OPINION: It is time to better protect New Mexicans who live in manufactured homes

Crime all the time!

So many people sleeping on the street!

I can’t find a doctor!

These are frequent comments I’ve received knocking on constituent doors.

Some 63 state House and Senate candidates had no opponents this cycle. I won the prize that comes with representing a swing district and had both primary and general elections.

I got an earful about our weak judges and even “deport the immigrants” from some of the “I’m mad as hell” folks. Thankfully, not all voters are angry, though many are concerned.

Their voices impact my choice of policy initiatives to pursue in the 60-day session if I’m reelected. With a thank-you to voters who talked with me, my priorities in the 2025 session will include:

Public safety. Most mentioned. I’m the only House Democrat who has worked as a criminal prosecutor. I will sponsor a human trafficking bill, and resources to help victims of this awful crime. I’m also looking at Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman’s proposals to respond to juvenile violence, a very serious problem.

Health care providers. The shortage is real. I will sponsor our participation in interstate compacts for physicians and other health care providers. More than 30 states are parties to many of these compacts. There’s no reason New Mexicans shouldn’t have access to these much-needed professionals.

CYFD. Many constituents recognize CYFD as dysfunctional. I’ll be re-introducing a bill I sponsored in 2023 to shed light on the workings of this agency.

The controversial paid family medical leave bill of the past two sessions. A growing number of legislators want to be sure that if we pass PFML, it will be solvent, fair, effective, and not harm caregivers, child care providers, and small businesses. PFML was seldom mentioned by constituents.

Affordable Housing. There are many reasons we have inadequate housing stock for our population. Homelessness has many causes, not only a lack of housing. But we cannot lose more affordable housing.

That’s why preservation and protection of manufactured housing, once called mobile home, parks and their residents is critical. I am taking a leading role in this important but underreported issue.

Manufactured housing is recognized as the best affordable housing available. It costs substantially less to build a manufactured house than a site-built home. The homes are very nice. Some 18% of New Mexicans live in what we once called mobile homes, but aren’t really mobile once installed at a park.

A manufactured house sits on a pad, usually located in a park, where it is attached to water, sewer and utilities. Manufactured housing is more affordable partly because it takes so little land.

Our manufactured housing parks are headed for crisis.

Maintenance: There is reportedly no remedy for a landlord’s code violations as residents of an Alamogordo park recently learned when the heat failed.

Conversions: Parks, once owned by local developers, are being sold to out-of-state private equity firms looking for cash cows. New owners may seek to convert a park to a more profitable use like high-end apartments.

Frequent rent increases: While our Mobile Home Act prohibits increases without notice, rents are often raised frequently and substantially, particularly difficult for residents in parks for those aged 55-plus who often live on fixed incomes.

Manufactured housing park rentals are different from apartment rentals. Residents own their manufactured houses, often investing their life savings in their homes. They only rent the pad.

It is time we follow the lead of other states and better protect our manufactured home residents. I will be working on this on behalf of the many manufactured home residents in my district and the state.

Marian Matthews, of Albuquerque, is the Democratic candidate for District 27 in the New Mexico House of Representatives. Matthews, who currently represents the Albuquerque-based district, faces Republican Gregory Gallegos in the Nov. 5 election.