On Wednesday, the rent control board in West Stockbridge will consider a request from a mobile home park owner to increase rents by more than 200%.
Published reports say the owner, Tom Lennon, wants to boost lot rents from the current $241 a month to nearly $800. (Tenants are responsible for obtaining their own mobile homes.) Lennon cited improvements, the appraised value of the property and rising costs of doing business as the reasons.
Tenants at the Residences at Mill Pond have fought back. Evie Kerswell used to live there and is serving as a consultant for the renters. She said if the increase is approved, some people may be forced from their homes.
"The people that live there, they're seniors on fixed incomes, they are young families with small children, they're your working poor," Kerswell said.
The rent control board at a prior meeting asked Lennon for more financial documentation before considering whether to grant the increase.
Lennon was also granted a substantial rent increase recently at another trailer park he owns in Ludlow.
