NORWAY — The path to an ordinance in Norway began back in January, when residents of Norway Commons demanded that the Select Board intervene to limit future rent increases.
Residents of the 55-plus community had received letters from the development’s owner, Michigan-based Sun Communities, outlining an April 1 increase based on an average lot rent of $741. Residents argued the figure was inflated and exceeded the $450 to $632 being charged locally.
The Select Board held a workshop on the issue to gather more information, then called for a community vote on a 180-day moratorium on rent increases to give the board more time to study ordinances passed in other Maine communities and draft language for Norway.
Residents approved the temporary ban. The town then drafted an ordinance and held a public hearing on it Oct. 1.
“The rent going up the way it is really affects those single people who live in our park,” Beth Francis, a Norway Commons resident, told Select Board members at the hearing.
Francis said that if people from out of state with money to spend buy into Norway Commons at the $741 average lot rent set by Sun Communities, it would hurt single adults currently living at the development.
“Sooner or later, it’s going to push those of us that don’t have that income that they do out on the street because there’s no other housing options for many of us,” she said. “You know, it takes a long time for some of these single people to apply and get into some of the affordable housing.”
The measure before Norway voters Oct. 15 would limit park owners to one rent or fee increase in any 12-month period and require them to notify residents at least 90 days before an increase takes effect.
Rent or fee increases would be capped at the most recently posted change in the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, plus 1 percent, up to a maximum of 5 percent, using residents’ existing rents or fees as the measuring stick.
Owners could use the same calculation to increase rent after a lawful vacancy, with the new amount serving as the base rent for that lot.
To exceed the rent increase formula, owners would have to petition the town, notify residents and present evidence that the extra expense prompting the request is extraordinary, necessary and reasonable, and is not due to deferred maintenance.
The ordinance would create a rent stabilization board with authority to review and vote on those requests.
Communities across Maine are using similar ordinances to address ongoing rent and fee increases by out-of-state owners, some of which private equity firms have bought.
The Legislature passed several bills in 2025 to address the issue.
One of the bills, L.D. 1723, required owners to provide 90 days’ written notice before proposed increases and established a mediation process for residents facing increases of more than the CPI plus 1 percent.
An earlier version of the bill contained stronger controls on rent increases. But under the final version, which Gov. Janet Mills signed into law in September 2025, owners could seek rent increases. They began doing so in communities across Maine even before Mills signed the bill.
At the Norway hearing, residents thanked the board for moving the process along efficiently and putting a completed ordinance before voters.
“I’m relatively new here. I just want to say thank you for considering this. I’ve been renting my whole life. I don’t live in the mobile home park,” said Tamara, a younger Norway resident who identified herself by her first name.
She continued: “As a young person, I don’t know if I’m going to ever be able to own property. So, I’m probably going to be renting for a long time. And so, it really means a lot to me that you are looking out for renters and people who live in mobile homes.”