Vermont Mobile Home Park Laws

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

By Oleg Kachko · Updated August 22, 2026

✓ Law Verified August 2026

Vermont 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 Vermont sources as of August 2026.

Vermont Mobile Home Park Laws at a Glance

The law that governs parks Vermont Mobile Home Parks Act, 10 V.S.A. Chapter 153 (§§ 6201-6266), including § 6236 (lease terms), § 6237 (evictions), § 6237a (park closures), § 6238 (charges and fees), § 6242 (notice before park sale), § 6251 (lot rent increases), and § 6262 (warranty of habitability). Note: 2026 Act No. 155 directs the statutes to be re-lettered to say “manufactured home” instead of “mobile home,” effective July 1, 2026.
Notice before a lot rent increase 60 days. Under 10 V.S.A. § 6236 and § 6251, the park owner must give leaseholders at least 60 days’ written notice before any lot rent increase, and must use the DHCD “Notice of Mobile Home Park Lot Rent Increase” form, filing a copy with the Commissioner of Housing and Community Development at the same time. The notice must state the dollar amount of the increase, any capital-improvement surcharge and its duration in 12-month prorated increments, the effective date, the percentage increase over the current base lot rent, and a statement of your mediation and civil-action rights. Rent and utility charges must stay in effect at least 12 months, so many residents can only be raised once a year. A rent increase notice may not be given within the 6 months before a park closure notice is issued, or at any time while a closure notice is in effect.
Cap on lot rent increases NO CAP. Vermont does not cap manufactured-home lot rent increases by a fixed percentage the way New Jersey (3.5 percent) or Oregon (about 6 percent) do. Instead, 10 V.S.A. § 6251 and the DHCD Housing Division Rules Part II give leaseholders a right to request state mediation and then a civil action when an increase exceeds an annual threshold set at the change in the U.S. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, Housing component, for the 12 months ending in August, plus 1 percentage point. DHCD publishes the new threshold after the first business day in October each year. The published threshold was 5.4 percent for increases effective in 2025 and 5.0 percent for increases effective in 2026. If the increase is above the threshold and a majority of the affected leaseholders object, you may be able to demand mediation, but the increase is not automatically illegal. One narrow exception: rent may be raised mid-year only if park operating expenses rose 20 percent or more that year because of legislative action, and only to the extent needed to cover that increase.
Eviction notice periods Nonpayment of rent: 20 days. Before starting an eviction, the park owner must notify you by certified or registered mail that an eviction may be filed if the overdue rent is not paid within 20 days from the date the notice was mailed; paying within those 20 days generally cures it. However, a substantial lease violation, or an additional nonpayment of rent occurring within 6 months after that notice was given, may allow immediate eviction proceedings without a new 20-day notice. Substantial violation of the lease: the park must commence the eviction proceeding within 60 days of the last alleged violation, or within 60 days after arraignment if the claimed violation is criminal activity; a case filed later than that is insufficient to support a judgment of eviction. Change of use or park termination/closure: 18 months’ advance certified-mail notice under 10 V.S.A. § 6237a, and during that 18-month period no eviction may be commenced except for nonpayment of rent or a substantial lease violation. Only a court can order you out; check with your county Superior Court civil division.

Why Park Living Has Its Own Rulebook in Vermont

In Vermont you are a “leaseholder” who owns the manufactured home but rents only the lot, so Chapter 153 governs instead of ordinary residential landlord-tenant law (9 V.S.A. ch. 137).

Practical differences you may be able to rely on: all lot terms must be in a written lease (10 V.S.A. § 6236); rent and utility charges are locked for a minimum of 12 months; the park cannot evict you at-will or for no cause; a sale or change in the form of ownership of the park is not itself grounds for eviction;

and the park must register annually with the Department of Housing and Community Development, which can fine violators up to 5000 per violation.

Because you own the structure, an eviction can mean moving or losing the home itself, which is why the eviction, closure, and sale-notice protections below exist.

