The Auburn City Council on Tuesday approved, on a first reading, a 180-day moratorium on increases to mobile home lot rents after residents said they were struggling to keep up with the cost and stay in their homes.

The vote was unanimous, with one councilor absent. The moratorium will not go into effect until it is approved on second reading Feb. 2.

Though all councilors supported the moratorium, many thought that rent control is governmental overreach that they would likely not support in other scenarios.

“In general you wouldn’t hear me support something like this,” At-Large Councilor Adam Platz said. “However … it’s my perspective that mobile homes are different than other properties.

“I do understand the hardships that the residents of these mobile home parks are under right now,” he said. “I understand that there’s a noose around your neck and there are choices that you do not have if these rents go up above a certain amount, I do understand that and so for that reason I can vote to support this.” 

Ward 5 Councilor Leroy Walker Sr. and Ward 2 Councilor Timothy Cowan also shared similar sentiments but ultimately thought that mobile home parks were different from general rental housing. They said they wanted to support mobile home park tenants and help keep them from being priced out of their housing.

“I fully support the 180-day moratorium so we can understand and I can learn, in particular, where there is differences in these cases versus the renters in apartments because to me there’s potentially a slippery slope here,” Cowan said. “But I think it’s an important thing to do this right now so we can and we have the time to learn that and support our constituents who are struggling with what we heard at the last meeting, really dramatic increases in rent.”

Auburn mobile home residents from three parks in the city spoke at the Jan. 5 council meeting, sharing their experience with recent steep rent increases and asking for a moratorium until the council can develop a lot rent stabilization ordinance.

They had help organizing from the Maine Labor Climate Council, which has been helping mobile home lot renters fight back against steep rent increases and advocating at the municipal level for rent ordinances on mobile home park lots around the state. It comes amid numerous reports of steep mobile home park rent increases around the state since the pandemic.

New state legislation outlines a process around how mobile home park owners must implement rent increases. However, Auburn’s attorney said earlier this month the new law would not prohibit the council from placing a moratorium on increases.

The Maine Labor Climate Council was encouraged to see the moratorium pass unanimously.

“This moratorium is a direct result of mobile home residents organizing, speaking out and demanding action to protect their homes,” a Maine Labor Climate Council spokesperson said Tuesday night. “By voting to pause lot rent increases, the Auburn City Council is giving residents immediate relief and the time needed to develop lasting protections that keep people housed and prevent displacement.”

After the vote, several tenants from some of the city’s mobile home parks spoke about the need for the moratorium. 

Juliette St. Amand said there has been a lack of investment in the Washington Street Mobile Home Park where she lives. The 80-year-old said she cannot afford to buy a house should her rent increase again, which could displace her.

“You people are our last hope, we had no one else to turn to, so please follow your heart,” she said.