Nevada seniors own their homes, but rising land rent is pricing them out

For many older adults in Henderson, Nevada, buying a modular home was supposed to provide a more stable, lower-cost housing option.

But residents at one senior community say rising land rent is now jeopardizing their stability.

What's happening?

At Mountain View, a 55-plus modular home community in Henderson, homeownership does not mean land ownership for most residents. 

They told KTNV that because they pay rent on the lots beneath their homes, annual rent increases are now threatening their housing.

Ron Dessau, who has lived in the community since 2018, told the station that Mountain View once felt "perfect" — before the repeated increases began. 

"Not so much [now]," he told KTNV. "I think they have pushed the meter too far to the right."

Pat McHugh, 88, who leads the Advocacy Group for the Mountain View community, shared figures showing monthly land rent went from $790 to $1,092 on the low end and from $890 to $1,227 on the high end between 2020 and October 2026. 

Residents explained that the community has Standard, Premier, and Elite tiers, but they have not been able to determine why homes fall into these categories.

In a statement to KTNV, Equity Lifestyle Properties claimed that "site rent at Mountain View increased an average of 5% annually" and asserted that the community remained competitively priced compared with other housing options in the area.

Why does it matter?

For seniors on fixed incomes, the burden goes beyond the base land rent. 

Residents told KTNV that their monthly charges can also include sewer, trash, water, and a tax pass-through; one resident's statement listed $1,088 in base rent, but the total due was $1,171.23 after the added fees.

Even when people own the structure they live in, they are at risk if the land beneath it becomes too expensive. 

Moving a manufactured home can be costly or infeasible, leaving residents with few practical alternatives.

McHugh put the stakes simply: "I know that if I was still renting, leasing the land, I could not live here."

What's being done about it?

Residents were scheduled to meet on July 16 to discuss the increases and decide how to respond. 

One idea being pushed by some neighbors is what Dessau described as "like a cap or stabilization" instead of continued annual hikes without limits.

Nevada currently has no rent control or rent caps, and KTNV reported that Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed a rent cap bill in 2023. 

The station said AB 298 would have established a pilot program limiting seniors' rent increases to 10%, while the largest single-year increase reported for Mountain View was 8%.

Equity Lifestyle Properties told KTNV it offers a hardship program for long-term residents struggling to make payments and encouraged residents to speak with the community manager.

Asked whether it still feels like home, Dessau said: "My house does." 

"I understand corporate profits, but at what cost to seniors?" he added.

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