Two Bloomington mobile home residents have reached a settlement with their Texas-based landlord, after they filed a lawsuit in 2024. The mobile homeowner and his partner rent a lot in Hilltop Mobile Home Park in south Bloomington, one of five local properties owned by Oak Wood Properties.
Prairie State Legal Services [PSLS] filed the lawsuit on behalf of the tenants, alleging the owner of Oak Wood Properties practiced unfair and illegal practices.
The tenants claimed the company violated the Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act and the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act when they gave tenants a new lease to sign with illegal and misleading stipulations. They also said the property owner charged them with fees they did not agree to pay and illegally increased rent in the middle of their lease.
PSLS Supervising Attorney Erin Duncan filed the lawsuit. She said the case is in line with the values of PSLS and works to ensure housing fairness in the county.
“PSLS works to protect basic human needs and to enforce and uphold rights, including access to safe and affordable housing,” said Duncan. “Housing investors looking to do business in McLean County must follow Illinois laws designed to protect tenant consumers from unfair practices, including illegal fees and rent increases. When tenants know their rights, they are better equipped to obtain and maintain stable housing.”
One of the key violations of the tenants’ rights according to their complaint was the improper rent increase, Duncan said. The tenants claimed Oak Wood failed to give them the required 90-day notice of a rent increase, which must line up with a mobile home tenant’s lease renewal.
“So, as an example, if you have a lease that renews every Jan. 1, and you’re locked into your monthly rental rate for that yearly period, then a rent increase notice given on Nov. 1 can’t raise your rent on Jan. 1. That’s not 90 days,” she said. “And it can’t raise you rent on Feb. 1 because your next yearlong lease automatically renewed in January.”
Duncan said the landlord being based out of state was not a significant factor when it came to handling the case, but it doesn’t often affect law firms. She said it mostly affects tenants, as it makes it more difficult for tenants to work through issues with a landlord that could be across the country.
"Investment firms are tending to buy up housing, so private apartments, mobile homes,” said Duncan. “So that does have a different analysis for tenants who are interacting with a landlord who is out of state, maybe has a local manager, but it feels different than if you have a local landlord that you’re able to deal with more directly.”
Duncan said PSLS sees questions on the legality of lease agreements and hidden fees regularly from tenants of all kinds, but the challenge lies in when it is illegal.
“We certainly have seen other tenants besides the tenants who have filed this complaint raise these sorts of issues, including other tenants in these Oak Wood mobile home parks,” she said. “I do know from speaking to other folks who are working in other legal aid firms across the country, it is a trend we are seeing.”
The agreements between the tenants and Oak Wood include the amendment of the model lease and community rules to conform with Illinois law, according to PSLS.
They will also disclose rent increase projections and notice of tenants’ rights, PSLS said. The disclosure of rights informs tenants that signing a new lease is not a requirement to stay in the park, they cannot be evicted for choosing to not sign a new lease, tenants can automatically renew a lease and can only be given a new proposal at the time, PSLS said. It also will tell tenants they can only be charged fees itemized in the lease and any past notices in conflict are null and void, according to PSLS.
In order to refund the unsuitable charges, Oak Wood will review accounts dating back to October 2023 and will notify tenants of those refunds by Aug. 23 of this year.
The change of leases and account reviews will expand to all of the properties owned by Oak Wood in McLean County, including Alexander Estates, Grandview Estates, Maple Grove Estates and Northmeadow Village, according to PSLS.
McLean County mobile home tenants with questions about their rights can contact PSLS at (309) 827-5021.
Oak Wood did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
