MARTINSBURG — Residents are still fighting for lease revisions at Spring Manor and Stone Manor Mobile Home Parks following a Thursday night meeting that brought some progress but also further delays.

Property owner Regal Communities LLC presented the latest changes at the Morrisons Cove Memorial Park Banquet Hall.

After associate attorney Matt McGregor assumed responsibility for lease negotiations, residents proposed many lease paragraph changes at a town hall meeting in June.

Members asked for cheaper fees and to strike a landlord’s right of private property access and right of first refusal paragraphs.

“It was totally resident-driven,” meeting co-organizer Mark Fiddles said.

As a result, Regal Communities complied with some requests, while others were either negotiated or denied, still leaving residents with more questions than answers.

The owner agreed to strike the landlord’s right of access paragraph, but the request to strike right of first refusal paragraph was rejected.

Changes to fees and charges are currently being considered by Regal Communities.

These revisions follow a series of gatherings involving concerned community members, attorneys and state Rep. Scott Barger, R-Blair/Huntingdon, in an effort to negotiate the current lease terms.

Spring and Stone residents first discussed the lease back in January when it was originally issued on Dec. 28, 2024, by the new park owner.

Contained in the original lease proposal are “exorbitant” late fees and a “more than doubled” rent increase, Fiddles said. “We feel helpless, we feel powerless.”

The lease also featured multiple spelling errors and incorrect statements such as a campsite being included in the park and the mobile home community being placed in Erie County.

Many Spring and Stone members are retired or low-income residents, so not having internet access creates bigger issues involving communication from Regal.

When Fiddles asked residents if they received texts about a water shut-off, he received both “yes” and “no” answers.

“You have to take into consideration that a lot of individuals do not have cellphones,” said resident Sarah Detwiler.

Since the lease is still in negotiation, some residents have continued to pay the original rent price instead of the newer, higher amount.

Local real estate agent Tammy Bogel advised residents who are still paying the original rent amount to catch up with Regal’s current rent prices anyway because “if you are not caught up, they are going to evict you in no time.”

She said that she still has yet to receive leases from two of her park properties, so Regal cannot go to those properties with the new rent price.

Throughout the meeting, members were given a chance to voice concerns over the new lease revisions, which will, again, be further negotiated with Regal.

Fiddles said that negotiations involve back-and-forth from both parties, so “it’s voluntary.”

“The only way that we could accomplish more is to go to court,” Fiddles said. “And it’s going to be three, four times more expensive than what we’re paying right now.”

The next meeting will depend on how the “loose ends go with the negotiations,” Fiddles said.

After the new lease is approved by the community, he said “this mission would be accomplished.”

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.