BILLINGS — Residents from two of Bozeman’s largest mobile home parks traveled to Billings on Sunday, rallying outside their landlord’s office to demand a face-to-face meeting over concerns about rising rents, deteriorating infrastructure, and the sale of their communities.
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Tenants from King Arthur Park and Mountain Meadows Estates boarded a bus for the nearly two-hour trip, gathering and protesting outside the Wells Fargo building at 175 N. 27th Street, where property owner Gary Oakland of Oakland Companies maintains an office.
“When I first moved in, rent was $340 a month. Now we're at $870," said Nathanael Homan, president of the Mountain Meadows Estates Tenant Union and a 15-year resident of the park.
The unions formed in August after residents learned the parks would be sold. Together, the two communities comprise of 338 units and account for approximately 30% of the mobile home housing stock in the Bozeman area, according to Bozeman Tenants United. Organizers said nearly 200 residents have joined the unions.
Homan said residents are particularly concerned about infrastructure issues, including aging water lines and power poles.
"Nobody in my park likes drinking the water. In fact, most of us won't even give our pets the water," he said. "We'd like to see the pipes redone. Our power poles are actually rotting."
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Tenants stated that they want infrastructure repairs addressed before any transfer of ownership and are seeking direct communication with Oakland.
“The goal now is to get them to fix some infrastructure stuff before the sale goes through," said Homan. “We've been dismissed, we've been lied to, and we're fed up with it. We're here to try to get his attention."
The Bozeman-based union was joined by the Bozeman Tenants United, Montana representatives James Reeves and Emma Kerr-Carpenter, and members of the newly formed Rose Park Tenant Union in Billings, whose residents have raised separate concerns about maintenance and renovations at Rose Park Plaza Apartments.
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Sara Graff, president of the Rose Park Tenant Union, said Bozeman organizers helped her group unionize in September. She described the Billings rally as an act of solidarity among tenants across the state.
"They're part of Montana. Eventually, the state of Montana is going to have tenant unions all over it," said Graff. “The landlords are only interested in making profit. They aren't really considering that these are our homes. They see this as a commodity and an income.”
Related: Billings tenant union demands corporate landlord address property issues in press conference
Oakland, who has owned the Bozeman parks for more than 40 years, said in an interview prior to the protest that he plans to sell the properties due to his age and the length of his ownership. He said he does not plan to meet with union members and disputes their claims.
“I don't see that they have a voice in how we operate the business, other than we respect our residents and they're our customers, but to have a union come in and start to tell us what to do and how to do it, I think, is non-productive,” said Oakland.
He denied allegations of crumbling infrastructure or improper business practices and questioned whether the union represents a majority of residents.
“Since very few people have been showing up to these various protests and things that have been going on, we don't think they represent the majority of the residents in the communities,” said Oakland. "They're trying to get a few buzzwords that they think are going to incite people to participate in this, and it's not working very well."
Union leaders pushed back on that characterization, pointing to their membership numbers.
"If 200 people have joined the union, there's no way we could have tricked that many people in," said Homan. "When he said that he was selling the park so that he could retire, but then the elected officials tell us he's using the capital to start up a project in Helena, that's misinformation.”
For many residents, the trip to Billings was about ensuring their concerns are heard before decisions are finalized.
"We're not naive. We understand rent will probably go up with the new owner," said Homan. "But we want to make sure it's an amount that people can still afford.”
"Our unity is key to the tenant union. It's key to any union," added Graff. "We are stronger together, always.”
