And over the next few months, this vulnerable group - which owns the homes but not the land beneath them - hopes to convince state lawmakers that they need and deserve more protection.

"We've been going up to the Capitol for almost nine years now," said Donald Saulnier, chairman of the Utah Mobile Home Owners Action Group. "And park owners go and beat us down. They have high-priced lobbyists and lawyers."

Saulnier believes this year could be different. He's seen a surge in membership, and several advocates have joined the fight after a rash of park shutdowns, displacing hundreds of residents.

Their dilemma?

Many mobile-home residents are elderly, disabled and live on shoestring budgets. Under those conditions, any kind of move is difficult.

As land grows more scarce and more valuable, park owners find it in their best self-interest to sell to developers who want to build high-end homes. State law requires only that they give residents 90 days to get out. Often, landowners will start boosting rents to put pressure on residents.

Some mobile homes are too old to move. For these folks, some who still owe on the structures, it can be a total loss.

For the homes that can be moved, it can cost $10,000 to $15,000 to get the job done.

A modest proposal

Saulnier's group isn't asking for a handout.

"We've got a proposal to get at least a one-year lease," Saulnier said. "That would give people a chance to prepare for a move, where the rents would remain steady during that time."

He also hopes lawmakers will consider legislation to give residents the right of first refusal when a park goes up for sale.

In many cases, mobile-home owners can band together and buy their parks at fair market value, said Mark Lundgren, project manager for Utah Resident Owned Communities (UROC).

They have to come up with a 5 percent down payment, Lundgren said, which becomes affordable when split among the residents.

Lundgren works closely with Utah Community Reinvestment Corporation, a nonprofit consortium of banks, which can help finance the rest.

To Lundgren, it makes good sense for several reasons.

"Manufactured homes actually start to appreciate when the residents own and control the land," Lundgren said. Otherwise, like vehicles, the structures depreciate.

And manufactured homes expand the pool of affordable housing without requiring government subsidies.

"There are more mobile homes providing housing for the low-income segment of the population than there are Section 8 [Rental] Vouchers in the state," Lundgren said. Those vouchers subsidize rent payments for such people.

Dual ownership - residents owning the structures but not the land under them - is the problem, says Francisca Blanc, mobile-home park issues coordinator for Salt Lake Community Action Program.

Blanc plans extensive outreach this fall to educate elected officials about the realities of mobile-home parks.

"We have to take small steps, and it might be frustrating," Blanc said, acknowledging that comprehensive protection and park preservation could be years away. "But we have momentum and need to build on it."

Banding together

In December 2005, Joanne Benfatti moved her double-wide home into the Meadows Mobile Home Estates, a 150-space park in Cottonwood Heights - only to get word three months later that the land had sold.

Benfatti, who battles multiple sclerosis, resettled last November in Park Hill, a Salt Lake County-owned park.

The move set her back thousands of dollars, she said.

Now Benfatti has joined forces with Saulnier.

"I'm not the only story out there. I'd like to make it easier for people," Benfatti said. "There should be more protections so you don't have to go through all this."

Last month, close to 300 mobile-home residents told their stories to several city officials and state lawmakers during a Taylorsville town hall meeting.

"We planned on three politicians at that meeting - 13 showed up, and it warmed my heart," Benfatti said.

Anytime you uproot individuals from their homes, it's traumatic, said Rep. Mark Wheatley, a Murray Democrat.

"This issue needs to be brought to the forefront. There's less and less affordable housing. I don't know how these residents - most of them seniors - will be able to find it when they're living on fixed incomes."

While sweeping change might not occur in the next legislative session, Wheatley believes that two items - the right of first refusal and extending notice from 90 to 180 days - could get majority consent.

Rep. Phil Riesen, a Holladay Democrat, plans to present a draft bill to the Business and Labor Interim Committee on Nov. 14.

"No one argues that a landowner has the right to sell to a developer," Riesen said. "But I'd like to see residents get a little more time to relocate. Right now, their rights are narrow to nonexistent."

Drawing the line

The issue likely will evoke vigorous debate.

"It's a real bad idea for anyone to sink their money into [manufactured homes] without a guarantee of a long-term lease," said Sen. Dan Eastman, a Republican from Bountiful.

Eastman said he would support giving residents the right of first refusal "if it was fair market value."

But he draws the line at anything that "limits private-property owners to what they can do with their properties."

Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, a Sandy Republican and real-estate developer, said he has not been following the issue. But he voiced concerns about the 180-day notice and the right of first refusal, saying both fly in the face of private-property rights.

"Are these people in trailer parks doing any due diligence when they enter into a contract with a property owner?" Niederhauser asked, adding that those types of negotiations can be done by contract rather than state mandates.

Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, who helped organized the Taylorsville meeting, disagrees.

"It's coming to a crisis stage because of land values in Salt Lake County," Corroon said. "It's a pretty dire situation, so there need to be laws passed to provide timely notification."

Will there be enough support on Capitol Hill to get it done this year?

"I'm not sure," Corroon said. "But we're staring the bull in the eyes now, and it's time to act."

cmckitrick@sltrib.com