Judge Valderrama's roadmap' for successful antitrust litigation in affordable housing crisis

"The Court accepts as true all of the well-pleaded facts in the Complaint and draws all reasonable inferences in favor of Plaintiffs. So said U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama on 12.4.2025. According to Reuters: A group of companies that lease land for mobile homes has convinced a federal judge in Chicago to dismiss a proposed nationwide class action accusing them of conspiring to inflate lot rents."

"U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama on Thursday said the plaintiffs had failed for now to plausibly allege a price-fixing agreement among corporate owners and operators of manufactured home communities. But Valderrama's ruling can be viewed as a kind of roadmap on what is necessary to fix those well-pleaded facts. If the plaintiffs' attorneys or other litigators in their wake pay close attention, the setback can be remedied by revised pleading until 1.5.2025."

"The defendants in this action are: Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (ELS), Hometown America Management, L.L.C. (Hometown America), Lakeshore Communities, Inc. (Lakeshore), Sun Communities, Inc. (Sun Communities), RHP Properties, Inc. (RHP), Yes Communities, LLC (Yes Communities), Inspire Communities, LLC (Inspire Communities), Kingsley Management, Corp. (Kingsley), Cal-Am Properties, Inc.'s (Cal-Am), and Murex Properties, L.L.C. (Murex) (collectively MHC Defendants), MHC owners/operators, as well as Defendant Datacomp Appraisal Systems, Inc. (Datacomp), the nation's largest provider of manufactured and mobile home data (collectively, Defendants)."

U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama dismissed a proposed nationwide class action alleging that owners and operators of manufactured home communities conspired to inflate lot rents for failure to plausibly allege a price‑fixing agreement. The case is styled Manufactured Home Lot Rents Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 23-cv-06715, in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Defendants include Equity LifeStyle Properties, Hometown America, Lakeshore, Sun Communities, RHP, Yes Communities, Inspire Communities, Kingsley, Cal‑Am, Murex, and Datacomp Appraisal Systems. The ruling identified deficiencies in the well‑pleaded facts but provided guidance on allegations needed to remedy the complaint, with leave to amend by 1.5.2025. The outcome may influence use of HUD Code manufactured housing in affordable housing strategies.

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