In a viral TikTok video, a man says his trailer park community is becoming unaffordable to its residents due to new property requirements introduced by its owner, Havenpark Communities.
“They came in and they’re trying to change all the rules and, essentially, making it so people can’t afford to fucking live here anymore,” Cody (@siriuslycody) says, before showing the landfill next to his neighborhood. “We don’t live here because we want to, we live here because we fucking have to. Are you shitting me?”
Havenpark Communities, formerly known as Havenpark Capital Partners, is a Utah-based investor firm that develops manufactured home, or mobile home, communities. About two years after the corporation purchased his mobile home community, Meadowlark, in Billings, Montana, Cody says it introduced a number of new requirements that many residents are not able to afford on April 12.
“Some of it is pretty standard I think, but some is quite ridiculous,” Cody told the Daily Dot via Instagram messages.
Residents are not able to have trailers over 20 years old, and trailers must have vinyl siding and a shingled roof, he says. Havenpark Communities is also allegedly requiring residents to remove any fencing on their own dime.
“How am I gonna fucking afford to put vinyl siding on this? Do you think I can? Fuck no,” Cody says in the video of his mobile home, which has aluminum siding.
Cody’s TikTok isn’t the first instance of complaints against the corporation. In 2019, the Des Moines Register reported on several complaints in Iowa mobile home communities against the company, including large increases in lot rent and the introduction of new rules. One of these rules reportedly claimed that having kids’ toys in their yard could get residents evicted.
@siriuslycody #stitch with @siriuslycody ♬ original sound – Cody
In his video, Cody continues to list the new rules in his community. He claims the corporation is now requiring residents to pay property taxes on top of the rent they already pay for their lots. The TikToker also says residents are not allowed to move their trailers without written permission from Havenpark.
“They’re making it so the people that live here can’t afford to follow their fucking rules, and then they’re gonna get evicted,” he says. “They’re gonna get evicted, and they’re gonna bring more people in.”
Havenpark Communities also introduced pet policies, he says, forcing one of his neighbors to either leave or get rid of her husky, as it is a “dangerous breed.”
“It’s been here three years, no one’s had a fucking problem with it,” he says. “Are you shitting me? I have a german shepherd. I bet they’re fucking coming after me, too.”
Cody also pointed out issues residents have with the “drinkable” water that they pay for. He shows the brown water coming from his sink in a previous TikTok video.
@siriuslycody #stitch with @shane.duffy So there’s that 🤷♂️ #SmoothLikeNitroPepsi #fypシ #fyp ♬ original sound – Cody
“It’s just big-wig fucking people coming in and destroying these fucking small-town communities, kicking all of us people that can’t afford anything out, so they can fucking bring in more fucking people with more money,” he says.
The resident’s video received over 1.1 million views as of publishing, and several viewers were outraged.
“Capitalism my dude.. unfortunately, I don’t think all the likes in the world gonna fix this,” one user said.
“Thanks corporate America, making this country unlivable in the quest for more profits!” another said.
Several others agreed with Cody, arguing that Havenpark Communities introduced the new regulations to drive current residents out.
“It’s intentional, they want to tear the park down for houses development,” one user suggested.
“Guys, google the company. There are already so many stories of them doing this before,” another viewer noted.
The Des Moines Register also reported in 2019 that Havenpark Communities received an “F” score from the Better Business Bureau. According to the bureau’s site, the corporation currently has an “A-” score, however, it is not accredited, meaning it does not meet the standard of being committed in “good faith” to resolving customer complaints.
The Daily Dot reached out to Invariant, which shared a Havenpark Communities press release in February, to contact the corporation.
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