In our communities:

Think Tank 

On March 28th MHOAI organized a meeting of the minds when leadership from 10 communities attended a “Think Tank” session. Addressed were issues that included Policy Change, Membership, Fundraising and Communication to address a responsible Strategic Plan.  The meeting ended with great ideas and input allowing MHOAI and local homeowner associations to continue growing together, and at the same time continue to keep a focus on our shared goals.

We want to thank the Golf Vista Homeowners Association for hosting this event and those who took the time to travel and share their ideas.  People traveled from cities that included: Hodgkins, Matteson, Frankfort, Countryside, Manteno, Des Plaines, Bloomington, Sandwich, Crete, and Monee.

New Homeowner Associations 

We want to introduce and welcome two newly established communities to the MHOAI family.  The residents of South Bluff located in South Beloit and Pheasant Lake in Beecher formed a homeowners association during July and we look forward to a future of working with them.

Equality LifeStyle (ELS) 

ELS, a Samuel Zell owned company that is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, had their annual share holders meeting this year.  Also attending were homeowners from about 7 other states with the help of financial resources sponsored by Center for Community Change (CCC) that works with MHAction, a national group made up of homeowners.

ELS interests include 370 manufactured home communities nation-wide with about 140,000 lots.   With development companies that are this large, homeowners who live in Illinois must make sure that we have a voice at the table. This means having a seat with regional managers and other decision makers, not just the local community manager. Communities in Illinois include: Willow Lake in Elgin, Golf Vista in Monee, and Pheasant Lake in Beecher.

Another large development company that is publicly traded and has bought communities in Illinois is Sun Company.  Their portfolio includes about 150 communities in 30 states.  The communities located in Illinois include: Oak Ridge in Manteno, Wildwood in Sandwich, and Maple Brook in Matteson.

Terry Nelson
mhoai1@aol.com