JPMorgan Chase Backs Resident-Owned Communities To Boost Housing Affordability Nationwide

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Manufactured home communities have long served as an important source of lower-cost housing, but residents often face uncertainty when they don’t own the land beneath their homes. A growing national effort supported by JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) aims to change that by helping homeowners purchase their communities and gain long-term stability.

For years, residents like Lorena Vargas of Aspen Basalt Mobile Home Park in Colorado experienced annual rent increases with little notice. Even with a paid-off home, rising lot rents made it difficult to plan, invest in upgrades, or feel truly secure.

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That changed this year when Vargas’ community purchased its 75 lots for $26.5 million, according to JPMorgan Chase. The deal was made possible through ROC USA, a nonprofit that helps residents collectively buy their parks, supported by low-cost, fixed-rate financing. ROC USA’s network also includes affiliates that coach homeowners on managing and improving their communities.

ROC USA Chief Program Officer Nicholas Salerno said resident ownership offers more than just predictability. “Residents now have full control over where they live, safeguarding their community from sudden changes in rent or management,” he said in JPMorgan Chase’s statement.

JPMorgan Chase said it has worked with ROC USA for more than a decade and has committed over $5 million in philanthropic funding and $15 million in flexible loans to help scale resident-owned communities. The bank’s involvement is part of its broader strategy to support long-term housing affordability and economic stability for low- and moderate-income households.

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“We’re proud to support the organization’s work to drive innovation and preserve housing supply across the country,” JPMorgan Chase Head of Credit Solutions Michelle Egan said.

Since 2008, ROC USA has helped more than 24,000 homeowners across 22 states collectively purchase 356 manufactured home communities. These include culturally rooted communities like Comunidad Nuevo Lago in California and large-scale cooperatives such as Halifax Estates in Massachusetts, with more than 400 homes.

In July, ROC USA announced a $47 million national acquisition loan pool backed by investors including JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab Bank (NYSE:SCHW), and several philanthropic organizations. ROC USA CEO Emily Thaden said the new pool will enable “many hundreds of low-income homeowners to collectively purchase their communities and exclaim, ‘We own it!'”

The initiative aims to increase access to long-term, fixed-rate financing — a key ingredient that makes resident ownership possible.

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JPMorgan is also supporting complementary efforts across the affordable housing sector. In June, the Preservation of Affordable Housing said in a statement that they received a $1 million grant from the bank to launch Providing Opportunities for Wellbeing and Equity for Renters, a program offering financial coaching, credit-building tools, and other services to approximately 7,000 residents nationwide.

The initiative is designed to help renters build savings, improve credit scores, and work toward long-term financial goals — support that can reinforce the stability created by affordable housing itself.

For homeowners in communities like Aspen Basalt, the results are already tangible. JPMorgan Chase  said that residents there are now planning improvements such as water system upgrades and potential solar installations — decisions they can make with confidence because the land is finally their own.

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