Fixed income, rising rent, and the cost of safety: inside a mobile home community

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. –  Bob Kiefer loves his home in the Southern Pines community in Bonita Springs. He says neighbors look out for one another, but living in Southwest Florida has become increasingly expensive.

“Community is great here. Everybody takes care of each other,” Kiefer said.

Kiefer bought his manufactured home in 2019. Since then, he says his rent has nearly doubled.

“It went from $540 to $790, and we're paying $970 right now. So it's just about doubled in six years. That's a lot of money,” he said.

With rent rising, Kiefer says his budget is stretched thin –  even when it comes to food.

“We have to shop at four or five different places. We get X amount of dollars for food for the week,” Kiefer said. Shopping around five stores and hopefully you can get some really good buys.”

On top of rent and groceries, Kiefer says he also had to pay out of pocket to protect his manufactured home from storms. He installed required tie-downs himself to protect his home from wind events.

Those tie-downs can be costly. Rob Ubaldo, the president of the Southern Pines homeowners association, says each one adds up.

“Like $65 to $75 per tie down, that, when they install them, there's at least 30 of them in the new codes that have to be installed,” Ubaldo said.

The Lee County government website said tying down a home can cost up to $2,000.

Ubaldo said the community applied for Florida’s mobile home tie-down program in 2022. The program is designed to install tie-downs at no cost to residents. But demand has far outpaced funding.

A WINK News investigation last year found more than 400 homes in the Southern Pines community were still waiting for tie-downs. Across Southwest Florida, 19 communities and more than 41,000 homes remain on a waitlist.

For some residents, the wait has gone on too long.

“Stop messing around and get it done,” said Vietnam veteran Gary Howard. “There's a lot of people in here that just are living on Social Security and that's it. And they just. It's not affordable.”

Now, lawmakers are considering changes during this legislative session.

One proposal, House Bill 703, would require mobile home park owners to justify rent increases by providing documentation showing why rents are going up.

Another bill, House Bill 267, would allow local governments to use housing funds to pay for safety repairs – including installing tie-downs – when the state program cannot keep up.

For many residents living on fixed incomes, supporters say the bills could offer some relief.

Neither bill would cap rent increases, but advocates say the proposals could help address rising costs and improve safety as hurricane season approaches.

WINK News will continue to follow these proposals as they make their way through this legislative session.