NAVARRE, Ohio — For almost two years, neighbors in a manufactured home community have reported drastic increases in their monthly rent. Now, their concerns are gaining the attention of a federal agency.
Tuesday, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) visited Stark County for a discussion with residents from Navarre Village and representatives from Senator Sherrod Brown’s office and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, more commonly known as Freddie Mac.
The meeting centered around neighbors’ complaints about high rent costs in the community for people aged 55 and older.
“The effect that it’s had on our residents and the local community - it’s heart-wrenching when you hear the stories from those people,” Jeffrey Yekel said after the meeting.
Yekel and his neighbors have repeatedly spoken to News 5 about their situation since Legacy Communities, LLC took over Navarre Village in 2022. The people who live there own their homes and pay a monthly lot rent fee for the land on which it sits.
Soon after the company took ownership, some neighbors trying to sell their properties discovered lot rent hikes for incoming residents.
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“I moved here because this was going to be the last place that I was going to live,” resident Barb Silvestri told News 5 Tuesday. “I just couldn’t believe how quickly the rents went up. It’s unacceptable the rates that they’re going up.”
In the years since Legacy Communities took over the park, some current residents have reported a collective 24% increase. They reported incoming residents will now pay more than double the lot rent rate from before the company took ownership.
Many of the people who live in Navarre Village are on fixed incomes.
“I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to stay here because I’m on social security too,” Silvestri said.
A committee formed by several Navarre Village residents has been fielding similar concerns.
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“We had one lady in her 70s that had to go back to work, we have people selling their second car, they’re not going on vacation. A letter I got last night - somebody’s cut their twice-a-day medication to once a day,” said Yekel Tuesday. “I’ve heard residents crying over this. It’s totally frustrating.”
The concerns brought to News 5 in 2022 caught the attention of Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).
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The senator wrote a letter to Legacy Communities, requesting an explanation for the rising rent. He also wrote to Freddie Mac because the program backed a mortgage loan for Legacy to purchase Navarre Village.
In June 2024, Brown also addressed a letter to FHFA Director Sandra Thompson, inviting her to Navarre to meet with residents and staff from his office. You can read the full text of the letter here.
Tuesday, the director accepted the invitation. She joined several Brown staffers, representatives from Freddie Mac and
“She listened to us. She said something has to be looked into and it will be,” Yekel said of Thompson.
The meeting was closed to media, and the director was not available for an interview after it concluded, but an FHFA spokesperson issued the following statement to News 5:
“FHFA’s mission is to promote policies that help the American people obtain decent, safe and sustainable affordable housing. We have been monitoring the situation at Navarre Village, and it was important for us to meet with residents today to explore what the FHFA can do within its authority to address some of their issues.”
Legacy Communities, LLC President Andrew Fells also provided the following statement:
“Legacy Communities is committed to providing affordable, well-maintained communities and takes pride in ensuring residents experience high-level customer service.
We take many factors into consideration when establishing rent, and affordability is top of the list. We also must consider operating and supply costs, interest rates and property taxes, necessary maintenance and infrastructure improvements, and rents at comparable properties.
We know many of our residents are on fixed incomes, and we are consistently managing operating expenses and analyzing the local market to ensure our communities remain affordable.”
Fells previously met with residents from Navarre Village in April. The neighbors told News 5 they pressed Legacy leadership on several questions about rising rent and promised amenities, but they said they have yet to receive satisfactory answers.
“We’re hoping that Legacy gets held accountable for what they’re doing to the residents here because it’s not fair,” Yekel said.
The residents at Tuesday’s meeting said the conversation with the FHFA director made them feel optimistic.
“I feel like we’re getting somewhere,” Silvestri said. “At least someone’s listening.”
Legacy Communities also operates a similar community called Twin Lakes in Elyria.
Several residents of the Twin Lakes Manufactured Housing Community reached out to News 5 with concerns about the property management company drastically increasing their monthly fees.
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The Lorain County community differs from Navarre Village because Legacy did not use a mortgage loan backed by Freddie Mac to purchase Twin Lakes.
