Seniors in another Pennsylvania Cloverleaf community are publicly pushing back against rising housing costs, saying steep lot-rent increases are putting serious pressure on residents with few realistic options to move.
As WPXI reported, the demonstration at Cloverleaf West in Carnegie adds to a broader outcry from older adults in manufactured-home communities who say they are being priced out of their neighborhoods.
Here's what to know
The station reported that people living in Cloverleaf West, a 55-and-over community, held a protest with homemade signs over charges they say are unfair. The demonstration came after residents at another Cloverleaf site in Delmont raised similar concerns, suggesting more than one property under the same ownership may be affected.
One resident, Mark Bradway, told WPXI that over his eight years at Cloverleaf West, his monthly land rent rose from $515 to $800.
He said the increase goes well beyond what he thinks inflation would justify.
"That's a 56% increase in 8 years," Bradway relayed to the station. "The economy has gone up with inflation 32.4%. We get it … but they are charging me 25% more."
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He also pointed to utility charges as another problem residents are facing.
"The water bill is estimated," he claimed to WPXI. "So they are saying in 90 days I used 700 gallons of water. That's 82 gallons a day. That's impossible."
For Susan Vitch, who organized the protest, the burden is even harder because many residents have limited alternatives.
"We just have nowhere else to go, and we need to get the word out," she told the station.
More background
In manufactured-home communities, residents may own their homes but still rent the land beneath them. That setup can make moving financially difficult or unrealistic, particularly for seniors living on fixed incomes.
Vitch called the situation a "Catch-22" to WPXI, due to the residents' lack of options. She and other residents hope that gathering more support from other Cloverleaf communities can spur action.
Landlords and property managers can also affect how much renters and homeowners can save in other areas. Across the country, landlords have prevented renters from adopting money-saving lifestyle changes, including but not limited to gardening and hanging clotheslines to dry their laundry.
What's being done?
Residents are responding through public organizing. They said they plan to keep displaying signs and protesting outside their community while also trying to join with other Cloverleaf neighborhoods to increase pressure on ownership, per WPXI.
A policy proposal is also part of the fight. Rep. Liz Hanbidge, the primary sponsor of Pennsylvania House Bill 1250, told WPXI that a bipartisan bill to shield seniors is being stalled by Senate Republicans.
The station reported that the Sampson Morris Group, which owns Cloverleaf, did not respond to a request for comment. Residents said their next move is to unite and go to the owners' headquarters, per WPXI.
"They are overcharging, and they are taking it out on senior citizens," Bradway assessed to the station.
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