Arapahoe County mobile home park owner says some residents' complaints are "inaccurate" and "untrue"

Residents at a mobile home park in Arapahoe County, Foxridge Farm, have made their voices heard this summer, saying they've "had enough," with their management company's policy changes, rent increases, and upkeep of the grounds. Now, a representative with the company, Ascentia, is offering a response to CBS News Colorado's reporting on the issue. 

"Much of the information shared in your story is inaccurate and untrue," wrote Marko Vukovich, Vice President of Operations for Acentia, in an email to CBS News Colorado. "We have owned and operated Foxridge Farm for over 43 years and take great pride in serving our residents and fulfilling our mission, vision, and values. We aim to offer a clean, safe, healthy community for many years. We are not in business for the quick profit and resent any such accusation." 

Complaints from residents of the park have even prompted a state investigation. 

Colorado's Mobile Home Park Oversight Program has confirmed to CBS News Colorado it is investigating, and investigators from the program were on site last Tuesday, July 11, to inspect. 

"We have met with representatives from DOLA onsite, provided them with all of their requested information, and welcome their feedback and assistance in this matter," Vukovich said. 

Some residents tell CBS News Colorado they are encouraged to see the state is investigating the company's practices. 

"I just think that they're just taking advantage of people, and I mean, most of us can't afford to move," says resident Lana Jackson. 

Since Jackson bought her mobile home and moved into the park in 1979, she says her rent for the lot her home sits on has increased over time from $75 a month to now $1,003 per month. 

Some residents do not own the mobile homes, but rather rent them entirely, like an apartment. Some residents claim they have been asked to pay up to $3,800 a month in rent, but Vukovich refutes that, saying, "no home within our community is even close to that figure."

Other residents have concerns about new parking policy changes. They say free on-street parking has been replaced with $35 a month parking fees, and overnight guests are being charged an extra $5 a night. 

They feel the changes are unfair and unnecessary.

But Vukovich reiterates that residents still have their two free driveway parking spaces, and the parking fee is only for residents who have more than two vehicles. 

"With regards to the parking initiative, we have met with residents on 3 different occasions to discuss the planned changes, answer questions, and gain feedback. Our President and CEO has personally attended these meetings with myself, our District Manager, and our onsite staff. Again, to say we have been unavailable in this process or are ignoring the concerns of our residents is inaccurate. In fact, I have spoken with each of the 3 individuals you interviewed in your story multiple times, both in person and on the phone," Vukovich wrote. "At our first community meeting, one resident expressed concern for another resident who sells cars for a living, and has 6-8 cars in the community at any given time…  while our goal is not to hurt someone's business, our community should not be used as a car dealership either."

But residents tell CBS News Colorado that only one of the meetings was initiated by the company, and the other two were held at the persistent requests of residents. They feel despite the meetings, their concerns were still not adequately heard. 

"We very much appreciate that this change is difficult for some residents. While its impossible to please everyone, our goal has been to accommodate the needs and concerns of our residents as best we can," Vukovich said. "We believe the majority of our resident base is in favor of these changes, and ultimately, these changes are in the best interest of the community at large."

Vukovich says his company did hear residents' concerns, adding: 

"Here are a few other changes we made based on feedback we received from our 3 resident meetings:

-Installing additional street lights and cameras for safety

-Adding overflow parking on the east end, for residents who are not as close to the newly constructed lots

-Adding additional guest parking

-Overflow parking reduced from $50 to $35

-Removed registration requirements through our 3rd party vendor.  Originally, it was required to provide insurance, registration, etc, but some residents were concerned with privacy issues, so we are now only requiring make/model and license plate #."

Vukovich also explained the parking policies are for safety reasons. Asked why on-street parking is suddenly a safety issue when the residents have been parking that way for years, Vukovich said: 

"This has been a growing problem for the better part of 10+ years, and we have been working towards enforcing no street parking many years.  This was not a quick or careless decision.  We began building the overflow parking lots and new playground over the last two years, to help accommodate the change.  We have spent well over $400k on these projects in the last two years, to offer a third or fourth parking spot to residents who need more than the two spots included on their homesite.

Again, the reason for this change is first and foremost safety.  There are a lot of younger kids within the community and the street parking makes it hard to see a child coming out from their driveway or yard.  We received a report that a child was hit on their bike in 2019; thankfully their injuries were minor.  Furthermore, the street parking makes it difficult for emergency vehicles, trash service, and snowplows to get through the community.  Snow removal has been a consistent complaint within the community, but plowing the streets has been near impossible with all the cars on the road.

Again, the decision to get the cars off the street comes from years of documented resident requests and feedback.  There are over 2,000 residents in our community, and we believe this is the best decision for the community at large."

Regarding the $5 a night guest fee, Vukovich says that's meant for "one-off" guests, not for frequent guests like adult children staying for the summer. He says the $5 fees will help pay for enforcement measures of the on-street parking policy changes. 

Some activists claim Ascentia's practices are part of a larger trend across the country of larger companies implementing unfair practices at mobile home parks. Vukovich refutes those claims, as well. 

"We are not a private equity group preying on or resident base," Vukovich said. "Rather, we are a 43-year owner/operator trying to make the best decisions for the long term health and betterment of the community."