Idaho Mobile Home Park Laws

Idaho Mobile Home Park Laws — Lot Rent and Evictions (2026)

By Oleg Kachko · Updated August 22, 2026

✓ Law Verified August 2026

Idaho mobile home park laws are their own world: you own the home, you rent the ground, and a separate set of rules, different from ordinary landlord-tenant law, decides what the park can charge, when it can evict, and what happens if the land is sold out from under the whole community. This guide covers those rules in plain English, verified against official Idaho sources as of August 2026.

Idaho Mobile Home Park Laws at a Glance

The law that governs parks Manufactured Home Residency Act, Idaho Code Title 55, Chapter 20 (sections 55-2001 through 55-2018); originally enacted as the Mobile Home Park Landlord-Tenant Act and renamed
Notice before a lot rent increase 90 days written notice, sent by first class mail, certified mail, or personal delivery, and only after the lease term expires (Idaho Code 55-2006). The community also may not amend the rental agreement or the rules more often than once in any 6 month period, and increases must be uniform across the community or across all homes in the same rent tier.
Cap on lot rent increases NO CAP
Eviction notice periods Rule or rental agreement violation — written notice to comply, and if you do not comply within 3 days, the community may then serve a 20 day notice to vacate. Nonpayment of rent or other charges — written notice giving you 30 days to pay, and only if you do not pay may the community then serve a 30 day notice to vacate. Eminent domain taking or cessation of the lot rental operation — not less than 180 days written notice to the resident and any subtenant before the termination date. Closure by order of a government authority — governed by the terms of that order.

Why Park Living Has Its Own Rulebook in Idaho

Idaho treats this as a separate legal relationship from apartment renting. You own the manufactured home itself but rent only the lot/space from the community owner, so Chapter 20 — not the ordinary residential landlord-tenant statutes in Title 6 and Title 55 Chapter 3 — governs your rental agreement, rules, rent changes, and termination.

Because moving a home is expensive and often impossible, the Act gives lot renters longer notice periods than apartment tenants, requires a written rental agreement with disclosed utilities and services, limits the reasons a community can terminate your tenancy, bars entrance and exit fees, and lets you form a community resident association.

You may also be able to sell your home in place rather than move it, subject to the community’s written rules and resident-approval process.

Owning the home while renting the ground under it creates a kind of leverage no apartment landlord has: moving a manufactured home typically costs thousands of dollars, and many older homes cannot be moved at all without falling apart.

Lawmakers know that “just move” is not a real option for park residents, which is exactly why Idaho mobile home park laws give lot renters protections apartment tenants never get, limited eviction grounds, longer notice periods, and rules about what happens when the park itself changes hands.

Lot Rent Increases: Your Rights Before You Pay More

Required notice: 90 days written notice, sent by first class mail, certified mail, or personal delivery, and only after the lease term expires (Idaho Code 55-2006). The community also may not amend the rental agreement or the rules more often than once in any 6 month period, and increases must be uniform across the community or across all homes in the same rent tier.

Is there a cap? NO CAP

Whatever the number on the notice, read it against the rules above before paying. An increase served with short notice, or one that violates a cap where Idaho has one, is challengeable, and park residents who organize respond far more effectively than neighbors acting alone. Many states saw lot-rent fights turn into new legislation in the last two years for exactly this reason.

The Park Cannot Evict You for Just Any Reason

Idaho Code 55-2010 limits termination during the rental agreement term to specific causes: (1) substantial or repeated violation of the rental agreement or the community’s written rules; (2) nonpayment of rent or other charges specified in the rental agreement; (3) closure of the community or any portion of it by order of a federal, state, or local authority;

and (4) a taking of the community or part of it by eminent domain, or cessation of the lot rental operation.

A community generally cannot evict you simply because it dislikes you or wants your lot back without one of these grounds, but check with your court because the “substantial or repeated rule violation” ground is applied case by case.

This list matters enormously: it means a park in Idaho cannot simply non-renew you to free up the lot the way an apartment landlord might. If an eviction notice arrives, check it against the legal grounds first, park evictions fail in court most often because the stated reason is not on the list, or the notice skipped a required warning step.

If the Park Sells or Closes

When the park is sold: Idaho gives no general statewide right of first refusal.

Under Idaho Code 55-2013A, residents may form a community resident association and give the landlord written notice that the association is interested in purchasing the community; an association that has given that notice may then request in writing that the landlord, owner, or agent notify three designated association members 15 days before the owner or agent signs a purchase agreement, and the landlord must provide that notification.

This is a notice-and-opportunity-to-bid right, not a purchase mandate — the owner is not required to accept a resident offer or match one. If your community may be sold, you may be able to protect this window by forming an association and filing the written interest notice in advance rather than waiting for a listing.

When the park closes: 180 days written notice to the resident and any subtenant where the community is taken by eminent domain or the lot rental operation ceases (Idaho Code 55-2010). Idaho has no statutory relocation-assistance fund, no required per-home relocation payment, and no dollar figure for closure compensation — relocation assistance amount: UNVERIFIED because no Idaho statute establishes one.

If the closure is ordered by a federal, state, or local authority, some federal or local relocation benefits may apply, so check with your city or county and with Idaho Legal Aid Services.

