Private equity firms are snapping up mobile home parks − and driving out the residents who can least afford to lose them

In mobile home parks, like this one in Fairfax, Va., residents often own the home itself but rent the lot where the home sits. Michael Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

One of America’s most affordable paths to homeownership is slipping away.

At manufactured home parks – sometimes called trailer parks or mobile home parks – rents are rapidly rising due to large-scale buyouts by private equity firms.