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 Vermont 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: 60 days. Under 10 V.S.A. § 6236 and § 6251, the park owner must give leaseholders at least 60 days’ written notice before any lot rent increase, and must use the DHCD “Notice of Mobile Home Park Lot Rent Increase” form, filing a copy with the Commissioner of Housing and Community Development at the same time.

The notice must state the dollar amount of the increase, any capital-improvement surcharge and its duration in 12-month prorated increments, the effective date, the percentage increase over the current base lot rent, and a statement of your mediation and civil-action rights. Rent and utility charges must stay in effect at least 12 months, so many residents can only be raised once a year.

A rent increase notice may not be given within the 6 months before a park closure notice is issued, or at any time while a closure notice is in effect.

Is there a cap? NO CAP. Vermont does not cap manufactured-home lot rent increases by a fixed percentage the way New Jersey (3.5 percent) or Oregon (about 6 percent) do.

Instead, 10 V.S.A. § 6251 and the DHCD Housing Division Rules Part II give leaseholders a right to request state mediation and then a civil action when an increase exceeds an annual threshold set at the change in the U.S. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, Housing component, for the 12 months ending in August, plus 1 percentage point.

DHCD publishes the new threshold after the first business day in October each year.

The published threshold was 5.4 percent for increases effective in 2025 and 5.0 percent for increases effective in 2026. If the increase is above the threshold and a majority of the affected leaseholders object, you may be able to demand mediation, but the increase is not automatically illegal.

One narrow exception: rent may be raised mid-year only if park operating expenses rose 20 percent or more that year because of legislative action, and only to the extent needed to cover that increase.

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 Vermont 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

Under 10 V.S.A. § 6237(a), a leaseholder may be evicted ONLY for: (1) nonpayment of rent; (2) a substantial violation of the lease terms of the mobile home park; or (3) a change in use of the park land or part of it, or a termination (closure) of the park. There is no no-cause eviction of a manufactured-home leaseholder in Vermont.

In addition, you may be able to defend if the lease term you are accused of violating is not enforced against other leaseholders or others on the park premises, and a sale or a change in the form of ownership of the park is expressly not grounds for eviction.

This list matters enormously: it means a park in Vermont 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: Under 10 V.S.A. § 6242, before selling the park the owner must send each manufactured-home owner in the park, and the Commissioner of Housing and Community Development, a notice of intent to sell by certified mail, return receipt requested, and by first-class mail to the last known address if the certified notice is refused or undeliverable.

The notice must state the price, terms, and conditions of the offered sale, list the affected home owners and how many leaseholds each holds, and disclose the park’s status of compliance with applicable statutes, rules, and permits.

For 45 days after that notice the park owner may not make a final unconditional acceptance of any offer to purchase, which is the window in which residents may organize, form a resident-owned cooperative, or authorize an approved nonprofit housing organization to negotiate to buy the park.

Vermont law also bars the park owner from charging or collecting any commission on the sale of your own manufactured home unless the owner actually represents you in that sale under a written agreement. Whether the resident group can ultimately match the price is not guaranteed, so contact the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board or CVOEO’s Mobile Home Program early in the 45 days.

When the park closes: 18 months. Under 10 V.S.A. § 6237a, at least 18 months before closing a park or any lot in a way that will evict a resident or leaseholder or force removal of a home, the park owner must give certified-mail notice of the closure to each affected resident and leaseholder and to the Commissioner.

Before issuing that closure notice, the owner must first issue a notice of intent to sell under § 6242 disclosing the potential closure, so residents get a purchase opportunity first.

During the 18 months no eviction may be started except for nonpayment of rent or a substantial lease violation, and no rent increase notice may be issued during the 6 months before the closure notice or while it is in effect.

The Commissioner may waive part or all of the 18 months only if the closure is necessary to protect the health, safety, or welfare of park residents.

