Residents of a Massachusetts manufactured housing community have a right to buy the land when the owner agrees to sell it, and a signed petition can prove the residents’ support. But the residents lose that right if they miss the 90 day deadline to lock in financing, unless the owner agrees to extend it. This is a published decision of the Supreme Judicial Court and is binding statewide.
What happened
The owner of an 81 home manufactured housing community in Bourne agreed to sell the land to a company that runs such communities, and then sent the residents notice of the deal. Residents formed an association with help from a nonprofit, gathered signatures on a petition approving a purchase by the association, and within 45 days sent the owner the petition and a purchase and sale agreement. The owner signed it in January 2020. The association did not get a lending commitment until July 2020, more than six months later, and never asked the owner for an extension. Meanwhile the competing buyer sued and recorded a lis pendens, a notice of the lawsuit, against the property.
What the court decided
In Crown Communities, LLC v. Austin, No. SJC-13841 (Mass. June 5, 2026), the court ruled on several points.
A signed petition is reasonable evidence of support. Under G.L. c. 140, § 32R(c), an association of residents can buy the community on substantially equivalent terms if it gives the owner reasonable evidence that residents of at least 51 percent of the occupied homes approve. The Attorney General’s regulation says that evidence includes a document signed by those residents. 940 CMR 10.09(3)(a). The court agreed. Affidavits or notarized signatures are not required. An owner who suspects forged or duplicate signatures can still challenge them in court, and the trial judge did examine them here.
Only resident owners count. The 51 percent is measured among tenants who own and live in their homes, not subtenants or owners who live elsewhere. The association cleared that bar easily.
The timing of the owner’s notice did not defeat the right. The owner told residents of its plan to sell only after it signed with the other buyer. The court held that residents do not forfeit the right of first refusal because they did not request sale information they had no reason to know they needed.
The financing deadline is strict. The statute requires a binding financing commitment within 90 days after the purchase and sale agreement is signed. Missing that deadline ends the residents’ right, though the parties may agree to extend it. G.L. c. 140, § 32R(c). The association missed it and never asked for an extension.
The lis pendens was not an excuse. A lis pendens recorded under G.L. c. 184, § 15 puts the public on notice of a lawsuit affecting title. The court accepted that one can make financing harder. But the association offered no evidence that it sought financing within the 90 days, that the lis pendens actually slowed its loan, or that the other buyer acted in bad faith. The court reversed the ruling that the association had validly exercised the right.
The association’s claims against the competing buyer failed. The buyer told residents they would lose rent control and offered gift cards and other perks for their support. The trial judge found the rent control statements were an honest mistake and the incentives were not coercive. The court deferred to those findings and affirmed judgment for the buyer on the claims under G.L. c. 93A, § 11 and for interference with contract.
The court relied on Greenfield Country Estates Tenants Ass’n v. Deep, 423 Mass. 81 (1996), on the purpose of the right: keeping these communities affordable.
What this means for you
If you live in a manufactured housing community and the owner announces a sale, you and your neighbors may be able to buy the land. Getting signatures is now easier to defend: a signed petition from resident owners counts.
The hard part is the clock. You have 45 days from notice of the offer to submit a purchase agreement on substantially equivalent terms and proof of support. Then you have 90 days after signing to get a binding financing commitment, and 90 more days to close. Missing any of these ends the right unless the owner agrees to more time. Do not count on a court to excuse delay because of a lawsuit or a lis pendens. You must show you were actively seeking financing on time.
Expect competition. A rival buyer may campaign and offer incentives, which is not automatically illegal.
What to do now
- Write down the date you received the owner’s notice and count the 45 day deadline right away.
- Organize an incorporated residents’ association and collect signatures only from residents who own and live in their homes.
- Start lining up financing before the purchase agreement is signed, and keep records of every loan application.
- If you may not meet a deadline, ask the owner for a written extension before it passes.
- Talk to a lawyer early, before signing anything.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. These cases move on short deadlines.
