Linnhaven mobile home park in Brunswick. According to a letter distributed to residents in November, the park is being offered for sale. The Maine housing authority told The Times Record that it did not receive the required notice, a violation of a new law to protect the rights of manufactured homeowners that went into effect in October. Luna Soley / The Times Record
The Maine housing authority says it never received required notice that Kurt Scarponi, owner of Brunswick’s Linnhaven Mobile Home Center, was intending to sell the park.
According to a law that went into effect Oct. 25, 2023, mobile home park owners are required to notify all residents and MaineHousing 60 days before they contract with a buyer.
Although Scarponi did give notice to residents in a letter postmarked Nov. 1, 2023, he neglected to inform the housing authority, according to both Communications Director Scott Thistle and Chief Counsel Ashley Janotta Carson.
Scarponi said in an interview Wednesday that he was not aware MaineHousing hadn’t received the notice.
“They must have, my lawyer sent it,” said Scarponi, who identified his legal counsel as Jonathan Davis, president of Freeport firm Powers & French. Davis could not be reached for comment Wednesday. It’s unclear why MaineHousing didn’t received the notice.
Violation of the law requiring notice is a breach of the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act and can result in civil penalties up to $10,000, according to Special Assistant to the Maine State Attorney General Danna Hayes.
“A person suffering loss of money or property as a result of the violation can recover injunctive relief, restitution, actual damages, and attorneys’ fees,” she wrote in an email. “If a mobile home park resident believes the owner has violated the notice requirement, they should contact our Office’s Consumer Protection Division.”
Under the new law, park owners also are required to “consider” any offer put forward by a group of homeowners — so long as 51% of the park’s residents sign off on it — and to “negotiate in good faith” before going forward with a sale to an outside party.
Numerous Linnhaven residents have declined to comment about the potential sale of the park due to concern that doing so might cause problems with park management.
Linnhaven, located off Brunswick’s Maquoit Road, is home to nearly 300 residents. The park’s future has been shaky since last summer, when Scarponi’s brother died. After nearly 70 years of family ownership, Scarponi is looking to pass the property to another buyer.
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