Over the past five years, the Illinois Department of Public Health conducted about 130 inspections of 29 mobile and manufactured home parks in Champaign County.

Only three inspections did not find any violations.

The department found about 3,800 violations during these inspections, according to inspection documents, which were released under the Freedom of Information Act. About one-third of these violations related to the appearance of the mobile home parks.

But at least three mobile home parks in Champaign lack an annual inspection by the state, including Shadow Wood, due to exceptions in the state code.

Tim Spear, code compliance manager for Champaign, said the city inspections for these parks are complaint-driven.

“We are a complaint-driven department, so we get tenant complaints for single family homes, apartment buildings, and occasionally a mobile home,” he said. “Mobile homes are different from a house, they’re treated more like a vehicle.”

There are about 3,200 mobile homes in Champaign County, according to records in the county property tax database.

According to the Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act, the top three most common violations — household items left outside, abandoned vehicles and skirting around homes — are the responsibility of the person living in the mobile home.

Indeed, two of the five most-cited violations in the county related to the park’s appearance: yards littered with household items and abandoned vehicles.

The second most-cited violations pertained to the lack of skirting around mobile homes.

Sufficient skirting means the base of a mobile home is sufficiently covered with boards, keeping rodents and other animals out of the foundation, according to the Manufactured Home Community Code. During the winter, skirting also keeps heat inside of the home and helps prevent water pipes from freezing.

The code also defines what household items cannot be kept outside in mobile home parks. These items include furniture, appliances, abandoned equipment, building materials and auto parts.

However, the park owner has to ensure the tenants in the park follow regulations. Park owners also receive inspection records from the public health agency and pay fines.

The state has limited information on fines issued. However, a spot check of fine records sent by the department shows they can range between $1,500 and $5,700.

Not all parks inspected in Champaign

The state public health department does not license and inspect every mobile home park in Champaign County.

Champaign, Urbana and Rantoul classify as home rule units, which gives them more autonomy over licensing, according to the Manufactured Home Community Code. As a result, the state is not required to inspect mobile home parks within the city limits.

Instead, these cities can choose to conduct their own inspections. While Urbana and Rantoul conduct annual inspections, Champaign does not. 

Champaign has three mobile home parks located in the city: Shadow Wood, New Century Estates and Edgebrook Estates. Overall, the three parks contain about 460 mobile homes and are not inspected regularly.

When Champaign officials inspect a mobile home, Spear said they look for broken windows and check smoke alarms.

Urbana conducts annual maintenance inspections of the parks within their city, according to Nicholas Hanson, building official for Urbana.

According to Rantoul’s municipal code, it also provides licenses to mobile home parks and performs annual inspections.

Electrical violations continue at Candlewood Estates

In August 2022, Olen “Bud” Parkhill sold Candlewood Estates to Crown Communities.

During an inspection at the Mahomet park in August 2024, the Illinois Department of Health identified more than 400 electrical violations within the mobile home park. In February, the department pursued legal action against the park’s owners.

“As long as the legal steps haven’t been completed, there’s not much we can do,” said Lyn Hall, a resident of Candlewood Estates.

Of about 400 hazardous electrical boxes, she said only 20 have been fixed.

“It’s not our equipment, we’re not allowed to touch it,” Hall said. “My cover fell off and was laying on the ground … left it completely exposed to the weather.”

The weather forecast had predicted rain in the next few days, so she called the park’s management and asked them to fix it.

“So, they did. Right down there, there’s a screw. That’s how they fixed it,” Hall said. “It’s still messy on the inside. They didn’t touch the inside, they just screwed the cover on.”

In the past two years, monthly rent prices in Candlewood Estates have increased from $350 to $565, Hall said. Park management have also removed the senior discount, she said.

“The heck with the fact that seniors are often on a fixed income and living off social security,” she said. “There’s a lot of us out here who are on retirement income and social security. I think they’re trying to get rid of us.”

Candlewood Estates management did not return multiple requests for comment.