At Rudgate Manor in Sterling Heights, retirement is turning into a second shift for some longtime residents who say soaring lot rents are bleeding their fixed incomes dry. Seniors told Local 4 that their monthly site fee has climbed to about $786, and that this year’s roughly $40 hike is the latest hit to budgets that were already stretched thin. Many own their manufactured homes outright but not the land underneath, and say that decades in the park have offered no protection from the recent jumps. Residents report keeping meticulous records and letters about each increase and fear that, despite having paid off their homes, they could still be priced out.
Among those feeling the squeeze are 78-year-old Susanne DeRosa and 68-year-old Linda Grossman, who say the rising costs are making retirement feel like a luxury they cannot afford. DeRosa told Local 4 she now picks up shifts at a laundromat and, after paying lot rent, “has less than $100 left over each month.” Grossman said her most recent notice showed an increase of about $39. Resident records shown to reporters indicate that the park’s lot rent has climbed steadily since the early 2010s, leaving less and less room in monthly budgets. These details were reported by ClickOnDetroit.
Owner: Sun Communities at Center of Rent Frustration
Rudgate Manor is listed as a Sun Communities property, with the company’s own materials showing a Sterling Heights address and on-site management. Sun Communities is a large, publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns hundreds of manufactured home communities across the United States. Residents say the turning point for steeper hikes came after this ownership change, and they now trace their financial strain back to corporate decisions made far from their quiet streets.
Residents Trace Big Jumps to 2012–2013
Homeowners showed reporters handwritten notes and records they say track lot rent increases over decades, including one detail that sticks with DeRosa: she paid $278 a month when she moved in about 46 years ago. Residents estimate that the park has seen roughly an 85 percent rise in lot rent since the current owners took over, with the sharpest increases beginning around 2012–2013. Longtime homeowners told Local 4 that it is the cumulative effect of years of hikes, not just the latest bump, that now threatens their ability to age in place in the homes they thought they would never have to leave. Those figures were documented by ClickOnDetroit.
National Pattern: Corporate Park Owners Under Increased Scrutiny
Advocates and lawmakers say Rudgate Manor is hardly an outlier and instead fits a growing national pattern in which investor-owned manufactured home parks sharply raise lot rents. That trend has attracted attention from Congress and several state attorneys general, who are hearing complaints from residents who own their homes but not the land beneath them and feel trapped by rising fees. In December, members of the Joint Economic Committee sent formal questions to large corporate owners about rent growth and living conditions in their parks, warning that the business model can leave seniors in particular with few options. As the Joint Economic Committee outlined, those concerns have already led to investigations and fines in some states.
Listings Back Up Residents’ Cost Claims
Real estate listings for homes in Rudgate Manor tell a similar story, with advertised site rents now in the high $700s to low $800s. One recent rental listing, for example, cites a land-lease amount in the mid-$700s for a home inside the community. That kind of monthly charge means lot rent alone can eat up a large share of household income, particularly for retirees on Social Security who cannot easily move or sell. Current advertised site fees can be seen on Realtor.com.
What Comes Next for Rudgate Manor Seniors
Residents say they have written letters and tried to get answers, but those efforts have gone nowhere. According to Local 4, the park office declined to comment and Sun Communities did not respond to questions submitted through its online portal. For now, seniors at Rudgate Manor say they will keep working if they have to. “I can’t enjoy my retirement,” one resident told Local 4, summing up the mood in the park. Some advocates are pointing to steps taken elsewhere, such as a recent pause on mobile home lot rent increases in Brunswick, Maine, as a possible model for local protections. That action was detailed by the Press Herald.