Fees the Park Can and Cannot Charge in Idaho

Idaho Code 55-2007 bars a rental agreement from containing any provision allowing the landlord to charge an entrance fee or an exit fee, though the cost of repairs or maintenance the landlord requires as a condition of approving your rental application does not count as an entrance or exit fee. The rental agreement must state which utilities and services are included in the monthly rent, and must disclose other charges. Guest fee limits: UNVERIFIED.

Utility markup or submetering caps: UNVERIFIED — Idaho Code Chapter 20 does not set a percentage limit on what a community may charge for utilities it resells.

The park’s side of the bargain: Under Idaho Code 55-2007 and 55-2014, the community must maintain in good working order, to the terminal point of service, the electrical, water, and sewer services it supplies, and must keep street lights, entry lights, and common area lighting (if any) in good working condition.

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If the community fails to do so, a resident may bring an action for damages and specific performance under Idaho Code 55-2014.

Specific statutory road-paving and common-area upkeep standards: UNVERIFIED — Chapter 20 does not spell out a separate road maintenance standard, so those duties usually come from your rental agreement, local health district rules, and city or county ordinances.

The Trapped-Equity Problem and How to Protect Yourself

The economics of a mobile home park in Idaho are unlike any apartment: you own the home, but moving it typically costs thousands of dollars, often more than an older home is worth, and many parks will not accept a home past a certain age. That is why lot-rent disputes feel so different here: walking away is rarely a real option, and park owners know it.

The law is what balances that power gap, which makes knowing the exact notice rules, fee limits, and eviction grounds in Idaho worth more to a park resident than to almost any other kind of tenant.

Protect yourself the way the long-time residents do: keep every rent notice and rule change in writing, photograph the condition of your lot and the park’s common areas a couple of times a year, and read the community rules before signing anything, in most states the written rules you were given are what a court will hold both sides to.

Selling Your Home Without Losing Its Value

When it is time to leave, most residents sell the home in place rather than move it, and this is where park rules matter most.

Many states limit a park’s power to block an in-place sale: the park can usually screen the buyer the way it screens any new resident, but it generally cannot force you to remove a home just because you are selling, and it cannot demand a cut of your sale price unless it actually acted as your sales agent.

Get the park’s buyer-approval requirements in writing early, keep the lot rent current through the sale, and never sign a rule change mid-sale without reading it, a home that can stay on its lot is worth far more than one that has to be moved.

The Strongest Protection Is the Lot Next Door

Everything about park life is shared, the roads, the water lines, the rent schedule, the fate of the land itself. That is why the single most effective move a park resident in Idaho can make is joining or forming a residents association. A park owner can ignore one complaint about a rent increase; ignoring a letter signed by sixty households is a different decision.

Associations are also how residents use park-sale rights in the states that grant them, organized communities have bought their own parks across the country, usually with help from nonprofit lenders who specialize in exactly this.

Keep your own records the same way any tenant should: the lease for your lot, every rent notice, every rule change, photos of anything the park fails to maintain. Idaho mobile home park laws reward the resident who can show a judge dates and documents, and most disputes never reach a judge once the park realizes you have them.

Recent changes in Idaho: Idaho’s park act is the Manufactured Home Residency Act, and its core rent and termination provisions (90 day rent notice, 20 and 30 day eviction notices, 180 day closure notice) remain in force with no verified 2024-2026 amendment changing them.

Idaho has not adopted a lot-rent cap like New Jersey’s 3.5 percent or Oregon’s roughly 6 percent limit, and has not adopted a Washington-style opportunity-to-purchase mandate — residents get only the 15 day pre-signing notice under section 55-2013A if their association files written interest first. Specific 2024-2026 Idaho bill numbers amending Chapter 20: UNVERIFIED — check the Idaho Legislature session pages before relying on any change.

Idaho Mobile Home Park Laws: Quick Answers

Can the park raise lot rent whenever it wants? The Idaho mobile home park laws above set the notice rules, and any cap, that apply before an increase is valid.

Can the park make me remove my home? Only for the legal grounds listed in the Idaho mobile home park laws, and only through the court process, never by padlock or tow truck.

Do apartment tenant rights apply to me? Partly. The Idaho mobile home park laws are their own chapter, and this page plus the state guides linked below cover both layers.

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Official Idaho Sources & Resources

Making Idaho Mobile Home Park Laws Work for You

The Idaho mobile home park laws only protect residents who use them, and parks count on most residents never reading the act. Read your lot lease against this page, calendar every notice deadline the moment a letter arrives, and talk to your neighbors, nearly every protection in the Idaho mobile home park laws gets stronger when residents act together.

If the park ignores the rules, the state agency and local legal aid both handle park disputes, and a written complaint citing the act gets a very different response than a phone call. Under the Idaho mobile home park laws, the resident with documents and neighbors is never as trapped as the park hopes.

This guide to idaho mobile home park laws was last verified against official sources in August 2026. Lot-rent caps and park-sale laws are moving fast in many states, re-check before acting on a deadline.

More Idaho Tenant Rights Guides

Disclaimer: This guide is informational only and is not legal advice. Landlord-tenant laws change and vary by city and county within a state. Verify current rules with your state, your local court, or a free legal-aid office before acting. If you are facing eviction, contact a local tenant attorney or legal-aid organization right away.

Renting? Protect your belongings — compare renters insurance at Home Insure Guide. Divorce involving a lease? See Divorce Help Guide. Unsafe housing / toxic mold injury? Some cases qualify — see Mass Tort Info.