By Joseph Edgerton
Staff Writer

Bill and Sally Champagne of Goffstown have been married for 27 years, and have spent eight years in the Medvil parks area. Like many residents of the two parks, the Champagnes now have the ability to purchase the lot upon which their manufactured home is built, as opposed to owning a home and renting the lot. (Bruce Preston Photo)

Residents of two manufactured home parks in Goffstown now have the ability to purchase the land on which their dwellings are built.

On Wednesday, Dec. 28, the Medvil Cooperative Association, which represents tenants of Medford Farms and the Village at Glen Falls, signed a purchase and sales agreement with park owner Beverly Kilmartin Marino.

Jim Merrill, counsel for Medvil, said he was happy with the results of the $10.7 million sales agreement, which will make the parks the largest cooperativeowned housing project in the state.

“This is big news and exciting news for the buyers and sellers,” he said. “The product was a good result for everyone.”

The agreement came about as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Medvil Cooperative Association on behalf of residents of each park, which have a combined total of 301 lots.

Merrill said Beverly Kilmartin Marino, the seller and representative of J.M. Kilmartin & Son, had presented residents with a deal she had worked out with Hometown America, a Chicagobased company that manages numerous housing parks across the nation.

“The purchase and sales agreement between Kilmartin-Marino and Hometown America contained a right of first refusal,” he said. “They claimed we didn't have it, but we did, as a third party.”

A right of first refusal means that the residents of Medford Farms and the Village at Glen Falls have the right to assume the position as purchasers.

After a lawsuit, Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Philip P. Mangones approved the settlement.

Another condition of the settlement is a four-year rent cap, which was proposed by Kilmartin to provide adjustment time for residents in each park.

“Some lot owners have low rent rates that haven't been raised in years, and Kilmartin wanted to give them time to acclimate,” said Merrill. “(Rent capping) is something she requested to smooth the transition.”

Scott Harris, a counsel for the sellers, said the cap is an important provision for the tenants.

“For the first two years, the rent will increase by no more than $15 per month per unit,” he said. “For years three and four, the rent will increase by no more than 6 percent.”

Another important factor in the transaction is the ability of the residents to own not only their housing units, but the land on which they are built, said Ron Tetu, a member of the association.

“We formed the cooperative to make sure the parks would never be sold, and the agreement allows the park to be cooperatively owned,” he said. “Right now, there's a state statute that says any owner of a manufactured housing park can evict all the tenants with 18 month notice.”

Tetu said if the lots had been sold, the housing units on them would be lost as well, because they are not designed to be moved.

“”If we had been evicted, we would have lost our greatest asset – our homes,” he said. “Their likelihood of surviving a move isn't great, and they're not up to code in other areas of town.”

Tetu said the association, which will increase its ranks from five members to nine to better deal with the new changes, already is planning for the future.

“We look forward to uniting the two parks into one community. We will enjoy many benefits that are not available to us as tenants,” he said. “The Co-op will open financial opportunities and offer the security of land ownership. We will be able to pool our resources to buy heating oil at a group discount.”

The purchase of the parks is scheduled to be completed in three months, and Miller said financing will be provided in part by the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, a private, non-profit entity that has aided nearly 70 other cooperatively owned housing parks successfully.

In a prepared statement, Beverly Kilmartin Marino said, “For 25 years the parks have been my life. I am grateful that we have been able to arrive at terms for the sale that will protect my long time tenants against substantial increases in rent for the next four years.”