Rent, Fee Relief Matter of Survival, Mullica Woods Residents Say

 

Bob Maholland moved to Mullica Woods 13 years ago because of the quiet, inexpensive lifestyle it promised. It was a lifestyle that initially cost only $350 per month, but now Maholland pays nearly double that.

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"Before we got rent control a few years ago, we were getting hit with rent increases of 7 and 8 percent every year. Sometimes more," said Maholland, 66. "Now increases can't be higher than 4 percent, but even 4 percent every year adds up."

These increases in rent and fees have many of Maholland's neighbors worried about their survival.

"There are several people just barely hanging on," said Loreto Ottaviano, 70, whose monthly rent and fees have gone up $74 in three years.

 Catherine Farina, 71, said she understands $44 - the increase in her monthly costs over the past two years - might sound trivial to some people, "but for senior citizens living on a fixed income, $22 a month is a lot of money."

And not only are the seniors living on a fixed income, retirement savings have taken a hit during the recent economic meltdown.

Bud Howell lost $60,000.

"We're not complaining," insisted Howell, 64, whose annual rent and fees have gone up $180 in three years. "We're just asking for some breathing room."

Specifically, Mullica Woods residents are hoping to freeze their rent and to see significant reductions of their pad fees. Residents claim both costs are among the highest, if not the highest, in the state for senior mobile-home communities.

Maholland pays about $39 per month to the township in pad taxes.

"Where does it go? Our infrastructure is a mess, and we do everything on our own," said Maholland, adding the community handles its own lawn care, leaf removal and snow plowing. "We already pay other taxes. I don't see why we have to pay the township two taxes for land we don't own."

Maholland praised the new owners of the community, Hometown America, but said the years of neglect and rate increases that preceded that company's arrival was what put the residents in their current dilemma. Committeewoman Kathy Chasey told the residents at a recent meeting that she and Mayor Janet Forman would look into the matter.

"What we have (Clerk Kimberly Johnson) doing right now is calling to the communities in other townships to see what their fees are. Not just what the township's share is, but also what goes to the owners," Chasey said Monday. "We're also trying to meet with (Hometown America) to find out where the rent increases will stop."

Even if the township decides that the rent and fees at Mullica Woods are extreme, David Miller, a regional manager for Hometown America, said there is very little it can do.

"Quite honestly, I doubt if the township has the legal right to do anything," Miller said. "That would be like government telling a private industry that they can't raise their prices."

Miller said Mullica Woods residents actually "dodged a bullet" with their rent this year. The township passed a rent-control ordinance in 2000, Miller said, that restricted annual rent increases to 4 percent based upon the consumer price index out of Philadelphia. "When the numbers came out in July, there was a 5.1 percent increase," he said. "So the residents are actually lucky they aren't paying more."

That's not the answer residents want to hear.

"If the costs keep going up I'll have to sell my house, probably at a significant loss, and move. But we're all senior citizens here. That kind of upheaval is tough for us," Farina said. "And honestly, many of us bought here expecting that this would be where we spent the rest of our lives. So where else would we go?"

E-mail Robert Spahr: RSpahr@pressofac.com

 This story was taken from the news source stated above. It is not necessarily the opinion of The Elwood Vol Fire Company or it's members.