Reported by us | Taunton

Taunton mobile home owners were offered $703 lot rent after complaining to the state, the attorney general says, and a judge capped it at $385

Residents of the 74-lot park own their homes and rent the land under them, and the state's suit against the California owner, BoaVida, goes on after a judge refused in August to dismiss a newer claim that its leases were priced above fair market rent.

By the SC360 Investigations Desk | Published Nov. 11, 2026 | Last verified Nov. 11, 2026, 8:21 a.m. ET

TAUNTON Homeowners at Willow Terrace Mobile Home Park in Taunton paid $302 a month to rent the land under their homes when a California investment firm bought the park in November 2022, and by January 2025 they were paying $535, according to a lawsuit the state attorney general filed in September 2025. After residents complained to her office, the owner refunded the increases, then ended every tenancy and offered new leases at $703 a month, a jump of 133 percent, the suit says.

A Suffolk Superior Court judge has since barred the owner from charging more than $385 a month through the end of 2027, the attorney general's office said. The Nov. 18, 2025, order by Judge Debra A. Squires-Lee runs until Jan. 1, 2028, or until the case ends in a judgment or dismissal, whichever comes first, the Taunton Daily Gazette reported.

Before the suit was filed, residents got back about $274,342 in rent overcharges through the office's negotiations with BoaVida, the attorney general's office said. After the injunction, the state amended its complaint to add a claim that BoaVida offered leases at more than fair market rent, in violation of the state's Manufactured Housing Act, and the court denied the company's motion to dismiss that claim on Aug. 17, 2026, the office said.

Over a year, $703 a month comes to $8,436 in lot rent, compared with $4,620 at the $385 cap, a difference of $3,816 for each household.

The park, at 1 Willow Terrace, has 74 lots, and at least 72 are occupied by residents who own their homes and rent their lots, according to the complaint. It is owned by Willow Terrace MHP LLC and managed by BoaVida Communities, LLC, both tied to The BoaVida Group of Sacramento, Calif., and Willow Terrace is the only Massachusetts park the Mobile Home Park Home Owners Allegiance lists for the group.

South Coast 360 reached out to BoaVida, which did not answer by publication.

What the state says happened

The complaint says the owner raised rent every January without offering residents a five-year lease, by $83 in 2023 and by $75 in each of 2024 and 2025, taking it from $302 to $385, then $460, then $535. It also says newer residents were charged more than their neighbors for the same lots and services, including $685 a month in 2023 for two households that bought their homes from the company, when longtime residents paid $385.

Residents complained to the attorney general's office in late 2023 and 2024, and the office wrote to the company's lawyer on March 4, 2025, the complaint says. In late May the company sent residents refund checks for everything charged above $302 and a letter saying state law "mandates that occupancy agreements reflect fair market rental rates." The attorney general calls that letter deceptive because, she says, nothing in the law required an increase of that size.

On June 22, 2025, the company told residents their tenancies would end July 31 and offered five-year leases at $703 a month with yearly increases of at least 5.5 percent, the suit says, and the start date was later pushed to Oct. 1. The complaint also says the property manager told residents the attorney general had approved the $703 rent, which it calls false.

"As our residents living in manufactured housing communities continue to grapple with rising costs, the last thing they need is community owners violating their rights and our state laws by raising rents as a form of retaliation," Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in a written statement when the suit was filed, the Taunton Daily Gazette reported, and she visited Willow Terrace on Oct. 29, 2025, her office said.

The lawsuit asks the court for restitution to residents, civil penalties and an order that the company follow the state's manufactured housing law. It argues that because residents never got the five-year lease the law required when rent first went up in January 2023, raising their rent at any time before Jan. 1, 2028, would be unfair.

What the law says

• Owners of manufactured housing communities must offer residents a written lease with a five-year term, under the state Manufactured Housing Act, and the attorney general's regulations require that offer whenever rent goes up or the terms of a tenancy change.
• A rent change that does not apply evenly to residents of a similar class is presumed unfair under the same law.
• Under the state's tenant reprisal law, a rent increase, an eviction notice for any reason but unpaid rent, or another major change within six months of a tenant's report of a housing law violation to the authorities is presumed to be retaliation, and the owner must prove otherwise with clear and convincing evidence. A tenant who wins can collect one to three months' rent or actual damages if higher, plus legal fees.
• Taunton has no rent control, though a 1992 state law lets the city run a mobile home eviction and discontinuance review board, which deals with evictions and park closings.

Not the only Taunton park with rent complaints

At Leisurewoods, owned by Hometown America, leases shared by residents showed some homeowners paying nearly $300 a month more than their neighbors, and the attorney general's office said it was reviewing complaints, WHDH's 7 Investigates reported in July 2025. Hometown America told the station it values all its residents and that long-term residents' lifetime leases must be honored. At Rocky Knoll Estates, also in Taunton, a resident's lot rent rose from $401 in 2013 to $696 in 2024, the Cape Cod Times reported. The attorney general's office declined to comment on whether its Leisurewoods review is still open.

