Lifestyle

Susanne, 78, Has Lived in Her Mobile Home Park for 46 Years. Now Lot Rent Takes So Much She Works at a Laundromat: “I Can’t Enjoy My Retirement”

By Erica Coleman · November 12, 2026

Susanne DeRosa has a simple answer when someone asks how long she has lived at Rudgate Manor, a manufactured home community in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

“Forty-six years I’ve lived here,” she told WDIV Local 4 reporter Kyla Russell.

She owns her home. What she does not own is the ground under it. Every month, residents pay lot rent to keep their houses where they sit.

Her neighbor Linda Grossman, 68, who has lived there 35 years, explained it to the station. “We pay for the land our house sits on; we can own the house, but we don’t own the land,” she said.

When Susanne moved in 46 years ago, the lot rent was 278 dollars a month, according to the station. She kept track of every payment and every letter announcing an increase. For years, the letters raised the price by just a few dollars. Then the increases got much bigger.

Residents told Local 4 they now pay 786 dollars a month, about 40 dollars more than last year. Resident records show lot rent up nearly 85 percent since the current owners took over, the station reported. Residents say the first sharp jump came in 2012 and 2013, around the time Sun Communities took over.

So at 78, Susanne still sets an alarm.

“I work at a laundromat two days a week, but I have to. I have to,” she said.

You can watch the residents tell their story in WDIV’s report on YouTube.

Even with that paycheck, the station reported, Susanne has less than 100 dollars left each month once her bills are paid. She lives on a fixed income.

Grossman put the latest increase in yearly terms. “Our increase was $39,” she said. “Let’s round it up to 40, make it simple. You’re talking $480 a year for someone on a fixed income.”

Residents have written letter after letter asking for help. One letter shown to the station read, “Please, if you can hear us.”

When Local 4 went to the community office, staff said they could not talk. The station also contacted Sun Communities through its online portal and had not heard back at the time of the report.

“I can’t enjoy my retirement,” Susanne said. “Let’s put it that way, and I will probably be working until I am no longer here.”

In Michigan, rent itself is largely outside the reach of the state agency that licenses these communities. The Mobile Home Section of the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs licenses and inspects mobile home communities and handles complaints about them. But it says it has no authority over rent, including raises in rent, or over landlord and tenant disputes. For those, the state points residents to the Michigan Department of Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Team, at 877-765-8388 for Michigan residents.

If you are thinking about buying a home in a land-lease community, a few questions can save you from surprises. Ask for the current lot rent in writing and what it covers. Ask how much it has gone up each year for the past several years, and how much notice residents get. Read the full lease and community rules before you sign. Ask who owns the community and whether it has changed hands recently.

If you already live in one, keep every rent notice and receipt, as Susanne did. A paper trail makes it easier to get help from a lawyer, a legal aid office or your state attorney general.

This article is for general information and is not financial or legal advice. Rent figures are residents’ records and accounts as reported by WDIV Local 4; Sun Communities had not responded to the station. This article was produced with the assistance of AI and fact-checked against the sources cited by LightWave Reports.