INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana lawmaker is proposing a new law to protect mobile home residents.
The proposed law comes about six months after RTV6 started reporting on the issues facing residents that the I-70 Mobile Home Park in Indianapolis.
State Rep. Justin Moed, D-Indianapolis, is proposing a law that would require mobile home park owners to provide residents with 120 days notice of the parks closure. This is double the amount of time the residents of the I-70 Mobile Home Park received.
The law would also require owners to notify residents anytime the property is listed for sale.
PREVIOUS |I-70 Mobile Home Park residents raise health and safety concerns | Mobile home park residents want answers after they're told they will have to leave | Indianapolis mobile home park repairs blamed for evictions, but are not mandatory | Indianapolis mobile home park residents forced to move out get answers from local attorney | Indianapolis mobile home park residents receive assistance from community
"I filed legislation to try to help in the future so if there was a mobile home park where the owner decided he's going to close its doors and ask everybody to evacuate and move out ,that we have a clear length of time that he needs to provide them notice in," Moed said.
Under current Indiana law, there is no notice requirement for mobile home parks, Moed says.
"This what people have believed to be, as you talked to residents some of them thought they would retire here, die there," Moed said. "It would be their last place of living and that certainly wasn't the case for a lot of folks."
Moed says without new laws, what happened to the I-70 Mobile Home Park residents, could happen anywhere.
"I represent other mobile home parks that are aging in this city and the likelihood that this happens somewhere else is high," Moed said. "I don't want to have to host another resource fair, or you to have to cover another story where this happens again."
The bill has been assigned to a committee and if it passes, could be signed into law this year.