Vermont does not set a general statewide relocation payment for ordinary closures;

the one statutory figure is under 10 V.S.A. § 6262, where if a lot or rented home is condemned by a government agency because of the park owner’s willful failure or refusal to meet legal obligations, the Commissioner may require the park owner to pay reasonable relocation costs of up to 3500 to each affected leaseholder, unless the owner shows no financial capacity.

Any additional relocation grant help is program-based through DHCD and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board rather than a guaranteed statutory amount: UNVERIFIED.

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Fees the Park Can and Cannot Charge in Vermont

Entrance fees are barred. Under 10 V.S.A. § 6238, no prospective leaseholder or other person may be charged an entrance fee for the privilege of leasing or occupying a lot, though a reasonable charge for the fair value of services actually performed in placing the home on the lot is not an entrance fee.

A qualified park owner may charge an initial lessee of an eligible site a one-time site improvement fee capped at 8000, and a park that has collected a site improvement fee may not terminate the park or change the use of that site without first offering to sell the park to the home owners under § 6242.

Under § 6236, rent and utility charges must hold for at least 12 months and any lease term that is not uniformly applied to all leaseholders of the same or similar category is unenforceable, as is any lease term that blocks you from exercising your Chapter 153 rights.

A capital improvement surcharge is only allowed for replacement or repair of major infrastructure exceeding 2500, and the owner must file an affidavit with the Commissioner giving estimated cost, expected completion date, and the time frame for the surcharge to recover that cost, meaning the surcharge is supposed to end.

The park may not charge or collect a commission on the sale of your home unless it represents you under a written agreement.

Vermont does not appear to set a specific statutory percentage cap on utility markups or a specific bar on guest fees: UNVERIFIED.

The park’s side of the bargain: Under 10 V.S.A. § 6262, the park owner covenants and warrants to deliver and maintain premises that are safe, clean, and fit for human habitation, and this implied warranty of habitability cannot be waived by any lease provision, with any such waiver void as against public policy.

The owner must provide adequate and reliable utility services, including safe electrical service, potable water, and sewage disposal, delivered to a point on each lot where the home can connect, and is responsible for water and sewer pipes up to the point where they surface from the ground beneath the home.

The owner must keep the roads, common areas, and facilities in the park safe and fit for the purpose for which they were reasonably intended.

Under the DHCD Housing Division Rules Part III, park roads must be kept reasonably free of hazards and allow safe, reliable, year-round ingress, egress, and use without unreasonable interruption, including adequate and timely snow removal and treatment of icy conditions.

If the park will not repair, you may be able to file a complaint with DHCD, which can seek court enforcement, impose administrative penalties up to 5000, or refer the matter to the Attorney General or a State’s Attorney.

The Trapped-Equity Problem and How to Protect Yourself

The economics of a mobile home park in Vermont 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 Vermont 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 Vermont 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. Vermont 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 Vermont: 2026 Act No. 155 renames “mobile home” to “manufactured home” throughout Vermont’s statutes effective July 1, 2026 and orders DHCD to report by November 15, 2026 on state grant and loan programs for park infrastructure.

Vermont still has no percentage cap on lot rent increases, and the fight instead runs through the annual CPI-Housing-plus-1-percent mediation threshold, published at 5.4 percent for 2025 increases and 5.0 percent for 2026 increases.

Bills such as S.34 (2025) have continued to push changes to lot rent dispute and park sale rules, so confirm the current text at the Vermont Legislature site before relying on it.

Vermont Mobile Home Park Laws: Quick Answers

Can the park raise lot rent whenever it wants? The Vermont 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 Vermont 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 Vermont 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 Vermont Sources & Resources

Making Vermont Mobile Home Park Laws Work for You

The Vermont 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 Vermont 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 Vermont mobile home park laws, the resident with documents and neighbors is never as trapped as the park hopes.

This guide to vermont 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 Vermont 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.