Property Seizures Floated — Maine Meltdown

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A Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Maine says the state should be able to seize mobile home parks from private owners.

Story Snapshot

Troy Jackson, Maine’s Senate President and Democratic nominee against Senator Susan Collins, floated state takeovers of mobile home parks during a Labor Day weekend campaign stop.
Jackson told residents the state should be able to “come in, to take these places over” until they can organize to buy the land themselves.
Maine already gives residents a right to match sale offers, but the state board that oversaw park standards was dissolved in July.
Property-rights groups warn forced state takeovers could violate the Constitution’s protections against uncompensated government seizures.

Campaign Stop Turns Into Property Rights Flashpoint

Jackson visited Blueberry Ridge Mobile Home Park in Wells on Labor Day weekend, one of his first major campaign stops in the race against Collins. Residents there raised concerns about rising rents and water quality. Jackson used the visit to describe what he called “a major issue” with “the greed that’s happening right now” in Maine’s housing market.

At the park, Jackson went further than general complaints about corporate landlords. He said the state should have the power to step in and run these communities directly, at least temporarily, if private owners exploit residents. His exact words, reported by the Portland Press Herald, called for the state to be able to “come in, to take these places over”. Jackson has made fighting private equity in housing a core campaign theme, telling Maine Public he wants to stop “Wall Street from buying up Maine”.

What Maine Law Already Allows

Maine does not currently let the state seize mobile home parks. Since 2023, park owners must give residents at least 60 days’ notice before selling and must negotiate in good faith with tenant groups trying to buy the property. Owners are not required to accept a resident offer, but the law gives communities a real, if limited, window to organize a purchase before an outside investor closes the deal.

Oversight of these communities has actually shrunk this year. The Maine Manufactured Housing Board, which enforced park standards for nearly 50 years, held its last meeting in early June and was formally dissolved on July 29, with its four staff members reassigned elsewhere in state government. That leaves fewer state resources watching over parks even as Jackson proposes expanding the state’s role.

Property Owners and Industry Groups Push Back

Existing efforts to expand resident protections have already drawn strong opposition. The Maine Association of Realtors formally told lawmakers it “strongly opposes” a related bill, LD 1145, arguing it strips away rights from private property owners. A mobile home industry representative separately argued that local rent-control rules conflict with state law and could violate the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause, which requires the government to pay just compensation when it takes private property.

Troy Jackson takes on affordable housing issue at mobile home park in Wells https://t.co/0LBKmpcUck Government doesn't belong in housing! Especially the state!

— James Andrews (@andrews55849) September 6, 2026

Jackson’s proposal goes beyond rent control or right-of-first-refusal laws already on the books elsewhere. A direct state takeover of privately owned land, even temporary, would raise the same constitutional questions industry lawyers have already flagged in smaller disputes over local ordinances. Nationally, private equity firms and other investors poured roughly $9.4 billion into mobile home park acquisitions in 2021 alone, according to the Government Accountability Office, fueling similar fights over rent hikes in other states.

A Broader Pattern of Distrust

The mobile home fight fits into wider frustrations voters on both sides share about government power and who it serves. Renters worry corporate landlords squeeze them for profit with little accountability. Property owners worry government solutions could trample the very rights that let people build wealth through ownership in the first place. Jackson has paired his housing pitch with other sweeping proposals, including a call to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement and redirect its funding toward health care and housing.

Whether Maine voters see Jackson’s plan as bold protection for struggling families or government overreach into private property will likely shape how his Senate campaign against Collins unfolds. The debate underscores a question showing up in statehouses nationwide: how far should government go to fix a housing market many Americans, regardless of party, feel is stacked against them.