On September 9, the Attorney General’s Office of Massachusetts filed a complaint in Massachusetts Superior Court against the owners of a manufactured housing community for allegedly violating the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act (MCPA).

State law requires owners to offer residents five-year leases whenever rent is increased or tenancy terms are changed, and the act prohibits charging non-uniform rent to similarly situated tenants. However, the complaint asserted that after the defendants acquired the community in November 2022, they increased the monthly rents ($302 per month) annually in 2023, 2024 and 2025 without offering residents a five year-lease in violation of the MCPA.

According to the complaint, after residents reported these violations to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the defendants agreed to refund charged rents above $302, but in June 2025, defendants terminated the residents’ tenancies and issued new leases with an “exorbitant” rent increase which resulted in a 133 percent increase from the prior rent collected.

The Attorney General’s Office asserted, among other things, that the defendants’ attempts to increase rents without offering a five-year lease and recoup unlawfully obtained rent through its rent increase was fundamentally unfair, retaliatory and violated the MCPA. The actions sought by the Attorney General’s Office include restoring residents to their original positions, enjoining the defendants from committing further violations, and requiring defendants to pay civil penalties as well as the reasonable costs of investigation and litigation of the matter (including reasonable attorneys’ fees, award damages, and costs).