced multiple residents out of their mobile and manufactured homes, due in part, because they had no legal way to move their homes because they were never given titles. The case alleged “deceptive consumer sales” practices and other violations of Indiana law.
The case is reminiscent of the no title or problematic “lease purchase” dramas that have played out in other states, including Georgia and New York.
State AG Files Suit Against, Manufactured Home Community, Rent to Own, Lease Purchase Option Warning
The video below from 2019 sets the table for the issues that were raised that resulted in the announced settlement of the case.
In a press release to MHProNews and others in media, the Indiana Office of the Attorney General statement said the following.
“With this settlement, we have concluded a case in which we obtained a measure of justice for dozens of our fellow Hoosiers who were left in a frightening predicament through no fault of their own,” Attorney General Hill said. “Consumer protection has been a priority throughout the course of my administration, and it has been an honor to help people during their times of need.”
In the fall of 2019, the Office of the Attorney General learned of the I-70 Mobile Home Park’s imminent closure. Multiple consumers contacted the office to report they were unable to move their mobile homes from the park because they had never received titles from Blue Lake Inc. after purchasing the homes from the company.
Upon investigating, the Office of the Attorney General learned that dozens of consumers were affected by Blue Lake Inc.’s failure to provide titles to mobile homes purchased by consumers. This made the consumers legally unable to move their own homes and forced to abandon them in light of the park’s closure.
In October 2019, the Office of the Attorney General filed a civil action and sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to keep the park open in order to allow residents to obtain their titles if possible, have more time to secure new housing, and to obtain consumer restitution payments.
Those 2019 actions were successful on all counts. Residents received over $50,000 in consumer restitution payments and had until February of this year to move out before the park permanently closed.
Once the park closed, the Office of the Attorney General worked to obtain final resolution of this matter, which has occurred with the consent agreement filed Dec. 3. Under the agreement, Blue Lake Inc. admits to no violation of laws.
Related documents are below.”
##
One more flashback video, and then a new video on this I70 Mobile Home Park case, are found above and below. The article linked above is a 2019 report by MHProNews on this same case.
Right or wrong, as ‘white hat’ manufactured home industry professionals and advocates ponder how these types of reports look to the affordable housing seeking public, the impact of such cases and the regional or sometimes national media attention that create comes into focus. It stands to reason that such issues are a turnoff to many. Reading the types of comments that are posted in such reports adds to that public perception issue.
While some of these local news videos may not have many hits on YouTube, the fact that they are seen live when originally broadcast by large numbers of consumers and public officials should drive how harmful this is to the image of the manufactured home industry. Unfortunately, that means that even ‘white hat’ companies can get unjustly tarnished in the public mind.
Other recent cases involving purportedly problematic behavior that involved state attorney generals and manufactured home community owner/operators.
MHProNews monitors and reports on such cases to shine the light on how they impact consumers and thus the broader manufactured home industry. In several cases, the issues arise with firms that are members of a state association and/or the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI)/National Communities Council (NCC). When ‘code of ethical conduct’ issues are not enforced, it arguably only further erodes the image of the manufactured home industry.
There is always more to read and more to come. Stay tuned with the runaway number one source for authentic “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.
For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Related References:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.
Long-Time HUD Attorney’s Formal Statement on Manufactured Housing Enhanced Preemption
