Connecticut lawmakers have proposed legislation that aims to address a loophole in a state law regarding mobile home park resident associations and offer additional protections to people who live in these communities, including rent caps.

The proposal, from Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, and Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan, D-Bethel, comes after a rocky launch to the 2023 law that granted manufactured housing residents the right to form an association and make offers to purchase their homes when the parks go up for sale. Under the law, they are required to match competitive offers and have the right of first refusal before other buyers.

But at the Shady Acres Park in Danbury, when residents tried to do just that, the deal fell apart. They weren’t sure why and feared the owner had struck a shared ownership agreement with another company to bypass residents’ rights. The attorney general is looking into the matter.

The bill put forth by Kushner and Allie-Brennan seeks to address what they see as a loophole in the regulation, and it would require more transparency from park owners. In a press release Friday, Allie-Brennan said it was a “direct response” to the situation at Shady Acres in Danbury, which The Connecticut Mirror covered in September.

Many details in the bill still need to be settled, and Allie-Brennan said it will be honed through the committee process. “The residents of Shady Acres brought these concerns to my attention, and it is clear that additional action is necessary to protect vulnerable mobile home residents,” Allie-Brennan said in the announcement.

Some Republicans opposed the 2023 bill, known as “first right of refusal,” saying it infringed on the rights of business owners.

This year’s proposal also includes fee transparency requirements and a rent cap. Manufactured housing residents argued for a rent cap, alongside tenants, in 2023. The measure didn’t make it out of committee.

Most manufactured or mobile homes are owner-occupied, but residents rent the land their home sits on. It’s often prohibitively difficult and expensive to move the homes, leaving residents paying increasing rent on their land.

Rent caps faced fierce opposition from landlord groups in 2023, who said the measure would infringe on their rights as business owners and make it difficult for them to earn a profit with rising costs. But most of the opposition was focused on rent caps for renters, not manufactured housing tenants.

Shady Acres has also had problems with maintenance at the property, particularly with aging septic tanks that need to be replaced.

Allie-Brennan’s press release said he and Kushner are “standing in solidarity with the residents of Shady Acres and other mobile home communities across the state.”