1997

Became a turning point for manufactured home owners in our housing market. A legislative event impacting thousands of people in the state of Illinois that had no indication it was coming. A one page document with a total of 23 lines that to this day has an enormous influence on our daily lives.

An Act concerning rent control, SB 531 became Public Act 90-0313. This act provides that no unit of government shall enact, maintain, or enforce an ordinance or resolution that would have the effect of controlling the amount of rent charged for leasing private residential or commercial property. A unit of government may not regulate or control the amount of rent charged for leasing private residential or commercial property.

MHOAI was first established in the 1970’s bringing with it the adoption of the Mobile Home Landlord and Tenants Rights Act. We are not sure what happened regarding the original board members but with research have found some information. Over the years needed papers were still being filed to keep the organization as a non-profit with the state of Illinois. In the mid1990’s homeowners state-wide realized that we needed to bring MHOAI back to life. It was realized that if homeowners did not band together updated laws would not come to light and abuse of laws such as SB 531 would continue. Homeowner associations were being formed though out the state and organizing.

During the 1970’s the State of Illinois passed tax legislation allowing Counties that were not home rule units to put in place a county tax that only manufactured homeowners would pay. Cook County was and still is the only home rule county in Illinois. Only families that live in manufactured homes are required to pay this tax. This tax comes with different names depending on which county you live in, “Local Service Tax”, “County Tax” and “Privilege Tax” are examples. This tax starts at 15 cents per foot for new homes and goes down as the home ages. The money collected goes into the County’s General Fund.

This tax law has a bit of a twist in order to increase the tax cost. For the counties to raise the tax they must have the blessing of the state legislators. This is just one reason MHOAI volunteers need to monitor proposed legislation at our State Capitol each year.