Three residents of a Bloomington mobile home park have filed a lawsuit against the park’s out-of-town owner, claiming it’s used a “pattern of unfair and deceptive practices” to illegally force them to pay higher rent and improperly assessed fines and fees.
The allegations against Oak Wood align with WGLT’s previous reporting about the company’s business practices. WGLT reported that Oak Wood, which owns five mobile home parks in Bloomington-Normal, has again and again found ways to squeeze more money from its residents, including many with low or fixed incomes. Residents told WGLT they felt trapped because of the prohibitively high cost of moving their mobile homes.
The new lawsuit, filed Feb. 19 in McLean County Circuit Court, lays out how those practices have impacted three plaintiffs living in Oak Wood’s Maple Grove Estates in southwest Bloomington.
“Because moving a mobile home is often prohibitively expensive, and many mobile homes are not structurally able to withstand a move, Plaintiffs have no meaningful option but to submit to the practices of the park where their homes are situated. This dynamic leaves them especially vulnerable to exploitation, as they cannot easily relocate to avoid Defendants’ unfair and deceptive practices,” states the lawsuit, filed by Erin Duncan with the legal aid firm Prairie State Legal Services.
The three residents, who own their homes, were each paying $370 per month in lot rent before Oak Wood bought the park in 2023. After repeated rent increases, two of them are now paying $645 per month; the third is paying $565 per month, the lawsuit claims.
Park owners are allowed to raise rent. But the lawsuit claims Oak Wood failed to notify residents of coming rent increases at least 90 days before their existing leases were automatically renewed, as is legally required in Illinois.
The residents also allege Oak Wood illegally charged all sorts of extra fees and fines that were not included in their current leases that predate Oak Wood’s ownership of the park. That includes $50 fines for not power-washing their home or fixing mini-blinds, the lawsuit claims. It says one of the residents was threatened with eviction for not paying those violation fines — even though the fines are not included in their current lease.
In an apparent push to get residents to sign a new Oak Wood lease, the company then threatened to raise rents by $195 per month on residents who refused to sign one, WGLT previously reported. All three plaintiffs in the new lawsuit have refused to sign it, meaning their rent increased by $195 per month as of Jan. 1.
Mobile home lot leases are different than what you might see with an apartment or townhome rental. The lease of a mobile home lot is automatically renewable.
“Plaintiffs are subject to the higher rent increase because they have in good faith exercised their right to rely on their automatically renewing leases rather than agreeing to Defendants’ new terms and conditions,” the lawsuit claims.
The four-count lawsuit alleges Oak Wood violated the state’s Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act, the Landlord Retaliation Act, the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
The Maple Grove residents are seeking unspecific compensation, an order forcing Oak Wood to comply with Illinois law, and other declaratory relief.
WGLT has requested a comment from Oak Wood.
