Journalists behind the investigation answered questions from community members

…by Sireen Abayazid | courtesy CascadePBS.org

Cascade PBS teamed with the University Place Library in Pierce County Tuesday to host a screening of the documentary Priced Out, followed by a Q&A with the journalists behind the story.  

In the documentary, Cascade PBS investigative reporters examine the business practices of mobile home park owner Hurst & Son LLC. As of the film’s release in late 2024, the company owned the land under one in 40 of the mobile homes in Washington. 

Investigative reporters Farah Eltohamy and Jaelynn Grisso kicked off the discussion by sharing what has changed since the first investigation about Hurst & Son was published in 2023.  

The Washington State Office of the Attorney General began its own investigation into the company that year through its dispute resolution program, which led to Hurst & Son issuing a total of $5.5 million in reimbursements to tenants by January 2025. Many of the refunds were credited against future rent payments, which created problems for some tenants. 

“A lot of tenants came to us concerned that by being refunded credits and not cash, they would still be tied down to living in Hurst & Son communities,” Eltohamy told the crowd. 

One issue raised in the documentary by tenants and advocates was Hurst & Son’s aggressive rent hiking: One tenant interviewed, living at the Mill Pond Community in Kittitas County, said he’s paying nearly $800 a month, compared to $200 when he moved in. But in a win for tenants, Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a rent stabilization bill in May 2025, which limited rent increases on manufactured homes to 5%. 

The library event also included a Share Your Story booth, an opportunity for people to share with a journalist their own experiences and issues in mobile home parks. 

Caroline Hardy lives in Leisure Manor Estates, a Hurst & Son-owned park in Aberdeen that became a key part of the Cascade PBS investigation. However, none of the park’s residents received reimbursements from Hurst & Son after the AGO’s investigation.  

Hardy (who also appeared in the documentary) says problems at the park continue to develop. Most recently, Hurst & Son appears to be moving families with children into Leisure Manor, a park meant for tenants over 55.  

“We’re on fixed incomes, but these other people that are coming in, they have jobs,” Hardy said, adding they can also afford a raised rent. She’s also concerned about the safety of the children moving into a community with several elderly drivers. 

The event ended with a discussion and Q&A with Cascade PBS investigative reporters Jaelynn Grisso and Farah Eltohamy. Below is a portion of that conversation (questions and answers have been edited for clarity and conciseness). 

Q: Was the documentary limited to the state of Washington?

Grisso: It was, but one of the things that I think was the most eye-opening for me was how much this isn’t a specifically Washington issue. After we released the film, we put it on YouTube and there were people from all around the country that were saying, “The same thing is happening here with similar kinds of companies.” 

Eltohamy: Washington is also unique in the sense that it’s one of the only states in the country to have both rent stabilization and a mobile home dispute resolution program. It makes me worry about the rest of the country, given the fact that Washington is still experiencing these issues at such a high rate, given the existing protections, compared to states that may not have any protections. 

Q: I live in a 55-plus community in a mobile home park. Every year the owner raises the rent $75 to $100 a lot. This year he is setting a price for anyone who sells their homes to move out. He had priced the lots almost $400 more so the ones trying to sell cannot sell with taking a major hit to their wallets. What can we do as a community to stop this?

Eltohamy: I think the documentary is a good example of how other communities have been able to serve as a blueprint for organizing, and how organizing truly does work when you’re able to get your whole park in on it. The efforts that we highlighted were all made by people who were in a similar position and decided to start filing complaints with the Attorney General’s office. It can start as small as that. 

One of the things that came up in our reporting was this idea of resident-owned communities in which residents can buy back the community from the landlord and then manage it on their own. There is a group called ROC Northwest that tenants can reach out to in order to get advice and look into how that’s possible to implement.

Q: I own an older mobile home in a park in Thurston County. If the park is sold, my mobile home becomes worthless. Will I receive any compensation? 

Eltohamy: To my understanding, your home won’t be affected by the owner, because the owner has control over the lot, not the home, unless they seize the home and take over your title. This is something that I would defer to a lawyer, for example, Sebastian Miller, who gave a brief appearance in the documentary, left his position at the AGO in order to service mobile home tenants for free.