AUBURN –– Residents of mobile home parks in Auburn are asking the city for a moratorium on rent increases, as the city and other communities await new state law on the subject.

Five mobile home park residents spoke to the Auburn City Council Monday. Among them was Sharon Dickinson, 79, a retired teacher. She said she has lived at Ja-Lynne Mobile Home Park on Lexis Lane for more than a year. When she moved in, she said, she was paying $475 a month and was told it would go up by $25 a year.

“And then all of a sudden, they raised it to $500, and then in April, we got a note on our door saying, ‘We’re going to be raising it $100 in September,’” Dickinson said.

Dickinson said she wants the city to put a six-month moratorium in place to ensure that rents for her and her fellow residents don’t go up any higher. 

“I think that’s going to give us a chance to decide what we’re going to do,” she said. 

Several other Maine communities statewide –– including Waterville, Brunswick and Sanford –– have already enacted moratoriums. Officials are waiting on the legislature, which is considering a statewide rent control measure in the wake of reports of skyrocketing mobile home lot rents in recent years.

On Monday, Auburn Mayor Jeffrey Harmon told residents that the city is already considering a moratorium, but officials need to hear advice from legal counsel before proceeding.

“The city understands the challenges that residents of our mobile home parks are facing,” Harmon said in a statement to Spectrum News. “Regardless of whether a moratorium can be considered or not, the city council will be considering what action might be necessary to address the concerns expressed by our residents.” 

Dickinson said she is encouraged by the city’s interest in helping her and other mobile home park residents, and optimistic that they will get the moratorium.

If rents go up much higher, she said, it could force people out onto the street.

“A lot of us are just low-income, on a fixed income, and we’re not going to be able to stay here,” she said. “I think some people wouldn’t just, would not have a place to go.”

Spectrum News has attempted to reach the owners of the Ja-Lynne Mobile Home Park for comment.