Maine Shifts Mobile Home Oversight to New Community Affairs Office

Maine dissolved its long-standing Manufactured Housing Board and moved its staff to the Office of Community Affairs, aiming to improve regulation of the state’s 480 mobile-home parks.

Maine’s Manufactured Housing Board, which for nearly five decades enforced construction, licensing and safety standards for mobile-home parks, held its final meeting in early June and was officially dissolved on July 29. Its four-member staff has been reassigned from the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation to the Office of Community Affairs, which will now manage administrative matters for the state’s 480 registered parks.

The shift follows a December report that identified systemic deficiencies and confusing complaint pathways, especially as out-of-state investors acquire more communities. Housing advocates view the move as a chance for quicker, more coordinated assistance, while former board members and industry representatives warn that removing the board could erase valuable sector knowledge. The Office plans to hire a training and certification coordinator and a technical outreach assistant, and to incorporate modular housing standards into code-enforcement training.

The attorney general’s office is also adding an attorney funded by a temporary fee increase to focus on mobile-home park resident issues. Lawmakers have asked the Office to consult stakeholders and present transition recommendations by Jan. 1.