Residents of a 55-and-up mobile home park in Missoula have incurred two recent increases in lot rent, and Missoula County officials are asking the new property owner to answer questions regarding their plans for the neighborhood.
Commissioners last week signed a letter to Axia Investments LLC, based in Dallas, expressing concerns over what the county described as the company's “radio silence” amid requests from residents and officials for a meeting.
The firm purchased the 103-lot manufactured home community earlier this year. Since the sale, residents have sought assurances about the neighborhood's future and concerns over recent rent increases.
“They (Axia) were very responsive after the purchase with the tenants' questions and concerns,” said John Wilke, the county's housing policy specialist. “They have since gone radio silent. They haven't responded to anyone for a couple of months now.”
Efforts to reach Axia on Friday weren't successful.
According to the county, the previous owner of Katoonah Lodges, located off Mullan Road, increased rent by $50 last September to $650 a month. Axia purchased the property in early 2025 and increased the rent by another $100 in April.
In its letter to Axia, the county noted that “the residents in this community are seniors, some of them are individuals with disabilities, and many of them are on fixed incomes.” The letter added that “Such a sharp and sudden increase risks them becoming homeless.”
The rent increase has also forced residents to make “impossible choices” between housing, food and medication.
“For many people who live there, that kind of jump creates serious affordability challenges that threaten to push their cost of housing out of reach,” said Wilke.
While Axia was at first willing to meet with residents and local officials, that has changed. Residents of the community, along with state Rep. Jonathan Karlen and state Sen. Willis Curdy, have asked Axia to meet, but the company has remained silent.
That has led to questions about the company's plans for the property. As part of its housing strategy, the county looks to preserve “the last remaining sources of naturally occurring, unsubsidized affordable housing” in Missoula.
“They're typically much cheaper,” Wilke said of the mobile home park. “They offer residents a single-family dwelling and often a yard at a much lower rate than they would find elsewhere on the private market. Our goal is to preserve those last little strongholds that we have.”
While the county recognizes Axia's right to manage the property as an investment, officials said that decisions made by Axia should consider the residents' stability and dignity.
Finding alternative housing for more than 100 households isn't likely in Missoula's current housing market.
“It would be very difficult, if not impossible,” said Commissioner Josh Slotnick.
