Montana now has 20 Resident Owned Communities (ROC) with the latest purchase of a manufactured home park in Belgrade!
The homeowners who live in Stan’s Garden (formerly Belgrade Village) have bought the community from the previous owner, preserving 39 homes that will remain secure for years to come. Stan’s Garden has become a resident owned community (ROC) meaning the residents now own and manage their manufactured home park.
ROCs preserve an important source of unsubsidized affordable housing for working families, seniors, and people with lower incomes. Owning a home in a community like this is typically half as expensive as renting an apartment and owning allows homeowners an opportunity to build wealth. Now the community residents can control their lot rent and be at ease knowing that their community will not be sold out from under them.
“Those of us who live here now have a sense of stability and security. We know that our land can’t be sold now.” Daiea Suman, a community resident shared.
NeighborWorks Montana guided the residents through the purchase process and will continue to support them as they build the skills and leadership they need to manage their community. In most manufactured-home parks, homeowners own their homes and pay lot rent to the park owner for the use of the land. In resident owned communities the lot rent goes to the resident cooperative and is managed to meet community needs, maintain affordability, and foster a sense of unity amongst the residents.
When asked what they are most excited about now that they are resident owned, community member, Sarah Baker, shared, “We want to build an area for our community to gather with built-in barbecues and picnic tables. And we want to build a community garden where we can grow flowers and veggies. It was Stan’s (former owner) dream for the residents to buy this land and plant gardens, and now we are making that dream come true.”
Read ROC USA’s article: Stan’s Dream Takes Root
Special Thanks
We are especially grateful to the City of Belgrade, Gallatin County, Prospera Business Network, USDA, and the Montana Board of Housing. Through their support, the community received nearly $6 million in affordable financing and grants as part of the financing for the acquisition. These funds helped make the purchase possible and kept the cost of lot rent affordable for the residents.
About Montana ROCs
Stan’s Garden is the 20th resident owned community in the state of Montana, with a total of 759 homes preserved across the state. Learn about all of the communities across Montana.
Are you a current park owner who is thinking about selling your park? NeighborWorks Montana has the financing, industry knowledge, and technical expertise to help your homeowners buy your community for its full value when you are ready to sell. View more information HERE or reach out to Danielle Maiden, [email protected].
About ROC USA
There are more than 321 ROCs in 21 states across the nation. NeighborWorks Montana provides the ROC program in Montana as part of the ROC USA® Network. The ROC USA® Network is made up of twelve non-profit affiliates across the country. The ROC program helps to provide safe, secure, and affordable housing in perpetuity, and it eliminates the risks for residents of rent increases or being evicted without cause.
