Newest Oregon Bill Will Disallow Bans on Mobile Homes

In a move aimed at expanding housing options and protecting affordability, Oregon lawmakers are advancing legislation that could change the way future neighborhoods welcome manufactured and modular homes.

House Bill 3144, which recently passed the House in a 49-7 vote, would prohibit new planned communities in Oregon from banning manufactured or modular homes—a significant shift in state housing policy that responds to both economic and environmental pressures.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Pam Marsh (D-Ashland), does not apply to existing communities but would ensure that newly developed residential areas can’t exclude manufactured homes outright, provided those homes meet the same design standards as traditional site-built houses.

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A Necessary Fix in the Face of Crisis

Rep. Marsh, who chairs the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness, knows firsthand the urgency of Oregon’s housing issues. Her district in Jackson County was devastated by the 2020 Labor Day wildfires, which scorched over a million acres and destroyed more than 1,500 manufactured homes in her area alone. Eighteen mobile home parks were lost in the Rogue Valley during those fires, worsening a housing shortage that was already at a breaking point.

“Oregon has both a housing crisis and an affordability crisis,” said Bill Van Vliet, executive director of the Network for Oregon Affordable Housing, in testimony supporting the bill. “To solve those, we need to remove barriers that unnecessarily prevent the use of existing lower-cost solutions such as manufactured and modular homes.”

According to Van Vliet, Oregon is home to more than 140,000 manufactured homes, highlighting their importance to the state’s housing landscape.

Protecting Residents Through Legal Aid Grants

Beyond expanding housing access, House Bill 3144 also addresses legal protections for tenants living in manufactured home parks and marinas. The bill would extend the availability of grants that help residents obtain legal representation during landlord disputes through January 2031.

Tenants themselves fund these grants via a $10 annual fee, managed by the Manufactured and Marina Communities Resource Center. The fund is healthy enough to support residents for at least another two years, Marsh said, adding that tenant representation is a critical but often inaccessible resource.

“Finding a tenant lawyer is difficult,” Marsh noted. “This program allows them access to critical representation.”

John VanLandingham, a legal aid attorney and vice president of the Oregon State Tenants Association, emphasized how unique the manufactured housing model is: many residents own their homes but rent the land they sit on, which creates an unusual, and often vulnerable, tenant relationship.

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What Comes Next?

Now that HB 3144 has cleared the House, it awaits a vote in the Senate Housing and Development Committee. If it advances, it will go to the full Senate and then on to Governor Tina Kotek’s desk for final approval. The governor could sign the bill into law, allow it to become law without a signature, or veto it.

The bill carries no financial impact to the state, making it an easy legislative win in the eyes of supporters.