MEEB DEFENDS ASSOCIATION WIN AT THE SJC
At a recent hearing before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, MEEB attorney Thom Aylesworth argued on behalf of a manufactured housing (a/k/a mobile home) resident association in an appeal of the association’s victory in the Superior Court. The appeal marks the last stage of a six-year long legal battle in which MEEB has represented the Pocasset Park Association in a lawsuit brought by an out-of-state investor, Crown Communities.
In 2019, Crown offered to purchase the community for $3.8 million, but under the Massachusetts Manufactured Housing Act (the “Act”), the community residents have a right of first refusal. After receiving notice of Crown’s offer, the residents organized and matched the offer, all with the assistance of a highly effective non-profit group, Cooperative Development Institute, that assists residents in such endeavors.
In early 2020, Crown filed the lawsuit to stop the association’s purchase of the community, claiming the association failed to satisfy the Act’s requirements for exercising its right of first refusal. Crown claimed that the association’s petition with residents’ signatures was not enough to satisfy the Act’s requirement for “reasonable evidence” that a majority of the residents supported the association’s purchase. Crown also argued that the association failed to meet other requirements under the Act, including a financing deadline, and that the association’s offer was not a match because it contained a mortgage contingency, whereas Crown’s offer was a cash deal.
The case went to a jury-waived trial in August 2022.
Crown prevailed, and the association appealed to the Massachusetts Appeals Court. In December 2024, the Appeals Court issued a decision vacating the trial court’s decision and effectively giving the association the win. The Appeals Court sent the case back to the trial judge to correct errors in the original decision. The trial court reversed its decision and issued an amended ruling in March 2025, confirming the association’s victory. Then it was Crown’s turn to appeal, and the Supreme Judicial Court approved the request by both Crown and the association to take the appeal directly, skipping past the Appeals Court.
The hearing before the Supreme Judicial Court was held on March 2, 2026. As expected, it was a lively event, with the Justices challenging Crown’s interpretation that the Act is intended to balance the interests of third-party purchasers with the interests of the residents. Instead, the Justices pointed out that the Act is remedial and intended to protect the residents. The Justices also questioned whether an association is required to meet the Act’s finance deadline after a lawsuit is filed and a lis pendens is recorded with the Registry of Deeds, all intended to stop the residents’ exercise of their right of first refusal. In addition to hearing arguments by Attorney Aylesworth and Crown’s attorney, Assistant Attorney General Michael Turi argued on behalf of the Massachusetts Attorney General, Andrea Joy Campbell, who agrees with the association’s interpretation of the Act as meaning that it poses a low bar for residents and is intended to make it easy for them to exercise the right of first refusal.
The SJC will likely issue its decision in about three to four months.
The decision will be important not just for the fate of the Pocasset Park community but also for manufactured housing residents across the state. As the SJC has recognized in past decisions, the purpose of the Act is to protect vulnerable residents from abuses by manufactured housing community owners. The SJC’s decision should clarify the requirements of the Act for residents exercising their right of first refusal and, hopefully, avoid years of litigation brought by self-interested investors.
For more information on protecting your right of first refusal, contact Thomas Aylesworth.