Brunswick seeks applicants for new mobile home park rent board

Brunswick has opened applications for a new Mobile Home Park Rent Review Board, a move that could affect what park residents pay and how the town weighs maintenance problems in the years ahead. The five-member board would give Brunswick a standing process to review rent and fee increases in a housing sector where many households have little room to absorb higher costs.

The town posted the application notice on June 16 and set a deadline of Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, while saying earlier applications are preferred. Interested residents can contact the town clerk at (207) 725-6658, and Brunswick is offering both online and PDF application forms. The town said it will not accept tenants or landlords as board members, and it will give preference to applicants with experience in housing, mobile home parks or financial regulatory issues. Initial terms would be staggered at one year for one seat, two years for two seats and three years for three seats, with vacancies filled by Town Council appointment.

The board sits inside a draft ordinance that goes beyond a simple rent review panel. Brunswick says the new chapter is meant to ensure rent and fee increases are reasonably tied to a landlord’s increased costs in maintaining a park. The ordinance also sets minimum maintenance standards aimed at protecting health and safety and preventing nuisance conditions, including dangerous trees, poor lighting, slippery or uneven surfaces, unsecured areas, pest infestation, garbage buildup, pooling water and improper solid-waste disposal. It also addresses dangerous roads, structural hazards and water and wastewater management.

That framework matters in Brunswick, where town officials and residents have spent months pressing for action on mobile home park affordability. The town held a listening and feedback session on April 16, with separate time for park residents, landlords and the general public. On May 5, the Town Council extended a temporary moratorium on mobile home lot rent increases for another 180 days while the ordinance was still being developed.

The policy debate has been shaped by numbers that are hard to ignore. Brunswick has more than 1,200 mobile home park lots housing thousands of residents, many of whom are at or below median income. A town-commissioned study of the town’s eight mobile home parks found residents were especially vulnerable to rent increases and poor maintenance, and said Bay Bridge Estates residents faced the highest level of financial stress. The town appropriated $32,000 in September 2025 to study a possible rent stabilization ordinance.

The issue has also become part of a broader local and state conversation about affordable housing. Marieke Giasson of Bay Bridge Estates testified to the Legislature on March 11 that she and a tenant-union co-leader had been working on a Brunswick rent stabilization ordinance for a year. State housing officials issued a model municipal rent stabilization ordinance in January, saying mobile homes remain a crucial source of unsubsidized affordable housing. In Brunswick, where moving a mobile home can cost thousands of dollars, the new board could become one of the town’s most important tools for keeping park homes stable and habitable.