BoaVida Communities also manages Redwood Mobile Home Park in Tucson, Ariz., where that state's attorney general sued in August 2025, alleging residents were not told the park's electrical system was dangerous and overloaded. In August 2026 the Arizona attorney general asked a court to sanction the park's owners and operators, saying they had refused to do court-ordered safety testing of the park's underground electrical wiring.

If you live in a manufactured housing community

• Residents who think a rent increase breaks the law can file a complaint with the attorney general's office, as Willow Terrace residents did.
• The attorney general's Guide to Manufactured Housing Community Law explains the five-year lease offer and the uniform rent rule.
• Massachusetts Legal Help's mobile home chapter covers rent, evictions and park sales, at masslegalhelp.org.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

Rents, dates, letters and the state's allegations come from the attorney general's Sept. 9, 2025, complaint in Suffolk Superior Court, Civil Action No. 2584CV02493. The $385 cap through 2027, the amended claim and the Aug. 17, 2026, ruling on it, the roughly $274,342 in refunds and the date of the attorney general's visit come from the attorney general's office; the date, judge and end terms of the Nov. 18, 2025, order and the attorney general's statement when the suit was filed were reported by the Taunton Daily Gazette. The law is from the Massachusetts General Laws, the Leisurewoods and Rocky Knoll figures were reported by WHDH and the Cape Cod Times, and the Arizona case is from that state's attorney general. The yearly totals of $8,436, $4,620 and $3,816 are our math from the monthly figures. The lawsuit's claims are allegations the court has not finally decided.

Corrections

No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.

Sources (15)

1. Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. The BoaVida Group, LP, et al., Suffolk Superior Court, Civil Action No. 2584CV02493, complaint dated Sept. 9, 2025Office of the Attorney General. Rents of $302, $385, $460 and $535; non-uniform rents; the office's March 4, 2025, letter; the May 26, 2025, refund letter; the June 22, 2025, terminations and the $703 lease with yearly increases of at least 5.5 percent; the property manager's statement; relief sought; 74 lots, at least 72 occupied. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
2. Attorney General's Office: answers to South Coast 360 questions, Nov. 9, 2026Office of the Attorney General. The $385 cap through the end of 2027; the amended claim on leases above fair market rent and the Aug. 17, 2026, denial of the motion to dismiss it; about $274,342 refunded before the suit; the attorney general's Oct. 29, 2025, visit; no comment on the Leisurewoods review.
3. Taunton Daily Gazette: "Judge slashes, freezes Taunton mobile home park rents that had doubled" (Daniel Schemer, Nov. 28, 2025)Taunton Daily Gazette. Memorandum of decision and order dated Nov. 18, 2025, Judge Debra A. Squires-Lee; runs to Jan. 1, 2028, or judgment or dismissal. Read Nov. 11, 2026, as quoted by the Mobile Home Park Home Owners Allegiance.
4. Taunton Daily Gazette: "Mass. AG sues Taunton mobile home park alleging 'unfair and retaliatory rent increases'" (Daniel Schemer, Sept. 18, 2025)Taunton Daily Gazette. Campbell's written statement when the suit was filed. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
5. The Sun Chronicle: "AG sues Taunton mobile home park owner, alleging 'unfair and retaliatory' rent hikes" (Susannah Sudborough, Sept. 10, 2025)The Sun Chronicle. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
6. Massachusetts General Laws c. 140, s. 32P (five-year lease offer)Massachusetts Legislature. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
7. Massachusetts General Laws c. 140, s. 32L (uniform rent)Massachusetts Legislature. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
8. Massachusetts General Laws c. 186, s. 18 (reprisal against tenants)Massachusetts Legislature. Six-month presumption; one to three months rent. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
9. Massachusetts Legal Help, Legal Tactics ch. 16: Park Closings and Sales (endnote 47)Massachusetts Legal Help. Taunton has no rent control; Chapter 207 of the Acts of 1992, Mobile Home Eviction and Discontinuance Review Board. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
10. The Attorney General's Guide to Manufactured Housing Community Law (May 2024)Office of the Attorney General. Five-year lease offer and uniform rent, as described in the Taunton Daily Gazette and WHDH coverage above.
11. WHDH 7 Investigates: seniors say affordable housing protections are failing them (Samantha Kummerer, July 8, 2025)WHDH. Leisurewoods rents; AG reviewing complaints; Hometown America response. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
12. Cape Cod Times: "'Piggy banks.' High rents and neglect claimed in Mass. trailer parks" (Brendan Nordstrom, March 29, 2024)Cape Cod Times. Rocky Knoll Estates rent $401 (2013) to $696 (2024). Read Nov. 11, 2026.
13. Mobile Home Park Home Owners Allegiance: The BoaVida Group park listMHPHOA. One Massachusetts park listed, Willow Terrace. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
14. Arizona Attorney General: Mayes Sues Redwood Mobile Home Park for Endangering Residents (Aug. 21, 2025)Arizona Attorney General. Read Nov. 11, 2026.
15. Arizona Attorney General: Mayes Seeks Sanctions Against Redwood Mobile Home Park Owners (Aug. 7, 2026)Arizona Attorney General. Read Nov. 11, 2026.

This story on the full site